Kitchari, a porridge-like ayurvedic dish, is comforting and detoxifying. Works well for either breakfast, lunch or dinner. It keeps well in the fridge so you can consume it every day for a few days. This recipe makes 2-3 portions.
Ingredients:
50g red lentils (originally, the recipe calls for mung beans but lentils are much faster to cook)
100g basmati rice
Clarified butter / ghee or coconut oil
2 cm of fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tea spoon of cumin seeds or 1/2 tea spoon of ground cumin
1 tea spoon of black mustard seeds, skip if you haven´t got any
1/4 tea spoon of coriander powder
1/4 tea spoon of turmeric powder
750 ml - 1 litre of water or stock
Vegetables of choice (carrot, green peas, spinach and shiitake mushrooms work well)
Optional: yoghurt (can be goat, sheep or plant based), sesame seeds, fresh coriander
Method:
Wash the lentils and rice. If you want to save time, you can keep them in water overnight. They will cook very fast the next day.
Heat a table spoon of ghee or oil in pot and add all spices for a minute to release the aromas.
Add liquid and the rest of ingredients, and cook for 20 minutes (10 minutes if pre-soaked)
The lentils and rice should be mushy and have porridge-like consistency.
Serve with extra ghee or oil stirred in and optionally top with a heaped table spoon of yoghurt for extra protein, sesame seeds and fresh coriander.