Spice Up Your Life

Today marks the start of another yoga teacher training weekend! These weekends really just creep up on me, and despite the long hours and days spent practicing and sitting on the floor at the studio, I love every minute. Being in the company of a loving and supportive group talking about yoga…what could be better?

 

In an effort to have something healthy and pretty easy to prepare for dinner before the crazy weekend begins, I decided to whip out the rice cooker and make my latest favorite dish; kitchari.

 

Kitchari is a very cleansing ayurvedic dish consisting of rice, mung beans and lots of spices. 

Here’s some info that I found on this yoga journal website:

“Ayurveda believes that all healing begins with the digestive tract, and kitchari can give it a much-needed rest from constantly processing different foods while providing essential nutrients. The blend of rice and split mung beans offers an array of amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Its mixture of spices is believed to kindle the digestive fire, the Ayurvedic description for your innate digestive power, which can be weakened by poor food combinations.”

 

 

My friend Stacy, who shares my love of healthy food, cooking and yoga, invited me over for dinner a few weeks ago and when she pulled out her rice cooker to make this one pot meal, I was instantly intrigued and knew that I was in for a treat.

 

While it’s not the most attractive dish, it is really delicious and very healthy! It was so easy too, something I could easily recreate in a few weeks when I’m living dorm style again (don’t get me started…) since it’s all done in the rice cooker. In fact, I feel like there will be a lot of kitchari in my not so distant future…

 

Anyway.

 

I started by rinsing 1/3 cup of short grain brown rice (although I think basmati rice would be the ayurvedically correct ingredient…)  and 2/3 cup mung beans and threw them in the rice cooker. Then added a bit of cumin, cayenne, curry powder, turmeric, mustard seed,  minced garlic, ghee (clarified butter)…and I think that’s it?

 

   

 

Then I added the water. The water to rice is a 2:1 ratio and the beans are a 3:1 ratio so I added 2 and 2/3 cup of water…woah, that was confusing just typing that!

Flip the switch to cook and be amazed!

About 40 minutes later I had delicious kitchari…Like I said, not very pretty (okay, hideous would be an appropriate word here…) but it is really delicious and just so darn good for you!

 

I’m beyond excited to take this little guy to school this year coming up. I may get some funny stares in the kitchenette this year, but whatever…my body will thank me later!

 

 

I’m off to teacher training! I think a Yin Yoga practice is on the menu tonight. YUMMM!

 

Stay tuned for a yummy recipe tomorrow….

Tagged as: dorm cooking, kitchari, rice cooker