Cooking Kitcharee

Last night I went to an Ayurvedic nutrition and cooking class and I felt compelled to share a recipe for Kitcharee with you. Kitcharee is a healing food, many people use it when they are feeling off balance nutritionally because it is very easy to digest and helps bring the body back to a balanced place. Not to mention it is the ultimate comfort food, warm, moist and fragrant, perfect for a cold winter day. We had ours with Raita (indian yogurt sauce) and apple chutney. If you are interested in trying it out here is the recipe we used last night (thank you Dhyana). Feel free to add or delete any of the vegetables that don't appeal to you.

Kitcharee

Ingredients:
3/4 cup mung beans (yellow)
8 cups water
1 1/4 cup basmati rice
2/3 cup carrot
1 cup butternut squash
1/2 cup string beans
1 small zucchini
2 tbs ginger
2 tomatoes
1 tsp hing
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp fenugreek
2 tsp tumeric
1/4 cup oil or ghee

Directions:
1. place mung beans and carrots into water, bring to boil on high then reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes, until carrots and beans begin to soften
2. add rice and other veggies, cook until rice is almost done (about 15-20 minutes)
3. sauté spices in oil or ghee until spices are fragrant, add tomatoes to spice pan until they soften, add spice mixture into pot with beans and rice and veggies and coll another 10 minutes or so, until everything is finished.
4. enjoy!