A Healthy Kichadi

Kichadis are the core of Aryurvedic nutritional cooking. They are a simple stew of rice and split mung beans, suitable for every body type (dosha). They are also delicious and go very well with a more stongly spiced dish, such as cauliflowers and tomatoes.

Digestive Kichadi

1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoonfuls of ghee or sunflowerseed oil
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon coriander leaves
2 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick konbu
1 teaspoon fresh ginger root, grated
1/2 cup basmati rice
1/4 cupsplit mung beans
4-6 cups water
3 cups fresh vegetables (carrots,courgette or pumpkin) diced

Wash the rice and beans and rinse until the water is clear

Warm the ghee in a mediumsaucepan. Add the cumion seeds, bay coriander and oregano. Brown slightly until you can smell them. Stir in the turmeric,rice and dal. Add water, salt, konbu and ginger. Simmer covered until beans and rice are soft (about an hour). Wash and dice vegetables. Add them and cook until tender - about 15/20minutes more.

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander

[Adapted from The Arurvedic Cookbook]