If you know me, you might be familiar with my story already. If you’re new to my site, welcome! For those of you unfamiliar with it, long story short, in the past 2 years I have been dealing with depression, anxiety, an abusive relationship and serious gut issues due to my unbalanced, unhealthy diet. I reached to a point in my life (for the second time) where I knew if I let myself go even more deep in the rabbit hole, there will be no turning back, and I didn’t want to end up where I was before. With months of hard work, spiritual practices, self care habits I was able to rebuild my life but something was still off..
My gut health.
No matter how healthy I ate, and that I didn’t consume gluten and dairy products for months, I still experienced belly ache, bloating, constipation, sluggish digestion, unbalanced appetite and at times, lack of energy. I knew I had to do something to heal my gut, but the methods that worked before , did not help this time. I took probiotics daily, had a strict diet regimen to follow, drank detox and special herbal teas that supposed to be good for digestion. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. I still experienced the same symptoms as before.
I was already digging into Ayurveda for years now, but somehow I totally forgot about the Kitchari cleanse, until I came across a recipe on Mind Body Green that reminded me of Kitchari. And then I remembered what I learned about it. How I didn’t even think of it before? So silly of me… But I made some research with my teachers about it and decided to go for it. Ayurveda has helped me already in so many ways (curing my allergies, coming to my ideal weight, and so on), it could be the solution to my problem.
What is Kitchari?
Kitchari is a dish that mixes rice and lentils into a warm porridge with various spices. It is an Ayurvedic recipe that is said to balance all doshas (in Ayurvedic medicine, the doshas are 3 different energies that are said to govern physiological activity), with some variations in the recipe. While the base is usually split yellow mung beans (mung dal) and white basmati rice, you can also add in variations of cooked vegetables, play with the spices to meet your liking, and add in a small amount of ghee (clarified butter) as well.
What is a Kitchari cleanse?
A kitchari cleanse is simply eating only kitchari for every meal for anywhere between 3-7 days. The dish is very easily digestible and so it allows the gastrointestinal system to rest, while still providing you with plenty of nourishment (unlike other cleanses). Other than GI restoration, it can also assist in balancing your body out, boosting the immune system, and can provide opportunity for spiritual deepening.
My experience
I’m going to be super honest with how I felt during this 3-day cleanse, as it was not always a positive experience for me. But honestly, is there any cleanse that is? The goal is to cleanse your body, that means getting rid of bad stuff, and that is not always supposed to be pleasant.
One of the biggest shifts I noticed while eating only kitchari was the dramatic decrease in anxiety. This might be also related to the fact, that I cut back on phone and laptop usage as well during the cleanse. I was only interacting with my family and closest friends once a day.
I didn’t eat kitchari 3 times a day, I choose to start my days with a plain, warm oatmeal bowl with cooked apples and spices. Then I prepared my daily amount of kitchari for the day that I usually ate 3 times, in smaller portions.
I seriously felt like I smoked a huge joint during the first day. I felt incredibly relaxed and chill and my sleep was crazy deep. At the end of the second day, I started to feel lethargic, tired, weak and kind of sad. I think this is where the emotional & spiritual release starting to kick in. The third day was when I started to come to so many realizations about myself. I started to become aware of how much I use food to cope with my emotions and to change the way I feel. There were times where I really wanted to eat something else, but realized all these cravings were coming from a purely emotional place rather than from physical hunger. This heightened my awareness around the emotional connection we all have with food. I noticed that I simply don’t need that much food that I consumed daily, because I was eating my emotions or out of habit.
I also realized the energetics of different foods. Kitchari is so grounding and makes you feel very mellow. After the cleanse was over, all I wanted was raw fruits and veggies and could see how my energy lifted tremendously just by the shifting towards more raw food. I didn’t even want to eat sugary, oily food for days after.I still did not return to the “normal” diet I had before, instead I created a new normal for myself.
And the most important part, my digestion got better, my belly ache stopped after the first day of eating kitchari, i am not bloated or if I get bloated from certain food, it goes away easily and it’s not painful as it was before. My digestion is stronger, I have no more issues on the toilet. Not to mention I finally started to lose the access weight that came up during the hard period of my life.
My base kitchari recipe
I’m excited to be sharing this Kitchari (also called khichdi or khichri) recipe that I learned in India from my Ayurveda teacher, which is a flagpole of healing Ayurvedic cuisine, and said to be the best combination of nourishing foods that won’t tax your digestive system.
Kitchari is traditionally made from either yellow lentils or split peas, basmati rice, a mixture of digestive spices, and ghee.
A mono-nutrient fast gives our digestive systems a much-needed break from dealing with a mess of different foods every meal.
Ingredients:
1 cup of red lentil
1/2 cup pf Basmati rice
3 ts coconut oil
1 tbs grated fresh ginger
2 ts ground cumin
1 ts ground coriander
1 ts fennel seeds
1 ts ground turmeric
1 ts Himalaya rock salt
5 cups vegetable stock
Plain vegan yogurt for serving
Heat the coconut oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and toast them until the mustard seeds start to pop, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the spices and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently to keep the spices from burning.
Add the rice, lentils, vegetable broth. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer the kitchari for about 20 minutes. After 15 minutes of cooking, check to see if there are still enough liquids in the pot. If you notice that the liquids are completely absorbed by the rice and beans, add 1/2 to 1 cup of water and stir to incorporate.
Remove the lid and check to see if the rice is tender. If the kitchari is looking too runny, let it simmer, uncovered, for a few more minutes. If the kitchari is too thick, turn off the heat and add 1/2 to 1 cup of water and stir. Taste and see if you need to add a small pinch of salt or more herbs.
Serve it hot with vegan sour cream or yogurt.
based on my experience with the kitchari cleanse i created a 3 day program to reset your gut and detox your body.
Click on the photo above or HERE to read more about the program.