Comments on: Kitchari Recipe

By: Monica

Monica — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:32:36 +0000

Hi Lucie!
I would suggest doing the juice cleanse and seeing how you feel after that, rather than launching into a kitchari cleanse too. Ghee is technically not dairy (all dairy-stuffs have been removed), it’s considered an oil in Ayurveda. However, if it’s origin bothers you, you can do coconut or flax (flax can’t be heated though). Coconut is cooling rather than heating so it’s not going to ignite agni like ghee does. Making agni stronger is the purpose of the kitchari cleanse.

As far as other ingredients to use to balance pitta, you can add some shredded unsweetened coconut to the batch and also top with cilantro! :) Hope this helps!!

By: Lucie

Lucie — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:36:05 +0000

Hi Monica!

What a great website! And thank you for all the info, comments and feedback!
I am doing a green juice cleanse for 5 days then will do a few days of raw vegies and I was thinking to follow with 5 days of kitchari.
The thing is, I am dairy free. Could I use coconut oil instead of ghee?
Any advice on what to add/remove for Pitta types?

Thank you so much!

By: Monica

Monica — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:03:27 +0000

Hi Diana!
Hmmmmmmmmm…maybe there were too many heating herbs in your kitchari. Black mustard, cumin, tumeric, hing and salt are all heating – great for vata, but might be a bit much for pitta. You could try my recipe next time and add some chopped cilantro (if you like it?) on the top and even some shredded unsweetened coconut. Also, was there ginger (fresh chopped, then sauteed) in your kitchari? I’m so sorry your esophagus was burning! :( Sad. Try flax seed oil in place of ghee, although you can’t really cook with it – you can “drizzle” with it. Hope this helps?

By: Diana

Diana — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 11:15:03 +0000

Hi Monica, After eating kitchari for the third meal (not your recipe — but included black mustartd seeds, cumin, tumeric, salt, sweet potato, ghee, basmati, yellow mung beans, hing), I felt awfully bloated, gassy and my esophagus was burning! I so wanted to last for a 9 day cleanse, but felt ill. Any suggestions on what I should do to remedy this? I am pitta/kapha — The smell and taste of ghee is not for me! What can I substitute? Thank you!

By: Monica

Monica — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 01:02:03 +0000

Hey Tara! Use some extra cumin (you can even sprinkle on your individual bowls) and black pepper to help digestion and to ignite agni. Can also use extra ginger and cinnamon if you want. Be sure to have nice amounts of ghee, too! Hope this helps!

By: Tara

Tara — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:02:26 +0000

Hi, great website! I’m going to try your kitchari recipe tomorrow, any special tips for vatta?

By: Monica

Monica — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:56:30 +0000

Aw, glad you like the site, Jill! Happy kitchari-making! Enjoy – you will be able to taste the healing :) xo

By: Jill

Jill — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:33:32 +0000

Dear Monica – what a great website you have and you are so lovely to answer each person! I’m making the kitchari right now – thank you so much

By: let’s talk trash | barefootgirl.. taking out the trash

let’s talk trash | barefootgirl.. taking out the trash — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:45:37 +0000

[...] dinner I had a bowl of kitcheri. I made a big batch on Sunday. It was not as good as the recipe that a fellow yogi brought to [...]

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:36:05 +0000

That’s great Monica, thanks for taking the time to reply – I love the attitude that it’s better to take the convenient route rather than miss out altogether. Sort of aligns with my principles. But I will try to mostly re-heat on the stove…
I look forward to many delicous meals. I’m also looking forward to exploring your website further to continue a brief intro to Ayerveda that I recently had as part of yoga teacher training.
Thank you again…. Peter
(I don’t expect you to post this message, but I didn’t want to not appear grateful and say thanks)