Kitchari – A One-Pot Meal for Chilly Spring Days
A flavorful and satisfying one-pot meal served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. When it’s cold outside a steaming bowl is particularly comforting and delicious. With nine plus inches of snow in a recent forecast, the time was right for a bowl 
of Kitchari – Indian Spiced Mung Bean Brown Rice Vegetable Stew. (Click here for pronunciation.)
The Backstory
After a month studying advanced cake decorating in the early 80’s at the Wilton School of Cake Decorating (when they were in Woodridge, Illinois), I returned home to discover my room mates had studied Indian cooking while I was away. They began making a mung bean soup for breakfast. Although it soon became my favorite breakfast, they soon tired of making it. And that was that as I’d never learned the recipe or how to make it myself.
Success
Then a few years ago a dear friend showed me a recipe for an Indian mung bean dish called kitchari. I made it but wasn’t wowed. Then just last month, after refining my techniques for the Indian cooking classes, I successfully refined/upgraded that basic recipe to make an uptown Indian spiced, mung bean, brown rice, vegetable stew.
- Whole spices tempered in oil replaced all the
ground spices. - A wet paste made from ginger, garlic, coconut, a Serrano pepper and cilantro improved the flavor profile even more.
- With the substitution of brown rice for basmati and whole green mung beans for split yellow mung dal there was more texture.
- And, an abundance of leafy greens brightened the color.
Is it still Kitchari?
With so many changes, do I dare still call this Indian Spiced Mung Bean Brown Rice Vegetable Stew kitchari? Yes, indeed, as kitchari means mixture, and refers
to a one-pot meal combining split mung beans (mung dal) and rice with Indian spices.
Indian chef and blogger Richa of VeganRicha.com writes that “depending on the region, it [kitchari] can be an elaborate preparation, comfort food or a gourmet meal as well.”
Kitchari – Indian Spiced Mung Bean Brown Rice Vegetable Stew
- More soup like when just made, Kitchari thickens as it cools as the rice and beans absorb more of the broth.
- Change the flavor and brighten the color by adding additional seasonal vegetables.
- Depending on the cooking time for each vegetable, add them anywhere from 20 minutes to 5 minutes before the mung beans and brown rice are tender.
- Delicious for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.
- Vegan, gluten and dairy-free.
Makes 16 cups Printer-Friendly Recipe
Active time 45 minutes
Total time 1½ hours plus 2 hours to soak the mung beans and rice
Ingredients
1 cup whole mung beans
1 cup brown short-grain rice
Ginger/Garlic Paste
¾ ounce peeled fresh ginger
2 medium cloves peeled garlic
1 Serrano pepper, stemmed and seeded
2 tablespoons shredded, unsweetened dried coconut
1 small handful fresh cilantro leaves with tender stems
½ cup water
Whole spices
One 1½ inch cinnamon stick
10 whole green cardamom pods
10 whole cloves
20 black peppercorns
3 Tej Patta leaves or bay leaves
Vegetables
1 cup ⅓ inch diced onion
1 cup ⅓ inch diced carrots
1 cup ⅓ inch diced celery
1½ -2 cups ½ inch diced seasonal vegetables, i.e., butternut squash, sweet potatoes, zucchini, green beans, etc.
4 packed cups mixed greens, i.e., kale, Swiss chard, spinach
Ground spices
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon sea salt, divided
2 tablespoons coconut oil or ghee
12 cups water
Instructions
- Rinse the mung beans and brown rice until the
water runs clear. Soaking them together for 2 hours shortens the cooking time and improves their digestibility. - In a blender, purée together all the ingredients for the Ginger/Garlic paste. Set aside.
- Gather the whole spices and set them aside.
- Prepare the vegetables. If using baby greens, keep them whole. With mature greens, remove the stems and cut the leaves into 1 by 2-inch strips.
- Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium
heat. Add the coconut oil or ghee. When melted add the whole spices. Let them cook until very fragrant, about 2 minutes. - Reduce the heat to medium low. Stir in the diced onion, celery and carrot. Cover the pot and cook for 5 minutes.
- Raise the heat to medium and stir in the Ginger/Garlic paste, ground turmeric and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Drain the mung beans and brown rice. Stir them into the pot and mix well.
- Add the water. Raise the heat to high to bring the water to a boil. Then cover the
pot and reduce the heat to about medium low, so that the kitchari simmers. After 30 minutes stir in the remaining 2½ teaspoons salt and diced winter squash, if using it. Cook for another 20 minutes, adding the summer squash, if using it, after 10 minutes. - Test the mung beans and brown rice. If they are tender, stir in the mixed greens. Otherwise cook the soup another 5 minutes and test again before stirring in the greens.
- Adjust the salt to taste. Serve Kitchari – Indian Spiced Mung Bean Brown Rice Vegetable Stew while hot.
- Store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. You may want to add additional water or stock when reheating it for a soup-like consistency.