Recipe: Mung Beans & Rice (Kitcheree)

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Mung Beans & Rice Cleansing Diet.mung beans and rice kitcheree

  • Eat only mung beans and rice for 30 days as a mono-diet. Cook with lots of vegetables. Yogi Bhajan says,” You Americans are rich. You should but lots of vegetables in your mung beans and rice.”A good cleansing diet that gives plenty of nourishment.
  • Good for the kidneys, colon, and digestive organs, or when food is not being digested thoroughly by the intestines.
  • Good diet for winter (make it spicy)
  • May have fruit in between meals for snack. Also may take yogi tea.

RECIPE:

Makes 8 servings

  • 1 Cup Mung Beans
  • 1 Cup Basmati Rice
  • 9 Cups Water
  • 6-7 Cups assorted Vegetables

Masala Mixture:

  • ¼ Cup Ghee or olive oil
  • 4-5 Cloves of fresh Garlic, crushed in a press
  • 2 Onions, Chopped
  • 1 finger fresh Ginger root, peeled and minced
  • 1 1/2 Tsp Tumeric
  • 1 1/2 Tsp Cumin powder
  • 3/4 Tsp Ground Coriander seed
  • Seeds of 5 Green Cardamon Pods (or 3/4 tsp powder)
  • 1 Tsp Black Pepper
  • ½ Tsp Crushed Red Chilies (more if you like spicy OR omit completely if you don’t like it hot)
  • 1 – 1 1/2 Tbsp Sea Salt

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This recipe goes much smoother if you prep everything before you begin.

  • Add salt to water in a large stew pot and bring water to a light boil.
  • Wash Mung beans, carefully removing any tiny stones.
  • Rinse Basmati Rice at least three times to remove starch.
  • Set mung beans and rice aside.
  • Chop assorted vegetables.

(Prepare the Masala Mixture while waiting for water to boil)

  • Heat Ghee (or Oil) in a large frying pan (preferrably cast iron.)
  • Add garlic (using press), chopped onions, and Ginger and saute under a medium flame. When Onions, Garlic and Ginger are translucent, add Turmeric, Cumin, Coriander, Cardamon, Crushed Chilies and Black Pepper; mix well.
  • When all spices are absorbed shut off flame and let sit for 5 min, covered.

(When water begins to boil)

  • Add mung beans to boiling water.
  • Reduce flame to simmering and cover and boil until the beans start to soften and open, (15-20 min.)
  • Add Masala Mixture to water with mung beans and vegetables.
  • Simmer for 20-30 minutes until soupy.
  • Add rice and cook an additional 15-20 min until rice is absorbed.
  • Shut off and let set 15-20 min.
  • Serve with fresh yogurt (or sour cream.)

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This Post Has 14 Comments

  1. I have just completed a 6 day fast. The first 4 days were the lemon detox diet, followed by 2 days of just water fasting. I was quite toxic before I started the fast and found that during the whole 6 days, I felt very ordinary, with quite a pasty tongue for the duration. I attributed this to having a high level of candida in my body. I had fungus under my arm pits and and also between my toes – tinea. I researched that kitcheree was a good recipe to come off a fasting detox. I really enjoyed the first batch I made and have decided to use this recipe for an entire week. At day two of kitcheree recipe I feel clear in my head and my pasty tongue is a lot less. I look forward to the next 5 days using this recipe as my only food. It tastes great. I also do not feel the need to eat “non-food”. My will power is strengthening as each day passes for good nutritious food. Thanks to the author of this recipe.

  2. Hi Robert,

    Thanks for contributing. Comments help expand the blog. I have done the mung beans and rice fast many times and it’s always great. I’m amazed at how miraculous and simple it is.

    Jai Gopal

  3. Even my kids love kitcheree. Its amazing how raising your children on a healthy diet does to their dispositions.

  4. A friend of mine was telling me that she made Kitcheree with yellow dal which she also called mung dal. Which is correct the yellow dal or the mung beans?
    Thanks. PT

  5. This recipe calls for mung beans, or mung dal, which is generally the green ones. You can also use other types of mung beans– there are also red ones that are known as cow peas, but these need to be boiled a little longer. Try it with the green ones– this is standard. Then you can try some other types. Enjoy!

  6. I love this recipe although I am allergic to nightshades so no chilies for me. Also I am under other dietary restaints through my Ayurvedic practioner so no garlic or onions for me either. I have to increase the spices(namely ginger,cumin and peppercorns) and I add szechuan peppercorns (after crushing and sifting them to eliminate the undigestable hulls.)This kicks up the spicy for me! I also like to cook the mung beans in chicken broth or vegetable broth for added depth of flavor, take in mind you will have to adjust the salt content to your liking. I do like this recipe with less rice and more mung beans however(1 1/2 cups mung and only a half cup of rice) I also usually use carrots, celery, daikon radish, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale.

  7. I would like to add that kitcheree always makes me feel good and helps my digestion considerably!!! I probably make this recipe one a month and eat it for the week. I find that I start to miss it and get excited to make it again!!

  8. I just made this recipe and it’s pretty good. I would say that the spices are a little intense and could be cut back a little bit! Perhaps even by 1/2 ! Otherwise it’s a pretty good dish!

  9. I have Ulcerative Colitis and this dish fixes me right up when I have a flare. I would highly recommend to all with Chrons disease, UC, or other IBS

  10. Hi – This is my third day. I am on a mung beans diet. I drink filtered boiled mung beans water with some spices. The juice is semi thick and easily you can drink it. I love the taste and you feel full after drinking it. I avoid rice but I believe it is ok to have if you are following the above recipe. I need to loose weight (belly) and I have an issue with constipation. My first day bowl moment was semi-ok, second day bowl moment was ok. Third day was great. I felt like it is really helping me to clean my colon. I felt like it pretty much cleaned everything. I feel like my body is healing and improving. Because of lots of liquid and tea (without milk) I drink – I spend good amount of time in the bathroom but feel great to remove all those toxins from the body. Only trouble, I am having is with my sleep pattern. I get only 3 to 5 hours of sleep, and I wake up quite often at night. But, hopefully it will be ok after sometime. Good Luck with your diet. It is always hard in the bringing or doing it first time but then you get used to it and see very positive sings that you want to do it over and over again. God bless you all 🙂

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