A good vegan Kitchari recipe is just the thing to start the new year healthy. Kitchari is a traditional, oatmeal-like fasting dish from Ayurvedic cuisine. Ayurveda teaches the knowledge (veda) of long life (ayur). This includes cures, massages, yoga and nutrition.

Maybe you have resolved to eat healthier or fast in the current year. Then this vegan kitchari recipe with red lentils is just right for you.
What exactly is kitchari, how to prepare it and why kitchari is healthy, I will show you in the following post.

How to make kitchari?

Kitchari is traditionally based on two basic ingredients, namely rice and Mung beans*. Today I show you another kitchari recipe, namely from red lentils and basmati rice. The advantage of red lentils is that they minimize the preparation time of the kitchari.
You need only a few ingredients for the vegan kitchari, because your body is nourished, but only little burdened. Especially for the digestion it is beneficial to combine rather few different foods. Nevertheless, the Kitchari is very filling.
I often stock up on lentils and rice, so Kitchari is always an option if I don't have the time or inclination to go shopping.

Vegan kitchari recipe with red lentils

Now I want to provide you ingredients and preparation of my kitchari recipe so that you can prepare kitchari by yourself.
Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 400 g red lentils (you get here* or in the supermarket)
• 225 g basmati rice (you can find here* or in the supermarket)
• 2 l water (you get from the tap ;))
• 1 tablespoon natural salt (is available here*)
• Spices according to personal taste

For the spices I recommend Turmeric and some pepper, as well as cumin and some chili. If you like, you can add more, such as bay leaves, coriander or paprika powder. Generally, you can season generously, but you should use salt sparingly. Finally, you can sprinkle the kitchari with a little lime or lemon juice.
Optionally, you can also spice up the recipe with a handful of vegetables or sprouts of your choice. Broccoli or broccoli sprouts, zucchini, mung bean sprouts and bell peppers go very well with this.
Bring 2 liters of water to a boil. In the meantime, wash the lentils and rice thoroughly with cold water. Once the water boils, add the lentils and rice and cook for five minutes. Then reduce the temperature to medium-low heat. Now add the spices and simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If you have little time to cook, you can prepare the kitchari within five minutes and do not need to stand at the stove for the rest of the cooking time, or only a little.

What's so healthy about kitchari?

Proteins and amino acids

Rice and Legumes are rich in Protein and their amino acid profiles complement each other well. In contrast to rice, pulses contain a lot of lysine. However, pulses contain little tryptophan, cystine and methionine, which in turn are present in large quantities in rice. Thus, with the combination of rice and pulses, one can cover all ten essential amino acids.

In addition, red lentils contain much Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Folic acid. Especially if you do not (yet) vegan or vegetarian diet, you can cover with Kitchari important nutrients and omit meat or fish.

Low fat content

Especially if you Fasting it is advantageous if you reduce the intake of fat, which is very well possible with kitchari. Both rice and red lentils (or mung beans in the original) contain little fat.

Energy through many carbohydrates

The high amount of carbohydrates provides you with energy. With carbohydrates, it is important to make sure you eat healthy carbohydrates. These include especially rice, sweet potatoes, lentils, oatmeal or buckwheat.

Legumes for good digestion

For fasting, red lentils or mung beans are optimal. Red lentils are very easy to digest, while the mung beans used in the original contain detoxifying enzymes. In addition, legumes contain a lot of fiber, which has a beneficial effect on your digestion and even Prevent cancer can.

High content of micronutrients

You can always prepare kitchari differently by adding other spices and combining it with vegetables or salad. Especially when you are not fasting, kitchari is a great base for a meal.
Combine kitchari with a mixed salad of avocado, tomato, bell bell pepper, carrots or prepare a vegetable stir-fry with zucchini, broccoli, bell bell pepper, eggplant and tomatoes parallel to the kitchari.
Alternatively, you can spice up the kitchari with a few sprouts. Here offer Broccoli*-, Alfalfa*- or Mung bean sprouts* on. The sprouts you can simply put in the plastic free sprout jar* from Eschenfelder produce. To do this, soak the seeds in water overnight. From the next morning, rinse them with fresh water two to three times a day. The germination period is between 3 and 5 days.

Conclusion of the vegan kitchari recipe with lentils

The Kitchari with red lentils is super quick to prepare and is already a full meal by itself, but can also be combined with vegetables and salad. Combine the Kitchari recipe but with one of my Hummus recipesif you want to try something new.

By combining rice and legumes, you get a lot of proteins, amino acids and carbohydrates that provide your body very well.
Kitchari is particularly suitable for fasting, as it contains only a few ingredients and thus puts little strain on the body.

The vegan kitchari of red lentils is thus a healthy, simple and quick meal and will help you with a substitute free diet.

All the best,

P.S.: If you want to read more about vegan nutrition and the connection between environmental protection and nutrition, have a look at my posts vegan life and Food & Environment over.