Pitta Kitchari: The Perfect Meal for Cleansing and Cooling Your Body
- Veena Haasl-Blilie
- Dec 27, 2023
- 9 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Kitchari is an ideal food choice when the body needs something simple, nourishing, and easy to digest. In Ayurveda, this traditional combination of rice, mung dal, spices, and ghee can be prepared in different ways to suit your individual doshic picture.
This Pitta kitchari recipe is especially designed with cooling ingredients and spices to support balance during the heat of summer. Interested in learning more about kitchari and exploring the Ayurvedic approach to cleansing? Read on to learn more.
Bonus: Keep Your Pitta Cool! Looking for more delicious ways to cool and balance Pitta? Keep reading for complimentary Pitta Recipe eBooks filled with nourishing Ayurvedic meals and beverages, along with a helpful Pitta Guide to support greater understanding and balance.
Explore more on the Saumya Blog, selected top Ayurveda blogs and websites.
Enjoy this cooling Pitta kitchari recipe made with rice, mung dal, ghee, and Ayurvedic spices. A simple, nourishing meal for summer and Pitta balance.
Pitta Cooling Kitchari
What Is Kitchari?
You may have seen it written several ways—kitchari, kichdi, khichdee, and khichri…by any spelling, this traditional Ayurvedic cleansing food is simple and delicious. It is the epitome of food as medicine.
Let’s face it, we’re reading about wellness and health topics because we’re stressed and we want (and need) to be healthier. Yet, we’re bombarded with confusing information, and that alone is stressful. Modern diet trends and one-size-fits-all approaches—let’s ditch the stress and learn how to reduce Pitta in both mind and body by eating this foundation of an Ayurvedic lifestyle and diet.
Pitta kitchari can be especially supportive during the heat of late summer, when Pitta may have gradually accumulated throughout the season. To learn more about why sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes are especially helpful at this time of year, read End-of-Summer Pitta Care: 3 Ayurvedic Tastes to Cool the Fire.
What Is Kitchari Exactly?
It’s split, washed mung dal (meaning the green husk is removed), aromatic white basmati rice, and spices—aka digestive-supporting herbs that taste yummy—that combine to create a classic Ayurvedic healing meal.
Kitchari is plant-based and gluten-free.
Why use white basmati rice?
Simple—because it is easy to digest. When we're cleansing, foods need to be as easy to digest as possible to give the digestive system a rest. When less energy is needed for digestion, the body can direct more of its resources toward rejuvenation and repair.
There are alternatives used in preparing kitchari depending on individual needs, such as brown rice, oats, quinoa, and barley, but white basmati is the grain typically used.
Wondering if you have a Pitta imbalance? Check out our Hot List of Common Pitta Imbalances.
Why use washed, split mung (moong) dal (dahl)?
Split, washed mung is used because it is easy to digest. Using only the inner part of the mung bean, it has dry and astringent qualities that support the cleansing effect. The astringent quality helps draw out toxins (ama) from the digestive tract lining. The fiber in mung dal and basmati rice aids in the removal of toxins from the body.
White basmati rice combined with mung dal provides all the amino acids needed to create a complete protein. That's a nutritionally powerful combination that also provides ample energy. Cleansing with kitchari is nourishing and rejuvenating—not depleting or energy-zapping.
What is the role of spices in kitchari?
Spices make food taste delicious, and they are digestive herbs that support digestion. Which spices are supportive for each individual's doshic picture varies. Under the ingredient list, you'll find spices that support Pitta digestion.
What's the role of ghee in kitchari?
Ghee balances the digestive fire without aggravating Pitta, making it perfect for Pitta kitchari. Ghee soothes the digestive tract, oleates it (coats it), and helps counterbalance dryness and heat in the body.
Vegetables can be added to kitchari for flavor, fiber, and their Pitta-cooling qualities.
Energetically cooling foods help reduce Pitta-related heat in the body and mind.
More Ways to Cool and Balance Pitta
Looking for more delicious ways to bring Pitta-balancing food into your kitchen? Explore these Pitta-focused eBooks:
This keeps the focus on food as medicine and Pitta cooling without adding a big promotional section.
What Are The Benefits of Kitchari?
Kitchari is the Ayurvedic healing meal. It provides many benefits and is a key Ayurveda food as medicine tool. It is healing for the digestive system, cleansing, and balancing for all three doshas—Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
How Is Kitchari Cleansing?
The ingredients are easy to digest
The astringent quality helps draw out toxins (ama) from the digestive system
Kitchari supports digestion, absorption, and elimination—in other words, the whole digestive process
Kitchari spices support healthy agni (digestive fire)
Kitchari supports the body's natural elimination of ama
"Think of kitchari as a mouth-watering, porridge-like thick soup that doubles as healthy, cleansing comfort food. It doesn't get better than that!" —Veena
This article focuses on Pitta-cooling kitchari, but kitchari can also be adapted for other doshic needs. Explore our Vata-grounding kitchari or Kapha-invigorating kitchari.
Ingredients:
½ cup white basmati rice
1 cup organic yellow split mung dal (washed, meaning the green husk has been removed)
2 tablespoons ghee
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
½ teaspoon Hawaiian Red Alaea sea salt (mineral-rich)
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 stick of kombu (seaweed—you can substitute a little wakame—about one leaf per pot of soup). If you don't have any on hand, don't sweat it. Try it in your next pot.
6 cups water
If you want to include vegetables, use 1–2 cups of chopped vegetables from your custom Saumya Pitta food program.
Or, look to suggestions from our Pitta Cooling Foods.
Instructions:
Wash the rice and split, washed yellow mung dal.
Soak for about three hours. Drain and rinse the dal and rice well.
If you have an Instant Pot, use the pressure-cooking setting.
If you have a pressure cooker, use that.
Otherwise, in a pot, warm the ghee over heat until it melts.
Add the spices and coat them with the ghee. Sauté for about a minute. (If you're using seaweed, now is the time to add it.)
Next, add the rice and mung dal and sauté for a few minutes, ensuring they are coated with the ghee and spices.
If you're using vegetables, add them now and sauté for a minute.
Add 6 cups of water and bring it all to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low.
Cover and cook until everything is really tender and brothy, with a porridge-like consistency (approximately 30–45 minutes).
Add more water as needed to prevent scorching.
Garnish with fresh cilantro, squeeze on some fresh lime, sprinkle with toasted coconut flakes, and add salt to taste.
Pair with our delicious cilantro chutney—it's perfect with Pitta Cooling Kitchari.
Ayurvedic Cilantro Chutney
Health Benefits According to Ayurveda: Cilantro is traditionally used to help clear ama from the system, support digestion, and may help the body remove heavy metals. Make it fresh and enjoy it daily.
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, washed thoroughly
¼ teaspoon Hawaiian Red Alaea sea salt
Fresh juice from ½ lime
¼ cup water
¼ cup raisins
¼ teaspoon of your Saumya savory spice mix
⅓ cup raw cashews
Blend everything together in a small Cuisinart or Magic Bullet.
Enjoying this cooling approach to eating? Pitta kitchari is just one way to bring more soothing foods into your kitchen. Explore The Ultimate Guide to Cooling Foods in Ayurveda to discover more ingredients, drinks, and everyday foods that can help calm excess heat and support Pitta balance.
Benefits of Cilantro:
May support healthy blood sugar levels
Rich in immune-boosting antioxidants
May support heart health
Has anti-inflammatory properties and may support brain health
Supports a healthy gut and digestion
Make sure your spices are fresh.
Remember, these spices are digestive herbs, so quality counts. For dried herbs and spices, the shelf life is about a year, although the exact length depends on the quality of the spice—how fresh it was at the time of purchase—and how it has been stored.
Rancid or depleted spices should be replaced. Spices are digestive herbs that help us digest, assimilate, and eliminate food properly, which, according to Ayurveda, is fundamental to good health.
If excess heat is showing up in more ways than digestion, explore How to Cool Pitta and Reduce Body Heat with Ayurveda for Ayurvedic practices to help cool the body, calm the mind, and restore Pitta balance.
Continue Your Pitta Food as Medicine Journey
If you enjoyed this Pitta-cooling kitchari, bring more Ayurvedic food as medicine into your kitchen with our free Pitta eBooks. Explore cooling recipes, nourishing foods, seasonal guidance, and delicious Ayurvedic beverages created to help you better understand how food can support your unique doshic picture.
Free Pitta eBooks
🌿 The Pitta Cooling Cookbook & Ayurveda Nutrition Guide 11 nourishing recipes, a sample Pitta food plan, and practical guidance for bringing Pitta-balancing food into everyday life.
🌿 The Complete Guide to Balancing Pitta in Summer Learn how to support Pitta through cooling foods, lifestyle practices, daily routines, and seasonal self-observation.
🌿 Ayurveda Beverages for Cooling Pitta Dosha
Enjoy eight easy-to-make Ayurvedic beverages designed to bring more cooling ingredients into your day.
The shop currently lists all three as free eBooks, making this a clean and highly relevant next step from the kitchari recipe.
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