Recipes

Basic Kitchari

Kitchari (or Kicharee) is Ayurveda’s perfect food and an easy way to cleanse your digestive system. This traditional Indian dish made from rice, beans, digestive spices and healthy fats is easy to prepare. It is a complete protein, rich in fiber, and will act to bulk up stool for easier elimination. To maximize the many benefits you will receive from kitchari, eat it for several meals in a row for multiple days up to three weeks. The recipe allows for many variations, i.e. cinnamon or other sweeter spices for breakfast.

Prep time: 15 min.
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups mung dahl or mung beans
  • 2 cups basmati rice
  • 3 teaspoons ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 3 tsps ground cumin
  • 3 tsps ground coriander
  • 1/2 to 1 inch fresh ginger root, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • fresh pepper
  • 1-2 cups chopped vegetables (Optional. No night-shades.)

Directions:
Soak rice and beans over night. Rinse and strain until the water is clear. Put into a pot and cover with 3-4 inches of water. Bring water to boil and simmer for up to 45 minutes until the kitchari has a porridge-like consistency. If you are adding vegetables to your kitchari, add the longer cooking vegetables such as carrots and beets halfway through the cooking. Add the vegetables that cook faster such as leafy greens near the end. Warm the ghee in a frying pan. Add spices and fry until brown, then add to the kitchari and cook for another 5 minutes. ​

Herb Bone Broth

Consuming homemade bone broth is one of the best things you can do for your digestion and immune system.  Bone broth is full of vitamins, minerals and collagen that strengthens bones, tendons, joints, ligaments and the skin.  It helps to heal the lining of the gut and relieves intestinal inflammation.
Bone broth basically consists of bones, water, and apple cider vinegar.  You can use any types of bones, from chicken to beef, wild game or fish bones.  Adding apple cider vinegar helps to pull the calcium and nutrition from the bones.
I like to add herbal roots to my bone broth, i.e. Astragalus root, Burdock root or Angelica (Dan Gui) root which enhance the nutritional value. Astragalus is knows to be an effective immune tonic and gives an overall boost of energy. Burdock root has long been praised for it's healing properties too. It helps to nourish beneficial bacteria in the gut and destroys harmful bacteria. Furthermore it is loaded with potassium and vitamin B6. Angelica has been used for centuries in Chinese Medicine to invigorate blood circulation and improve vitality.

Directions:
Place bones in a crockpot and cover with water. Add about 1-2 tbsp. of raw apple cider vinegar for every 3 cups of water. Add 1-2 tbsp. of dried Astragalus, Burdock and Angelica root per 3 cups of water. Cover with a lid and simmer on low for 12- 72 hours. Strain the broth and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Yogi Tea

This is the original recipe given by Yogi Bhajan.
For each 8 oz cup, start with 10 oz of water. For each cup of boiling water, add:
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 4 whole green cardamom pods
  • 6 whole black pepper corns
  • 1/2 stick cinnamon
  • optional: 1 slice of fresh ginger
Preparation:
  1. Boil for 20-30 minutes,
  2. Add 1/4 tsp of any black or green tea. Let sit for two minutes.
  3. Add 1/2 cup milk (cow, almond, hemp, etc.) and reheat.
  4. Strain and serve with honey to taste.
Black pepper is a blood purifier, cardamom is helping with gas in the colon, cloves are for the nervous system and cinnamon for blood sugar and bones. Ginger is helpful when suffering from a old or general weakness.
The milk aids in the assimilation of the spices and avoids irritation to the colon.

Golden Milk

The main ingredient in this recipe is turmeric. Turmeric contains curcumin which exhibits around 600 potential health benefits. Some benefits include:
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Anti-carcinogenic
  • Immunity-boosting
  • Helps maintain cholesterol levels
  • Promotes digestive health
  • Liver-detoxifying
  • Regulates metabolism and weight management
  • Regulates high blood pressure
  • Improves memory and brain function
  • Clears various skin conditions
  • Lowers Triglycerides
Adding black pepper to turmeric enhances curcumin’s bio-availability by 1,000 times, due to the black pepper’s property piperine!

Turmeric paste ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup of turmeric powder
  • 1/2 cup of filtered water
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper
Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan. Turn the heat to medium high and stir constantly until the mixture is a thick paste. Simmer carefully for a few minutes. Let this mixture cool and then keep it in a small jar in the fridge.
I eat 1 tsp 2-3 x daily when I am in need of an anti-inflammatory, i.e. knee pain.

Golden Milk ingredients:
  • 1 cup of almond, coconut or hemp milk
  • 1 teaspoon coconut or sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon or more of turmeric paste
  • honey or stevia to sweeten
Directions:
Combine milk and turmeric paste in a saucepan. Turn the heat to medium. While heating make sure to stir constantly and do not allow the mixture to boil. Add oil and honey or stevia. Enjoy!

This is a great video on golden milk by Dr. Arjan Khalsa:
Garlic Infused Honey
Garlic infused honey is great cold and flu remedy to have on hand!
​
Garlic is an effective anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal herb.  The antibiotic qualities of garlic appear to be a direct result of the allicin produced from raw, crushed garlic.  This is destroyed by age and cooking.
Raw honey has also been used as an anti-bacterial for hundreds of years. It also has anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties. When you combine those two, you have a great aid to help you fight sore throats, colds or the flu.
When infused in honey raw garlic becomes far more palatable. At the first sign of a sore throat, cold or flu, start taking a teaspoon of the honey and garlic mix  every two hours. 
Prepare a jar of this and keep it in your fridge ready for the season change and winter. 
​Ingredients:
  • 1 pint jar
  • 1 cup of peeled garlic,  chopped
  • raw local honey to fill your glass jar (raw/unprocessed honey is more nutritious than store-bought honey)
Preparation:
  1. Fill jar with garlic  and then pour the honey over the garlic.
    • Allow mixture to infuse for a couple of weeks before using, then store in the refrigerator where it will keep for many months.
    • Be sure to start with fresh garlic. All cloves should be firm. Sniff, there should be no smell of mold, hardly any smell at all. And no sprouts, when sprouting starts, it can be bitter.
  2. At the first sign of illness, start eating a teaspoon of the honey/garlic mix every two hours. 
    • The honey can be taken on its own by the spoonful as a cough syrup.
    • You could also mix a teaspoon of the honey with some raw apple cider vinegar and hot water and drink this as a tonic when you’re sick;. Feel free to add a dash of cayenne pepper, too- this is excellent for your sinuses.