Ayurveda Sabudana Kitchari

“Tapioca Kitchari”

Tapioca is the root starch of the cassava plant of South America. It is a grain free, wheat free substitute for gluten sensitivity and for those fasting from grains for spiritual purposes. It has a binding property which makes it good for thickening sauces or as a flour replacement. It is used Ayurvedically to neutralize acidity ama and help assist its release from the body. It should be eaten regularly to neutralize and cleanse the system.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Sabudana (Tapioca pearls/sago – medium sized)

• ¼ cup Kala Chana (special small variety of garbanzo beans with black skin)

• 2 Tablespoons Ghee

• 1 tsp Mustard seeds

• 2 Tbs chopped ginger root

• 10 chopped curry leaves

• 1 pinch hing

• ¼ tsp fennel seeds

• 1.5 cups chopped zucchini

• 1-2 carrots peeled & chopped ½“ cubes

• 1 fennel bulb sliced thin

• 1 tsp salt (to taste)

• 1 tsp brown sugar or Sucanat

• Juice of 1 lime

• 1/3 cup toasted almond slivers

• ¼ bunch cilantro de-stemmed and chopped

• 1 cucumber peeled, de-seeded and chopped

Instructions:

• Night before: Wash tapioca pearls once to remove debris & soak covered with water for 30 minutes. Do not soak longer. Drain. Put them in a large bowl or pot so they have room to expand and cover with a wet paper towel. Put the lid on the pot and put in refrigerator overnight.

• Soak kala channa in 4 cups water overnight. They will swell to about ½ cups by morning.

• Day of: Take tapioca pearls out the refrigerator. Put into a strainer to remove any remaining water. Let them sit 20 minutes before adding to the recipe.

• Prepare and measure all ingredients.

• Drain and rinse the kala chana.

• Do not add or sprinkle water in this dish at any time.

• Melt ghee

• Add mustard seeds and wait until they pop.

• Add curry leaves, and ½ of ginger root.

• Cook on medium heat uncovered for 1-2 minutes stirring occasionally.

• Add kala chana and ¼ cup water, cook covered on medium-high for 5 minutes.

• Add zucchini, carrots, fennel, fennel seeds and salt and Cook on medium heat covered for 5 more minutes, stirring once.

• Add tapioca pearls ½ cup at a time and stir in so they don’t stick together. This will take about 3 minutes.

• Cover and cook over medium heat for 6 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. Watch the pearls go from white to translucent. May stick to bottom at this point. Don’t add water. Just scrape and stir.

• Add brown sugar or sucanat, almond slivers, cilantro and cucumber. Stir well and serve. Garnish with a squeeze of lime juice to each plate. Adding the lime juice to the pot of kitchari could make it all mushy, so just squeeze lime over eat plate as desired.

• To make this recipe reducing for pitta: Substitute fennel seeds for the mustard seeds.

PRINT RECIPE HERE