THE MEDICINE OF FOOD:
COOKING FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL RETREATS
PART ONE
(KITCHARI RECIPE INCLUDED)
Food is medicine.
Food is nourishment.
Food is love.
Food is...
We all have a relationship to food. Most likely, it is a multi-dimensional relationship. Some of us eat to live. Others of us live to eat. Many of us fall somewhere between.
I had the honor to be of service and facilitation in a retreat with Emily Blackwell and Aryn Evans.
Over a decade+ of retreat facilitation and two decades of generating experiences of all kinds, there is one thing I know for sure.
FOOD. MATTERS.
It holds a retreat container in ways beyond words.
It connects everyone to their bodies and to one another.
It nourishes all of physically, emotionally, and spiritually as we dive into the caves and mountains of transformative experience.
KITCHARI, SEPARATE BUT TOGETHER
Kitchari is typically made by combining both legumes and rice into one pot with herbs, spices and water. It is a staple dish across many cultures around the world. and goes by a few different names..
With a large group and mixed dietary preferences (particularly around simple carbs like rice), I opted to separate the lentils and rice into two pots. This decision also came about through not having one pot big enough to make kitchari for 20 ppl.
Kitchari is very forgiving and can be seasoned according to your personal taste. An example might be the amount of ginger. My aim was to make this an especially soothing dinner for the digestion, so I used a lot of fresh ginger that simmered with the lentils throughout the cooktime and added fresh ginger about 5 minutes before serving for a second layer of gingery texture and flavor.
Raw garlic is potent on our systems. I generally do not add in raw garlic or onions towards the end of a cook time, but you can of course do as you wish if you are looking for a bit of that "zing" of raw alliums like garlic, shallots, scallions and onions.
Ingredients
Cooking Oil (olive, sunflower, coconut)
Red Lentils (2 lbs.)
Minced Ginger (~1 cup, loosely packed)
Garlic (~3 tbsp)
Cilantro (~2 cups, one for cooking, and one for garnish)
Water or Stock (~6-8 cups) - water is completely fine here no need to buy anything
Cumin Seeds (ground is fine too if that's what you have on hand)
Coriander (I prefer ground for this recipe but crushed seeds is great)
Tumeric (1/2 tsp.)
Mustard Seeds (2 tbsp - optional)
Salt (Sea Salt is my personal preference, particularly the pink Himalayan sea salt)
White Rice (1 lb.)
Coconut Milk (2 standard cans)
Stock or Water (~6 cups)
Cardamom Seeds (Pods work too, just remove before serving)
Salt (Sea Salt is my personal preference, particularly the pink Himalayan sea salt)
Sugar (cane sugar preferred, but use what you have)
Garnishes
Lacinato Kale (cooked down with olive oil and salt) to just right when it turns bright green, is soft, and a bit "shiny" (recipe coming in future post)
Cilantro - fresh - roughly chopped
Plain Yogurt (Coconut, Dairy, Greek, Goat - as you wish)
Carmelized Onion Jam (recipe coming in future post)
The Lentils:
Rinse them in cold water in a strainer and sift through for any unwanted cracked pieces or other bits and pieces. A mesh strainer is great. I did not have one with me so I was careful with a larger-holed strainer and it all worked out.
The Garlic, Ginger and Cilantro
Use a little bit of salt in a food processor and pulse to a coarse paste, or pound with a mortar and pestle / chop down to a fine mince with your chef's knife. Pounding and chopping by hand can be a bit time consuming, and also extremely meditative / ritualistic.
The Lentil Pot
Add 2-3 tbsp of oil (olive, sunflower and coconut are personal preferences of mine) and simmer the garlic and ginger on low, 2-3 minutes, careful not to scorch.
Add the cumin, coriander, fennel and any other spices into the pot and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Add the lentils and fold into the oil/spice/garlic/ginger mixture with a spoon, coating the lentils with the mixture.
Add the water and bring to a boil, skimming the top of the water a few times once the "foam" appears with a ladle or slotted spoon (do not overthink this step. It is not necessary to get every last ounce of foam from the surface)
Cook at a medium simmer for about 20-30 minutes (a light rolling bubble). At this point, lentils should be completely broken down into a creamy texture. Add more water if they need a bit more time and re-taste 5 minutes later.
Add salt, ~1 tbsp and more to your personal taste.
THE RICE POT
Rinse the rice under cold water in a strainer until the water runs clear, washing the excess starch off the grains.
Place the rice in a large stock pot, similar size to the lentil pot. Add 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp can sugar
Cover rice with 2 cans of coconut milk and 4 additional cups of cold water.
Bring rice to a light boil and reduce heat to a low simmer.
Continue to cook about 20 minutes. Rice will start to develope a creamy "porridge" like texture.
Taste rice at 20 minute mark for done-ness. Add 1/2 more water if needs more time.
Add additional salt or coconut aminos.
Both pots can stay warmed at a low temp until ready to serve. Place 1-2 ladles of the lentils in a soup bowl and one ladle of rice porridge in the center. Guests can then garnish with cooked greens, cilantro, yogurt, sliced cucumber - whatever you have on hand and sounds good!
This recipe serves 16-24 ppl. You can easily cut it in half across the board. Keeps for 4-5 days in fridge.
Enjoy.
XO, Ruthann
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