A Beginner's Guide To The Kitchari Cleanse (Plus, A Recipe)

Kitchari is considered the ultimate healing meal in Ayurveda because it's simple, warming, and easy to digest. Here's what you need to know about the ins and outs of a kitchari cleanse, including how to make a basic kitchari recipe from scratch.

A kitchari cleanse calls for eating only kitchari—a meal of spiced rice and mung beans—for anywhere from three to 21 days. (If this is your first time undergoing a kitchari cleanse, it's better to limit the cleanse to no more than a week.) It can be done any time of the year for a quick reset, and I love doing it between seasons.

Kitchari has long been used in Ayurvedic detoxes because of its soothing impact on digestion.

Eating only kitchari is a nice break from the hard-to-digest salads and smoothies that are popular these days. The soothing food is exactly what your body needs from time to time in order to cleanse, heal, and recover. You can keep eating kitchari even after the cleanse is complete, as it contains all three macronutrients—carbohydrates, fats, and proteins—to keep you nutritionally satisfied.

The most important thing is to listen to your body, observe how you feel, and act accordingly. While on this cleanse, it's better to eat only when you are truly hungry, not when you are frustrated or stressed, as this is also a way of healing your relationship with food.

The key is frequency over quantity, so take small sips throughout the day to keep your digestive tract hydrated instead of gulping down a lot at once.

Kitchari cleansing is considered safe because it consists of real, cooked food. However, if you are allergic/sensitive to any of the ingredients, have a history of disordered eating, or have been told to stick to a certain diet from your doctor, you should not engage in a kitchari cleanse.

After a kitchari cleanse, you can gradually reintroduce other cooked foods into your diet, such as quinoa, sweet potato, cooked vegetables, stews, curries, etc. Steer clear of raw, cold, and frozen, such as smoothies with frozen fruit or hard-to-digest kale salads for a few days since they will put your digestive system into overdrive. The key is to keep your food as easy to digest as possible.

Another benefit of this cleanse is that it can make you more aware of your eating tendencies. After streamlining your diet, you might realize that you have always been reaching for something sweet after meals, for example.

Ready to get started? This kitchari recipe, adapted from my book, Idiot's Guide to Ayurveda, is suitable for all three doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha. Ideally, you would make a fresh batch every day of the cleanse, but if you cannot for whatever reason (#life), you can definitely batch cook and keep it for one to three days in the fridge.

To further balance your body during the kitchari cleanse and reap the full benefits, here are some more practices you can incorporate into your routine:

Kitchari cleanses are very popular in Ayurvedic tradition. Eating the simple meal of rice, mung beans, and spices twice a day for three to 21 days is thought to enhance your digestive fire and support vibrant health.