Health & Wellbeing

A gut feeling for a go-to superfood

Lucinda Ackland runs classes from her home in Burton Bradstock and in local venues teaching people about finding joy in nature and self-healing, starting often with the gut or our thoughts. She teaches people a Lensomy (sanskrit unconditional love) lifestyle and making it simple and affordable. She will be providing recipes for our readers every month. n lensomylifestyle.com

Made of cooked green or yellow mung Dal lentils, white rice and a variety of spices, kitchari is one of Ayurveda’s super foods known as a healing food. Kitchari is such a go-to food I widely recommend to clients struggling with a variety of health issues as it can be made with a number of seasonal spices, vegetables, so easily tweaked to suit everyone.

Adaptable and never boring as you can experience different flavours by flavouring your tarka with different spices and blends. So versatile and interesting we can use the tarka to bring up the heat with mustard seeds, chilli, ginger or garlic. Then, when we need to simplify to rest our digestion, we can just add cumin which will help reset us when we are feeling poorly, for those that have a bad, slow digestion or recovering from an illness.

Perfect for rebalancing after over indulgence or when we feel fatigue. Have on its own and with only cumin in your tarka when feeling poorly. If eating as a main meal at lunchtime, add a side of seasonal vegetables cooked in ghee and asafoetida, if you want to add a bit of heat throw in a pinch of dried chili flakes.

Kitchari is filling yet light, it’s wonderful for grounding and calming your mental state with texture like a mashed for those who want comfort food in a bowl. Cleansing and satisfying, the perfect bowl of goodness with iron, a variety of vitamins, and good fats. Add fresh herbs like coriander to help digestion and a teaspoon of chutney to add sweetness when serving. Try three days of just kichari to help balance and bring your digestion back to healthy and happy (also good for burning unwanted body weight and helping sleep) by eating three times a day if digestion is good – but not before 10am if digestion is compromised. Have as main meal (with veg if desired) and water down and have as a soup in the evening.

Kitchari: 2/3 servings

½ cup white aged basmati or masoori rice. 1 cup green or yellow mung dal. ¼ teaspoon pink rock salt. ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder. Tarka

2 teaspoons ghee. ¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds. ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds.

Combinations

Garlic/ginger or chilli/garlic Dosha churna just before you pour/do not burn Rinse the rice and dal, then add to a medium saucepan Add enough water to cover the rice and dal by one inch and soak for three to four hours if possible or for at least 30 mins, preferably overnight. Place the pot on the stove over high heat. Heat until it boils, then reduce heat to low. Add salt and turmeric and cook, stirring occasionally, until it has a mushy consistency, 20 to 25 minutes. Add additional filtered water if preferred, or cook until it becomes as dry as you like.

Place the ghee in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and cook until the seeds start to pop, about 10 to 15 seconds or less do not allow to burn...burnt seeds are toxins and need to be thrown away! Pour the warm ghee mixture into the pot with the rice and dal, stir in the Lensomy and serve with fresh coriander for added prana, flavour and digestive power.

Seasonal vegetables sauté or steam in ghee and a pinch of asafoetida. You can add

DORSET

CARE

Mondays TéãJUKPMéã== e~íÜ~=cäçïI=Eáå=éÉêëçåF= Thursdays=TéãJUKPMéã== e~íÜ~=cäçïI=Eîá~=wççãF=

Hatha Flow: enjoyable flowing movements to create strength & warmth. Suitable for all levels of experience. Six sessions £65/75 Fridays=NM~ãJNNKPM~ãI=oÉëíçê~íáîÉ=óçÖ~ Restorative yoga is a nurturing class using props to improve movement and momentum. Fortnightly on Saturdays=NMKPM~ãJ åççåI=í~ëíÉê=ëÉëëáçåë=Ñçê=~ää=¡NR