Retreat Recipes: How To Make Chiva-Som’s Hearty Vegan Kitchery Soup

There’s still a bit of a chill in the air in most of the northern hemisphere, which means there’s nothing quite like a hearty soup to warm you up and satiate the appetite. Kitchery, an Indian mung bean stew traditionally served for those walking the spiritual Himalayan track, is an excellent winter warmer and energy booster loaded with Ayurvedic spices to revive you in cooler climates. Served up for breakfast at Chiva-Som, the high-fibre brown rice in this recipe from Chef Paisarn Cheewinsiriwat packs a nutritional punch with twice the manganese and phosphorus of white rice, two-and-a-half times the iron, three times the vitamin B3, four times the vitamin B1 and 10 times the vitamin B6. A simple switch from white to brown rice can offer benefits to the cardiovascular system, digestive system, brain and nervous system, and with a recipe as flavourful as this, if you’re not already on the brown rice-bandwagon, you will be soon. Filling and low-calorie, bring a little taste of Chiva-Som home with you and test out this simple Kitchery recipe in your own kitchen.

Recipe: Hearty Vegan Kitchery Soup

High Fibre | Mineral-Rich | Digestive Support | Vegan | Gluten-Free

Serves 6

(Serving Size: 150g | Calories: 97)

Ingredients:

• • 1 cup Brown rice, (cooked)

• • 1 cup Mung beans, soaked overnight

• • 50g Potato

• • 1 litre Vegetable stock

• • 1 tbsp Onion, chopped

• • 1 tbsp Coriander, chopped

• • 1 tbsp Fresh ginger, chopped

• • 1 tsp Cumin

• • 1 tsp Turmeric powder

• • 0.5 tsp Fennel seed, crushed

• • 1 tbsp Salt

• 1 tsp Lime juice

Equipment:

• • Pot

• • Chopping board

• • Knife

• • Measuring jug

• Plate/bowl for serving

Process:

1. 1. Heat the pot with a little oil, and sauté the chopped onion, ginger and all the spices until fragrant.
      

1. 1. Add a little bit of vegetable stock before adding the mung beans to simmer on low heat.
      

1. 1. Add the stock bit by bit until the bean is almost cooked and thickened.
      

1. 1. Then, add the potato and continue to cook on low heat until soft.
      

1. 1. Add the cooked rice and mix.

1. Season with salt, coriander and lime juice to taste.
   

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Rebecca Cairns

Editor & CCO

Hong Kong-based writer and editor Rebecca Cairns helped develop Compare Retreats from concept to creation as founding editor and has formerly written on travel and wellness with Hong Kong Tatler and The Culture Trip. Her editorial work has taken her all around the world and she is a qualified NASM personal trainer and an avid runner. When she's not travelling, she's planning her next trip, taking hikes to the beach or scribbling away in boutique coffee shops. You can follow her travels on Instagram @jetsetcreate.