Monthly Archives: April 2013

• Clarified butter made by placing a pound of unsalted butter in a skillet over low heat, low enough to melt the butter but not so high as to burn it to allow the saturated fats of the butter to separate out from the pure unsaturated butter fat.
• Ghee is the pure  golden oil poured off from the settlings at the bottom of the pan.
• One of the few oils that will not become rancid and does not require refrigeration.
• According to Ayurvedic theory, 1 or 2 teaspoons of ghee each day is important for the health of the whole body, aids circulation and digestion, adds softness and luster to the skin, and is also one of the recommended ingredients in kichari.
• TCM perspective of ghee is that of a yin tonic.
• Tibetians are famous for having a warm drink made of old ghee dissolved in hot water called sampah.

In India, kichari, the combination of brown rice and mung beans that represents a perfect combination of life-sustaining protein and carbohydrates, has been celebrated as medicine and is routinely prescribed by Ayurvedic herbalists to patients for all diseases. There is a saying in India that kicharee taken for 3 weeks will cure all curable diseases.

The use of kichari diet in India is similar to that of the 10-day brown rice diet of Japan and China.

Basic kichari is also called mung dahl and rice in East Indian restaurants.

The Way of Chinese Herbs by Tierra, Michael page 90.