Berberine

Kitchari is India's comfort food: rice and yellow mung dal simmered soft with cumin, turmeric and ginger. Ayurveda uses it as the go-to meal for a gentle cleanse or a sore stomach, and two old hospital trials in children with diarrhoea fed it alongside rehydration drinks. Here's how it's traditionally made, what it can and can't do, and who should keep a kitchari cleanse short.