Made for the Oddfellows Forager Potluck on April 29, 2025
In my mind, the smell of manoomin, or wild rice, reminds me of the smell of my grandmothers’ and great-grandmothers’ homes. I’m not sure why, we didn’t even eat it all that often. But it has a very assertive and unique aroma and even today I will rush to stock up on it every fall when the years’ harvest is ready.
This spring, I learned how to make kitchari at the Iyengar Center of Vermont, so I decided to combine the kitchari concept and use flavorful manoomin instead of basmati rice. I greatly enjoy the results.
Manoomin Kitchari
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker
- 1 mandolin
Ingredients
🥬 Veg, Protein, Starch
- – 1/2 cup red lentils
- – 1/2 cup green lentils
- – 1 cup manoomin wild rice blend
- – 2 medium red onions chopped
- – 4 oz baby bella mushrooms chopped
- – 6 small sweet peppers chopped
- – 3 medium carrots chopped
- – 4 oz spinach fresh or frozen
🧂 Spices
- – 1.5–2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
- – 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- – 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- – 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- – 1 teaspoon methi seeds fenugreek
- – 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- – 4 teaspoons garam masala
- – 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- – 1 tablespoon salt
🧈 Oils and Liquids
- – 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- – 32 oz vegetable broth
- – 1 can coconut milk 13.5 oz
Instructions
- **Prep all veggies and spices** ahead of time unless you're fast with a knife or you have a mandolin — this goes fast once it starts.
- Set your **Instant Pot to sauté mode**. Heat coconut oil, then add mustard seeds, cumin, and methi. Let them pop for ~30 seconds.
- Add onions and ginger. Sauté until soft and aromatic (~5 min).
- Stir in mushrooms, peppers, and carrots. Cook for another 2–3 minutes.
- Add spices (paprika, black pepper, garam masala), lentils, and manoomin. Stir to coat.
- Pour in vegetable broth and coconut milk. Stir well.
- Cancel sauté. **Seal the Instant Pot** and set to **Manual (High Pressure)** for **15 minutes**.
- Allow **natural pressure release** for 10–15 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Stir in spinach while hot so it wilts. Adjust salt to taste.
