Kitchari

I pulled this kitchari recipe from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  I reduced the amount of jalapeno in his recipe from 2 to 1.  One jalapeno minus the seeds is still plenty of heat, so two seems like it would be excessive.  He also suggests seasoning with Tabasco, which just sounds disgusting.  After making this and eating it, it sounds even more disgusting.  It's surprisingly good without any additional seasoning, so I would recommend trying it as written before adding anything to it.  I ended up adding some cilantro chutney with garlic and regretted it.  I think this will end up becoming a staple at our house based on its healthiness coupled with ability to be filling.

Ingredients
1 cup yellow split peas
2 cups brown rice, uncooked
1 large sweet potato, cubed (2 cups)
1 small head cauliflower, chopped into bite-size pieces (2 cups) (Neither Sameer nor I care for cauliflower, so I didn't see the point in buying any.  I'm omitting this ingredient.)
1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds (Turns out I had no cumin seeds, so I just used ground cumin.)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp asafoetida (a.k.a. hing -- abundantly available in Indian grocery stores, but I've never found it anywhere else.  It's a key ingredient with a garlicky/oniony kick, so don't try skipping it or the dish will end up painfully bland.)
4 tsp peeled, grated fresh ginger (I'm using jarred ginger paste because I'm both cheap and lazy and I already had some in the fridge. Fresh tastes slightly better, but it doesn't make that much difference once it's cooked into something. Dried/ground ginger is NOT an option.)
1 heaping tbs white miso (optional) (I didn't bother buying miso, so I won't be including any.)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
spinach
lots of cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. Cook peas in 12 cups of water about 10 minutes, until soft but not broken down.

2. Add rice, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and turmeric, bring back to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook until softened (about 40 minutes).

3. Stir-fry cumin seeds in a small, hot frying pan until slightly darkened, shaking pan constantly and watching closely so cumin doesn't burn. (I skipped this step and the next since I had no cumin seeds and it was getting late.  I just added the cumin, ginger, and jalapeno directly to the cooked split peas and rice mixture. It worked out fine.)

4. Add jalapeno peppers and ginger and stir-fry for a few seconds, adding water if necessary.

5. Add spice mixture and asafoetida to peas and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes. Add optional miso and pepper and stir.

6. To serve, put a handful of spinach in a bowl, add hot kitchari to wilt it, and top with chopped cilantro.