cup red bell pepper, thinly slicedYou are about to discover, in this chapter, a stunning variety of spices and herbs. Some of these are excitingly new, while some familiar ones will take on a new twist. Whatever the flavor, Ayurvedic cooking relies heavily on the alchemy of spices and herbs. Each teaspoon of healing spices, each tiny sprig of herb, adds a little more zing, a little more health to your plate — and your life.
The recipes I’ve provided here are mostly from India, where Ayurveda originated. But if you haven’t tried the Indian way of cooking, or if you are not partial to its flavors, you can still cook the Ayurvedic way if you:
• Avoid meat altogether, or reduce its consumption significantly.
• Cook fresh, warm meals as often as you can.
• Experiment with herbs and spices on your own. Buy the best-quality ingredients, adjust proportions, and find imaginative ways to blend Western and Indian flavors — basically, enjoy cooking your Ayurvedic meal without forcing yourself to like something. There’s too much spice in life for you to limit yourself!
Before starting to cook any of the dishes in this chapter, gather all the ingredients required and read the recipe carefully. It should not take you more than twenty-five minutes to cook any of these dishes. You should be able to find the lentils and spices mentioned here in most Asian grocery stores.
Why it’s good for you: Ghee is a revered cooking medium in Ayurveda. The ancient texts call it a rasayana — a healing food that balances body and mind, promoting longevity. Modern research has established that ghee is an antioxidant and contains beta-carotene. Being free of milk solids, ghee does not spoil easily. Further, you can use it frugally in your cooking and yet get rich aroma and flavor.
1 pound cultured, unsalted organic butter
Place butter in a medium saucepan and slowly melt over medium heat. When the butter comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer the butter uncovered and undisturbed for 45 to 60 minutes. As the temperature reaches the boiling point of water, the butter’s water content vaporizes and the butter foams and makes tiny, sharp, crackling noises. The milk solids in the butter will slowly settle to the bottom, leaving pale golden liquid on top that you can sieve immediately into a clean glass jar. This is ghee. Ghee stays fresh for a few weeks at room temperature. You might, however, want to refrigerate it.
Why it’s good for you: Fresh homemade cheese made from organic, hormone-free whole milk is a good source of nutrition for vegetarians.
1 quart of milk (organic, whole milk)
juice of 1 lemon
On medium-high heat, bring milk to a boil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the lemon juice and reduce to heat to low. Simmer on low heat till the milk is fully curdled (the solids should be white and the liquid should turn a cloudy green). Strain the curds through cheesecloth or several layers of muslin. Now gather the cloth, tie it together, and either press it down on a large plate with a heavy weight or hang it up to drip. After about an hour, you will have a solid chunk of cottage cheese. This is paneer. Refrigerate paneer until ready to use. Serves 6.
Why it’s good for you: Cooked apples, eaten first thing in the morning, help to create ojas, the final and most refined byproduct of digestion. Ojas contributes to enhanced vitality, strength, immunity, and overall well-being. Sweet juicy fruits are excellent cleansers; they help eliminate impurities from the body. According to Ayurveda, it is best to eat fruits first thing in the morning, thirty minutes before other breakfast items such as hot cereal.
1 organic apple
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon organic raisins
1 clove
Peel and chop apple into small pieces. Place apple in a small pot and add the water. Add raisins and clove. Bring to a boil and then turn heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the fruit is of a tender consistency. Eat warm. Serves 1.
Why it’s good for you: Lightly cooked and spiced, chickpeas are a good source of protein. You can substitute or add beans and lentils of your choice in this recipe.
1 cup chickpeas (cooked al dente)
3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
cup red bell pepper, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and toss well. Allow to marinate 30 minutes before serving. Serves 2.
Why it’s good for you: In peak summer heat, lassi is an instant and energizing drink. Rich in friendly lactobacilli, lassi also aids digestion.
1 cup room-temperature water
¼ cup fresh homemade yogurt
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch roasted and ground cumin
1 pinch ground coriander
1 pinch salt
Blend ingredients for one minute in a blender. Drink during or after meal. Serves 1.
Why it’s good for you: In Ayurveda, basmati rice is considered to be a highly beneficial grain that balances all three doshas. However, eating even basmati rice daily can be heavy on your system. So do make rice an important part of your diet, but try not to eat it more than four times a week. Rice is believed to promote mucus production, so if your kapha dosha is dominant, lightly roast the rice before adding water for cooking to make it lighter.
1 cup basmati rice
2 cups water (or 1 ¾ cups if you have soaked the rice for a bit )
In a medium pan, bring the rice and water to a boil, then cover with a lid and reduce to a simmer. Don’t lift the lid or stir the rice while it is cooking. Allow the rice to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, then press a grain or two between your fingers to test it. Well-done rice should not be sticky or hard, and the grains should be separate and fluffy.
A common mistake is to add cold water to rice that is already cooking. This destroys the agni of the rice and interferes with digestion. If you are adding salt, do so after the rice is fully cooked. Serves 2.
Why it’s good for you: Beans and lentils constitute an important source of nutrition; they provide protein, complex carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins. As versatile as they are tasty, members of the legume family lend themselves to use in salads, appetizers, soups, main dishes, side dishes, and even desserts. They combine deliciously with grains, vegetables, herbs, and spices, too.
Mung beans, split, with skins removed (also known as mung dal) are considered to be excellent for all three doshas. Easier to digest than most other lentils, the yellow mung dal can be eaten every day. When cooked, mung dal takes on the consistency of a thickish soup.
1 cup split yellow mung dal
3 to 3½ cups water
½ teaspoon turmeric
a pinch of ground coriander
a pinch of ground ginger
a pinch of ground cumin
1 pound fresh organic spinach
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
a few pinches of rock salt
In a large pan, bring the mung dal, water, turmeric, coriander, ginger, and cumin to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook until the dal is soft. You should have approximately 4 cups of cooked dal when done. Steam the spinach on medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, then blend quickly with dal, just enough to distribute the spinach throughout the dal without turning it into liquid. Pour into serving bowls. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and a pinch of rock salt. Serve with rice or a chapati. Serves 4.
Why they are good for you: Chapatis, or flat breads, contribute the sweet taste to a meal without the help of a calorie-heavy sweetener. Made from whole-wheat flour, they lubricate body tissues, enhance physical strength, and balance the vata dosha. Though initially time-consuming to make, chapatis are so delicious that you will want to eat them daily. If you feel you have a vata imbalance, eat plenty of wheat products such as bulgur, farina, couscous, semolina, pasta, and bread. People with a kapha imbalance should reduce but not totally avoid wheat, which can cause weight gain and increase mucus production.
2 cups sifted whole-wheat flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, or chapati flour (called atta, found at Indian grocery stores)
½ teaspoon salt
cup lukewarm water small amount of ghee
Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and knead while gradually adding water to make a moist dough. Fold and push the dough until it stops sticking to your hands; this should take about 10 minutes. Cover the dough with a clean, damp cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes. While the dough is resting, prepare your lentils, vegetables, and salad or whatever you plan to serve with the chapatis.
Heat a cast-iron skillet or a heavy nonstick griddle on your stove at maximum heat. Meanwhile, quickly knead the dough again, then cover it again with a damp cloth. Now pull out a lemon-sized portion of the dough from underneath the cloth and shape it into a ball. Next, with a rolling pin, roll the ball out evenly into a thin circular shape (about 6” to 8” in diameter) on a floured cutting board. Repeat with another portion of the dough, always keeping the rest of it covered with the cloth. Do not stack the rolled-out chapatis or they will stick to each other. You could use wax paper to stack them, but make sure the topmost disk is also covered; the idea is to keep the dough from drying out.
To cook, place each chapati on the heated skillet one at a time. Once the chapati starts cooking, you will need to fine-tune the heat: generally, it needs to be lowered very slightly. Because stove temperatures can vary, you will arrive at the right cooking temperature for your chapatis with practice. Watch for small white bubbles to appear on the surface; this takes just about 10 seconds. Using a non-melting plastic spatula, flip the chapati and cook for 1 minute. Press lightly on the cooking chapati with a clean cloth or paper towel rolled up into a ball, and the chapati will start to fluff up and turn a mottled brown. If you have an electric stove, you will have to fluff up your chapati fully at this stage by turning it over and over, and gently rotating it on the skillet. If you have a gas stove, remove the chapati from the griddle with a pair of metal tongs and place it over a direct flame. The chapati should puff up into a ball almost immediately. Remove from heat, smear with a teaspoon of ghee, and serve hot. Making perfectly puffy chapatis takes practice, but is truly worth the effort. Makes up to 15 chapatis, depending on size you make them.
Why chutneys are good for you: Made with the freshest of fruits, herbs, and spices, chutneys are a great way to get beneficial antioxidants in your meal. A good chutney can give you all six tastes in two teaspoonfuls: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, pungent, and astringent. Chutneys aid in digestion and add interest to a meal. Spicy chutneys bring balance to mild dishes, and sweet chutneys bring balance to spicy dishes.
2 cups fresh cilantro (leaves and tender stems), washed and roughly chopped
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 ancho chili or other mild chili
1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt to taste
Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree to a smooth paste. Serve as an accompaniment to a meal or as a topping or spread. This chutney balances all three doshas.
2 organic apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
¼ cup raisins
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon grated lemon rind
juice of ¼ lemon
teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup water
Place all ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Why it’s good for you: In Ayurveda, fruit is comparable to gold. It increases ojas — the essential energy that is generated by well-oiled body-mind machinery. Fruit desserts are light and help with digestion. Since the Ayurvedic practice is to eat fruit on its own, it is best to have this dessert thirty minutes after your meal.
cup slivered almonds
1 cup orange juice
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon anise seeds
½ teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 pound whole apricots or frozen peach slices (thawed)
1 pound pitted Bing cherries, fresh or frozen (thawed), not canned
2 navel oranges, sliced and peeled
¼ cup honey
Soak the almonds in water overnight. In a medium to large pot, add spices and citrus rinds to the orange juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered for about 5 minutes. Strain out seeds, and add fruit to the spiced orange juice. Return mixture to the cooking pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to a slightly warm temperature. Add honey, sprinkle slivered almond over fruit, and serve warm. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
If you have just discovered the wonders of herbs and spices but don’t quite know how to savor them to the fullest, here’s help. Each of the following ideas is a healthy, delicious mini-recipe. You can adjust ingredient quantities to your taste and requirement. Start with these, and you will soon find yourself thinking up many more exciting combinations.
There’s something about yogurt and mint; they make magic together. Make fresh yogurt at home, then whisk it until its smooth. Now stir in a grated cucumber. Float a few sprigs of finely chopped mint in this sea of flavor, dust with roasted and ground cumin seeds, and fill your senses with the incredible aroma. Add appetizing color to this dish with a pinch of paprika.
Cumin is one of India’s star spices, praised for centuries for its digestion-friendly and detoxifying qualities. It’s a versatile spice, too. Use it raw, roasted, or fried, and each time it will reward you with a different flavor and aroma. Try this simple cumin rice: Heat a tablespoon of ghee, then add a teaspoonful of cumin seeds. When the seeds splutter, add washed rice and the required quantity of water (see the recipe for basmati rice earlier on page 129). When the rice is done, fluff it with a fork, tossing in a few sprigs of fresh chopped cilantro. If you enjoy your rice a bit tangy, squeeze a twist of lemon into the rice at this time. Bonus: lemon helps fluff out rice grains.
“Bouquet garni” is a culinary term for spices and herbs tied together in a muslin cloth and steeped in a soup or stew. Once the ingredients have released their scent and digestion-promoting goodness into the dish, the muslin pack is removed. I use bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and black peppercorns to spice up chickpeas as they boil. Try it with peas, kidney beans, and other legumes — and I am sure you will love the extra flavor they lend.
Let me tell you about ajwain, a warming and detoxifying spice. It tastes somewhat like thyme, but stronger. I find it somewhat similar to oregano, too. The best way to discover the distinct taste of ajwain, of course, is to sample it. In India, we like to spike our fritter batter with it, but if you want to avoid deep-fried foods, as Ayurveda recommends, try kneading your bread dough with half a teaspoon of ajwain seeds for an exciting new flavor.
Here’s another quick and interesting way to use ajwain: Heat 2 teaspoons of ghee, then add half a teaspoon of ajwain seeds. Wait for them to sizzle, then pitch in slices of 4 medium boiled potatoes. Add salt to taste and fry on high heat for a few minutes. I like to offset the flavor of ajwain with plenty of fresh chopped cilantro leaves; this adds a nice green color, too. Toss the cilantro in the pan and mix just before serving. Eat the potatoes hot. You can sandwich them in bread for a wholesome, delicious mini-meal.
Next time you bake a pizza, try flavoring it with some Indian herbs and spices. Sprinkle chopped cilantro leaves on the toppings; they combine particularly well with roasted veggies. Add aroma with freshly roasted and ground cumin seeds. I’ve even tried pizza topped with herbed mashed potato. Believe me, it is luscious!
Ever noticed how cayenne pepper can make the nose run? It’s releasing mucus, clearing up your channels, and thereby balancing out the kapha dosha. Black pepper, cumin, and turmeric benefit kapha, too. Fry a very small amount of ground cayenne pepper in some olive oil or ghee, then toss in your chopped vegetables for a wonderful stir-fry. Or simply pour the ghee-and-pepper garnish over soup or lentils. You’ll welcome the channel-clearing warmth — doubly so if you’ve been suffering from clogged sinuses.
To make rice pudding, slow cook half a cup of basmati rice with four cups of whole milk in a medium pan. When thickened to the consistency of custard, stir in sugar to taste. When the pudding is thickened and nearly done, simmer rice pudding with a few strands of saffron. You’ll get a rich orange coloring and a taste very close to divine. And saffron’s bounty doesn’t stop with flavor and color; it is very dosha-friendly, too. Vata, pitta, or kapha — all three doshas love it. Indian rice pudding, called kheer, is never quite complete without saffron and its partner, freshly crushed green cardamom.
If saffron is gold, turmeric is sunshine. Its brilliant yellow color is one of the most eye-catching components of an Indian spice box. I cannot imagine cooking most soups, lentils, or stews without turmeric; in India, we grow up on yellow-colored curries. Ayurvedic healers love turmeric for its benevolent properties and antibiotic qualities. My grandmother would heat ghee with turmeric, toss a clean piece of cotton in it, and tie it to a wound. It felt so instantly warm and healing — second only to a mother’s kiss. Turmeric has great antioxidant properties, too. Add turmeric to ghee when stir-frying your vegetables. Enjoy the colorful, healing difference just one teaspoonful can make.
Make more magic with turmeric: combine it with white. Boiled white rice on its own can get boring, but cook it with turmeric and it takes on an appetizing golden color. Complement the yellow color with freshly chopped cilantro. Add cilantro to the rice only after it is done, otherwise I’ve noticed that the leaves wilt and turn brown. For parties, I stir-fry some cashew nuts in ghee and add them to the cooked yellow rice.
Although lentils, such as yellow split mung, are light and tasty on their own, a little spice makes a big difference in flavor. Tiny black mustard seeds and cumin are favorite Indian garnishes for lentils. You can also roast and pound whole coriander seeds, then add them to boiled lentils of your choice. I usually sauté these spices in ghee. Try adding a handful of stir-fried spinach to split green lentils; it tastes delicious and adds even more health benefits.
Combine a small bunch of mint and cilantro in a blender, then add some rock salt to taste and half a lemon. This tangy chutney makes a great filling for shallow-fried mashed potatoes, which we call tikiya. Here’s how to make it: Take a lemon-sized portion of mashed potato and flatten it in your palm. Place a teaspoon of the mint-cilantro filling on the disk, then roll it into a ball. Flatten the ball gently with your palm. Now heat a teaspoon of ghee or oil in a griddle or pan and place the potato ball on it. Fry on both sides until the edges are reddish brown. Enjoy this hot potato as a snack or a side dish. For extra flavor, you can mix some mashed green peas with the potatoes.
In an ovenproof dish, marinate fresh vegetables for 15 to 30 minutes in a paste of 1 cup yogurt, ¼ teaspoon ground cumin, teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon tumeric, and salt to taste. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450 degrees F, then slide the dish in. Within 15 minutes, you’ll have a sizzling, healthful platter ready. I sometimes add fresh grated coconut to the marinade for a delicate flavor.
In a medium pan, lightly stir-fry a tablespoon of olive oil, sliced bell peppers, and tomatoes cut lengthwise. Add a teaspoon of turmeric, then toss in some cubes of homemade cottage cheese (see recipe on page 127). Cook until the cottage cheese is lightly browned and the vegetables are tender. For an interesting twist to this simple dish, add a few tablespoons of boiled yellow lentils while frying the veggies.
Toss ½ cup raw sliced carrots and 2 tablespoons raisins in lemon juice, then sprinkle with a generous pinch of freshly crushed green cardamom. Cardamom is a metabolism-revving spice with warming properties, so pitta types should take it in smaller amounts.
In the Kashmir region of India, kidney beans are cooked with fennel as one of the spices. The flavor it imparts to the beans is very pleasant. As a bonus, fennel tones the digestive system. It is also said to stoke agni, or digestive fire, but not to the extent that it irritates the pitta dosha.
Housewives in the desert areas of western India make a refreshing fennel-based after-dinner mint. It is not only delicious, but very soothing to the digestive system. The recipe is easy: Roast a few teaspoons of fennel seeds on a cast-iron griddle or a nonstick pan with a pinch of turmeric, taking care not to let the seeds burn. When they release their aroma, put them in a bowl and toss them with just enough lemon juice to moisten the seeds. Munch after lunch.
In southern India, most curried dishes are enlivened with a simple but aromatic turka (fried garnish). Heat one tablespoon of ghee, then add to it a teaspoon of mustard seeds, one halved dried red chili, and a small bunch of curry leaves (available in Indian grocery stores). When the mustard seeds begin to pop and the red chili darkens — this will happen within seconds, so be careful not to let them burn — pour the turka into your lentils, curry, or soup.
Have you ever tried garam masala (literal translation: “hot spice”)? It is an interesting Indian spice mix. Different regions of India make garam masala in different ways, but generally it contains cloves, nutmeg, mace, peppercorns, and cardamom. Garam masala is carried at most grocery stores. Usually, a small amount of garam masala is stirred into a curry or soup when it is just about done. This retains the flavors of the spices and adds zing to the dish. Ground fresh, the spices in garam masala are highly fragrant, flavorful, and appetizing.
Slice some organic sweet apples and pears, then toss them with slivers of fresh ginger and dried orange peel. Steep this fruit mix in a marinade of orange juice (just enough to cover the fruit) for about 10 minutes. Once the orange peel and ginger have infused the dessert with their flavors, remove them.
What better way to beat winter blues than comforting the body with hot soup? This December, dish up hearty vegetable soups from time to time. Simmer them with fresh vegetables, pasta, grains, spices, and herbs.
I hope you enjoy cooking the Ayurveda way. For hundreds of additional healthful, flavorful recipes, I recommend Miriam Hospodar’s book Heaven’s Banquet: Vegetarian Cooking for Lifelong Health the Ayurveda Way (Dutton, 1999). It’s a treasure house of information and vegetarian recipes from across the globe.
Bon appetit!