CHAPTER 4
Everyday Recipes
FOUNDATIONAL DISHES FOR YEAR-ROUND COOKING
To get started in your Ayurvedic kitchen, this chapter provides a basic and balanced selection of recipes that are appropriate all year. They will help you maintain a state of wellness, supported by your own cooking. The Everyday recipes are complete foundations, and they can be varied by optional mix-ins to accommodate the changing qualities in your seasonal atmosphere and appetite. If you start by mastering these basic, versatile recipes, you will be well on the way to eating more of your own cooking and to learning how to be creative, quick, and satisfied in the kitchen. Moreover, you will notice improvements in your health and the quality of your digestion.
What makes an Everyday recipe?
• The Everyday recipes are neutral (as opposed to cooling or heating), are served warm, and are made only with whole foods.
• None of these recipes contains a lengthy list of ingredients or takes a long time to prepare.
Each of these dishes is important enough in Ayurvedic cookery—or just so darn convenient—that it’s worth taking the time to learn how to make them all.
What Is a Mix-in?
A mix-in is an optional food addition to your meal that will bring one or more of the six tastes, and their beneficial qualities, to your food. In most cases, the Everyday recipes are basic and neutral in taste. Mix-ins give you the opportunity to rotate different foods and tastes in a seasonal rhythm. For example, Everyday Creamed Grain Cereal is very simple and provides the building, grounding qualities of sweet taste, as does any grain dish. In damp weather, however, you could add the dry quality of astringent taste by mixing in raisins. In cold weather, you could increase the moist, dense qualities by adding dates and a teaspoon of ghee, balancing the density with a blast of pungent ginger powder. Used this way, the Everyday recipes become your baseline, and because they are versatile, you won’t get bored with your cooking.
On another note, mix-ins can spruce up a simple dish without creating indigestible food combinations. For example, if a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast doesn’t provide enough fuel for you to make it to lunch without snacking, you might need to add a little something extra, such as some nuts or a poached egg (but not both). Choose from the mix-ins listed for each season, and note when the directions say to use A or B (to avoid using both in the same meal). Simple meals will sustain you longer yet still digest well, providing clean-burning fuel straight through to the next meal.
Everyday Food Guide
FOODS TO FAVOR YEAR-ROUND
• Neutral foods and spices; cooked grains, legumes, and vegetables.
• Most meals served warm.
• Green vegetables in season: if it’s green and it’s in season, eat it. Kale and collards can be harvested even during the winter in some areas.
• Neutral fruits, fresh and ripe, such as apples and pears (cooked in cold weather).
• Mung beans and white basmati rice, the most digestible bean and easy grain combination for any season.
• Sunflower, chia, hemp, sesame, and flaxseeds.
• Ghee and coconut oil for cooking and baking.
• Moderate amounts of neutral spices, such as parsley, coriander, cumin, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom, gingerroot, and turmeric.
• Sea vegetables, such as kombu and dulse.
• Fresh homemade almond milk and soaked almonds.
• Fresh yogurt, diluted with water (lassi).
FOODS TO REDUCE YEAR-ROUND
• Caffeine, especially coffee (and any coffee you drink should be organic).
• White sugar.
• Alcoholic beverages.
• Nightshades: raw tomatoes; eggplant; bell peppers, especially green; white potatoes.
• Garlic and onion (limit to once or twice a week).
• Cold food and drink.
• Fermented foods, especially store-bought or old: pickled fruits and vegetables, kombucha, aged cheeses, and kimchi. Use sparingly, as condiments.
General Year-Round Lifestyle Guidelines
The following dinacharya routines may take a little time to incorporate into your life, and you don’t have to make all these changes right away. As you try them, one by one, watch how these new habits increase your vibrance and productivity in your daily life. You will find that some of these habits are more important for you than others, and it’s more helpful to stick with these few than trying to do it all.
• Scrape your tongue first thing in the morning, before drinking or eating anything (see page 274).
• Rinse the eyes a few times with cool water (see page 276).
• Instead of making a beeline for the coffeepot, begin the day with the Easy Morning Beverage (see page 104), which takes just as little if not less time than brewing coffee or caffeinated tea.
• Oil the skin daily with neutral oils, such as almond, sunflower, or safflower (see page 278).
• Get to bed by 10 P.M. and wake up naturally with the sun.
• Reduce screen time (TV, smartphone, computer) upon waking and after 9 P.M.
• Exercise moderately, most days, for thirty to forty-five minutes. Exercise just to the point when sweat begins to form, then cool down.
• Walk outside in fresh air every day.
• Avoid drinking water one-half hour before meals and wait at least one hour after eating to drink more water.
• Drink six ounces of ginger, tulsi, or fennel tea with or after meals.
• Eat only when hungry; reduce snacking.
EVERYDAY STAPLES SHOPPING LIST
For suggestions on how much to buy, see “Organizing the Everyday Pantry and Spice Rack” in chapter 3 (page 55). Visit the “Resources” section for mail order links and recommended favorites (see page 306).
VEGETABLES
Beets
Carrots
Collards
Kale
Parsley, fresh
Swiss chard
FRUITS
Apples, in season
Lemons
Pears, in season
GRAINS
White basmati rice
BEANS
Mung beans, green
Mung beans, split yellow
FATS
Almonds, raw
Butter, unsalted (to make ghee)
Chia seeds
Coconut oil
Flax oil
Flaxseeds
Hemp seeds
Olive oil
Sunflower seeds
Yogurt, fresh, whole milk
SPICES
Cardamom powder
Cinnamon powder
Coriander seed
Cumin seed
Fennel seed
Ginger powder
Gingerroot
Pink salt
Sea salt
Turmeric
EXTRAS
Ginger tea
Honey, raw (except in summer, see page 121)
Tongue scraper, copper or stainless steel
Tulsi tea
Vegetable broth (when homemade isn’t available, use boxed broth, tamari, Bragg liguid aminos, bouillon cubes, or Better than Bouillon)
Understanding the Everyday Recipes
The Everyday recipes on the pages that follow include boxes showing seasonal substitutions and additions. These variations will introduce the following qualities to balance each season.
For Your Body
In general, soft-skinned fruits and vegetables (like berries, grapes, apples, peaches, and tomatoes) have the greatest likelihood of carrying high levels of chemical residues, which can’t be washed off. These chemicals can build up in your body over time, disturbing its natural intelligence and leading to accumulation of ama, the underlying cause of all disease.
For Everybody
The choices you make when you shop have far-reaching consequences. Supporting the industry of organic farming ensures that your food will be produced with kindness for the landscape, for your body, and for the farmers and their communities. If you are waffling, get on board with buying organic—just do it. All the money you save on eating out when you begin to prepare more of your own food is well spent on buying organic food!
On a Budget
The Environmental Working Group publishes annual lists of conventional (nonorganic) foods with the highest and lowest amounts of pesticide residue after washing. If your budget is tight at times, consult the EWG’s “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists and choose organic when buying the foods on the first list (see “Resources,” page 306).
Ayurveda greatly favors the mung bean. The classic texts tell us the mung bean is light, beneficial for all body types, detoxifying, and easily digestible. You can use them in three varieties: sprouted, split with the skins removed, and whole. For more about sprouting mung beans, see Sprouted Mung Dal with Yogurt (page 248). I might eat mung dal two or three times a week in one of these forms, choosing between green, yellow, creamy, or crunchy dishes. Check the photo glossary (page 293) to see what mung beans look like whole and split.
everyday creamed grain cereal
serves 2
With just an immersion hand blender and some almond milk, you can turn plain grain into a special, nourishing breakfast. By changing the grain you use seasonally, you can change the qualities you start your day with, yet still enjoy a quick, hot breakfast. This recipe is a great way to use up extra cooked grain from another meal. For inspiration check out Berry Buck-Up Cereal (page 120) and Creamy Coconut Breakfast Barley with Peaches (page 163).
2 cups cooked grain of choice
1 cup almond milk or water
2–3 tbsp dried fruit (raisins, dates, dried cranberries) or seeds (sunflower, flax, hemp)
2 tsp Everyday Sweet Spice Mix
In a small saucepan, combine the cooked grain, milk or water, dried fruit, if using, and spice mix. Cover and warm the mixture on medium-low heat for 5 minutes. When it begins to steam, turn off the heat and use a hand blender to cream the cereal to the consistency you want—either smooth or still with some whole grains to look at and chew on. Do not overblend, as this will give the cereal a gummy texture.
Transfer to a breakfast bowl for serving. If adding seeds instead of fruit, sprinkle them on top as a garnish. Do not cook flax or hemp seeds, as the oils they contain are heat sensitive.
SEASONAL CREAMED GRAIN CEREALS
To vary your Everyday Creamed Grain Cereal by season, follow the method above, substituting the following seasonally appropriate ingredients:
everyday chia pudding
serves 2
Chia seeds do not appear in traditional Ayurveda recipes, but their benefits are many. I eat them several times a week. Chia is a moist and grounding food, containing good fats, fiber, and a lubricating quality—a combination to remedy sluggish digestion. From an Ayurvedic perspective, the deeply hydrating action of chia seeds encourages life-supporting ojas (see page 31) and balances the degenerative nature of the dry quality by keeping the internal membranes moist—especially important in the dry times of year.
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup almond milk
MIX-INS:
Add one or more of the following for flavor:
1–2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp Everyday Sweet Spice Mix
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Soak the chia seeds in almond milk for 5 minutes or more. Put the seeds, almond milk, and mix-ins in a blender carafe and blend on high speed for 2 minutes. The longer and faster you blend the pudding, the lighter and smoother it will be. You can use a hand blender, but the pudding will come out less smooth and fluffy.
Let the mixture stand for a few minutes to thicken before serving in bowls.
SHAKE IT UP: You can halve the amount of chia seeds to make this less of a pudding and more like a thick shake. You can also shake the mixture in a jar, not using a blender at all. This will yield a thick, tapioca-style pudding—and it’s very convenient.
The stevia plant, native to South America, has intensely sweet leaves that are boiled down to make a liquid extract. Sold in the supplements section of health food stores, stevia extract can be added to food and drinks to make them taste sweeter without increasing calories or affecting blood sugar. A bit of stevia can help to reduce the use of sugars, but take care not to overdo it by using too much or putting it in everything. If overused, stevia leaves a bitter aftertaste and can easily ruin a dish. And if your taste buds become accustomed to that intense sweetness, you will lose a taste for the subtlety of the naturally occurring sweetness found in fruits, root vegetables, and grains. I recommend just three to four drops of stevia extract per cup of liquid in a recipe.
SEASONAL CHIA PUDDINGS
Follow the method above using the following ingredients and mix-ins to make seasonal chia pudding:
See Pumpkin Chia Pudding (page 222) for my favorite seasonal pudding recipe.
everyday kanjee
serves 4
Kanjee, also spelled kanji, means “gruel,” and it can be prepared using different local grains, depending on the region of India. Kanjee is the absolute all-the-time healing food. Traditionally and to this day, in Ayurveda clinics and hospitals, practitioners nurse a patient’s ailing digestion back to health by feeding her kanjee of increasing thickness as she begins to feel better. I find I crave kanjee the day after an indulgent meal, and a simple bowl gets me right back on track. If you eat this comfort food periodically, you are giving your digestion a break and are lessening the likelihood of experiencing signs and symptoms of imbalance. For short-term fasting, strain the rice grains out and drink the kanjee water throughout the day.
For everyday purposes, I suggest eating kanjee as a very simple breakfast or light dinner, choosing different grains for each season, if you like.
1 cup brown basmati rice, well rinsed
8 cups water
pinch each of salt, turmeric, and ginger powder
In a large saucepan, boil the water, salt, and spices on high heat. Add the rice to the pan. Allow the water to come to a boil again, then turn down the heat. Cover the rice and simmer for 1 hour, until the grains begin to split.
Ladle 2 cups of kanjee into each bowl for serving.
SEASONAL KANJEES
Follow the recipe for Everyday Kanjee, substituting the following grains for the rice and using these alternative spices:
everyday frittata
serves 4–6
This version of the classic baked-egg dish does not contain cheese, as in Ayurveda mixed eggs and dairy products are considered too heavy to digest well together. Goat cheese, however, has lighter and warmer qualities than cow’s cheese, and I’ve included it as an addition for cool weather and for those who digest complicated foods well. Egg whites can be used in this recipe and are indicated for those with acid stomach or when heavy, dense qualities predominate in the body. For a smaller frittata, halve the recipe, cook it in a 6- to 8-inch skillet, and reduce the cooking time by as much as half.
2 cups vegetables, chopped into bite-size pieces (especially hearty greens, or choose from the seasonal fillings in the table below)
2 tsp ghee
8 eggs
½ cup Everyday Almond Milk (or vegetable broth, if preferred)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp turmeric powder
Put the vegetables and 1 tbsp water in a frying pan, cover tightly, and steam sauté at medium heat for 7–10 minutes, until tender. Pour off any extra water that may remain—less water in the vegetables will help the frittata cook faster.
Melt ghee in an 8- to 10-inch skillet on medium heat. (Cast-iron skillets are great for frittatas.) In a bowl, beat eggs, milk or broth, salt, pepper, and turmeric briskly with a fork for 1–2 minutes. Pour the egg mixture into the hot skillet. Distribute the steamed vegetables evenly over the egg mixture and cook over medium heat until eggs are almost set, about 8–10 minutes. To check, cut a small slit in the center of the frittata; when almost set a small amount of uncooked egg will run into the cut. Cover and cook for 5–7 minutes more, or until eggs are completely set.
Right in the pan, cut into wedges for serving or turn whole onto a plate for presentation. This dish pairs well with steamed greens or with Cleansing Green Soup (see page 102).
Traditionally, eggs are cooked with a pinch each of turmeric and black pepper to help the body digest the heavy egg yolk. A warm, baked egg dish is preferable to a cold hard-boiled egg or an egg fried in lots of oil. In general, traditional Ayurveda considers eggs to increase heat and encourage excitability. Thus, they are not recommended for daily consumption but, rather, can be eaten one to four times a week, depending on the heat of your internal and external environments. (What’s that mean? Read “Understanding Internal Climate,” page 64.)
SEASONAL FRITTATAS
Customize the Everyday Frittata for each season with any combination of the seasonal vegetables listed below. Note that spinach and arugula do not need to be precooked. Simply stir chopped greens into the egg mixture before pouring into the skillet.
everyday cream of anything soup
serves 2
Cream-based vegetable soups are moist, grounding, soft, and smooth. These qualities balance the erratic vibration of a busy schedule. A simple creamy soup—prepared with or without traditional dairy products—helps support you through a big day.
If you follow the seasonal shopping lists in this book, you will have a few choices of “cream” bases on hand. Learn the basic technique described below, and in a short time, you will find a couple of favorite staples that will keep you enjoying your own cooking.
4 cups water or vegetable broth
4 cups of chopped kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, and/or carrots
2 tsp Everyday Savory Spice Mix or Everyday Digestive Salts
½ tsp turmeric powder
1-inch piece fresh gingerroot, peeled
2 tsp ghee
1 cup almond milk
In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring the water or broth to a boil. Add the vegetables, spice mix or salts, turmeric, and gingerroot to the saucepan, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes. The longer you let it cook, the creamier your soup will be; less time means your soup will have a thicker texture and your vegetables will be more al dente. Fresh greens, like baby spinach, take only a few minutes to wilt, whereas for harder vegetables, like celery and carrots, I’d recommend the full 10-minute cooking time or even longer. If you like your soup very creamy, simmer your greens and the hard vegetables, like carrots, an extra 5 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables in their cooking liquid to a blender carafe. Add the ghee and the almond milk—the latter will cool the mixture down to keep your blender from getting too hot. Blend on medium to start, then high until smooth. Alternatively, use an immersion hand blender and process the soup right in the saucepan, along with the ghee and almond milk, until smooth.
The soup should be warm enough to serve right away. Ladle into 2 large bowls and dig in. This soup pairs well with Everyday Dosa on the side.
SEASONAL CREAMED VEGETABLE SOUPS
Follow the method above, substituting with these seasonal ingredients:
For some tasty alternatives, check out Surprising Cream of Broccoli Soup (page 215) and Asparagus and White Bean Soup (page 128).
everyday steamed salad bowl
serves 2
I’d like to see everyone get in the habit of eating more cooked food. Food that is warm, soft, and moist is easier on the gut than raw food and very grounding for the system. The busier your day is, the less appropriate a raw or cold meal will be for your body—whatever the weather. In this foundational recipe, I suggest eating colorful piles of steamed vegetables over bowls of grains or proteins, augmented with dressings and sauces, all year-round. Steaming vegetables reduces their volume, making it easy for you to get a medicinal share of veggies.
Accent your steamed vegetables with seasonal bean pâtés, cooked grains, chutneys, a sprinkle of Mineral Gomasio (page 251), or any of the sauces and spreadables from the seasonal chapters—this will bring variety to your rotating cast of seasonal vegetables (for a quick list, see appendix 4, “Seasonal Shopping Lists,” on page 290). Toasted sunflower seeds work well any time of year. In addition, in the “Seasonal Steamed Salads” on page 90, I have included specific seasonal proteins to bulk up your steamed salad and make it a complete meal.
4 leaves lacinato kale
6 leaves rainbow Swiss chard
2 carrots
½ cup chopped red cabbage
½ cup sprouted mung beans (see page 248)
2 cups cooked basmati rice, white or brown
All-Seasons Salad Dressing
handful toasted sunflower seeds
Remove the stems from the kale and chard and chop the leaves into 2-inch pieces. Place the greens in a large frying pan with 1 tbsp of water. Tightly cover the greens and steam sauté for 10 minutes.
Using a vegetable peeler or julienne peeler, slice the carrots into ribbons. Add to the steam sauté, along with the chopped cabbage and sprouted mung beans. Steam 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat and leave the lid slightly ajar.
Make beds of rice in 2 wide bowls or plates by spreading 1 cup of rice over the bottom of each bowl. Divide the steamed vegetables on top of the rice. Pour half of the All-Seasons Salad Dressing over each serving and sprinkle with toasted sunflower seeds.
ALL-SEASONS SALAD DRESSING
½ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup cold-pressed olive oil
1 tsp Everyday Digestive Salts or 1 tsp salt plus 1 tsp Everyday Savory Spice Mix
dash of pepper
Shake all the ingredients together in a pint-size jar. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
SEASONAL STEAMED SALAD BOWLS
Follow the above method, replacing the vegetables, proteins, and dressings as shown in the seasonal table below. For the winter variation, which calls for nuts, please note that nuts can be chopped for sprinkling on top or served whole and crunchy.
What is the easiest and best way to know which produce is in season (besides shopping at a farmers’ market, where all the food is locally grown and freshly harvested)? When you walk into a grocery store, you’ll often see a few pyramids overflowing with an abundance of fruits or vegetables and on sale. If an item is on sale and on prominent display, you know it is plentiful right now. Shop the sale pyramids for seasonal success!
everyday dosa
makes about 12
Every culture has its crepe, pancake, tortilla, or flatbread. India gives us the gift of dosa, which bears most resemblance to France’s crepe. Dosa is traditionally served with a spicy soup and chutney. This flatbread is most often made with polished or parboiled white rice and split urad dal, which is a hulled pigeon pea. This recipe calls for split mung dal and white basmati rice; both are light and dry in quality yet grounding and nourishing when soaked, cooked, and served warm. Adventurous cooks may replace the mung dal with urad dal, which is highly nutritive and heavier, making it a great variation for cooler weather. Unlike the other Everyday recipes, which feature seasonal variations, this simple dosa recipe can be served as a year-round staple.
A steaming hot dosa pairs well with both savory and sweet dishes. Dosa can be eaten with ghee (especially if you need to balance the dry quality) and maple syrup in winter, with Notella Hazelnut Spread (see page 140) to satisfy a spring sweet tooth, or with sweetened coconut milk in summer.
NOTE: This recipe requires overnight soaking, so plan ahead.
1 cup white basmati rice
1 cup split yellow mung beans
1¼ cup fresh water
½ tsp salt
½ tsp coriander powder (optional)
coconut oil for frying
Using a large mixing bowl and fine mesh sieve, wash and strain the rice and the mung beans twice or until the water runs clear. Transfer the rice and mung beans to a 4-quart saucepan or mixing bowl. Cover the mixture with fresh water and soak for at least 6 hours or overnight. After the soaking period, strain and rinse the rice and mung beans.
Next, grind the rice and mung beans. If using a large food processor, put all the rice and beans in the processor bowl, add the water, salt, and coriander, and grind on high for 5 minutes. If using a blender, put half of the water and about half of the rice and beans in the blender carafe and blend on high for 1 minute. Then gradually add more of the rice and beans until the mixture becomes like pancake batter, blending on high for at least 3 minutes. If your blender gets hot, stop. You may have to process the recipe in two batches.
Return the batter to a bowl or saucepan, cover with a towel, and leave it somewhere warm to ferment for 8–12 hours or overnight. If you live in a cool climate, putting it on top of the fridge or in the oven (don’t turn it on) will work. Fermentation will make the batter rise in the bowl. The more the dough ferments, the lighter and fluffier the dosa.
Warm a ceramic nonstick frying pan over medium heat and use ½ tsp coconut oil per dosa (or a spray coconut oil) in the pan. Flick a few drops of water on the pan’s surface; when the water sizzles the pan is ready. Cook the dosa as you would a pancake. Pour 1/3 cup of the dosa batter into the pan. Tilt and rotate the pan to spread the batter out evenly. If your batter is very thick, use the back of a large spoon to spread it in circles until the dosa is thin.
When the dosa bubbles and the edges start to come away from the pan, check to see that the bottom is nice and brown. It’s done. If you like your dosa crisp, flip it and cook a few minutes more. Each dosa takes about 5 minutes.
For a traditional pairing, serve with a small bowl of South Indian Sambar (page 124) for dipping and perhaps a side of Cilantro Mint Chutney (page 192). You will find Everyday Dosa goes well with many soups and sauces in this book.
Homemade dosa is a real treat to share. You can prepare a few and keep them stacked in a warm oven until you have enough to serve. In Indian households, whoever is cooking will stay in the kitchen preparing dosa and bring them out one at time to the family or guests. The cook keeps them coming, and in between the folks at the table are resting and socializing. The meal goes on until everyone has had enough of dosa. I’ve seen the man of the house eat six!
everyday kichari
serves 4–6
Kichari is the balancing staple food of Ayurveda. Served regularly at Ayurveda clinics and centers, this is a neutral, light, and soft food that both cleanses and nourishes the body, without supporting imbalance of any kind. In fact, kichari is thought to remove toxins from the system. This complete, one-pot meal is a mixture of hulled mung beans and rice, known to be gentle on the digestive organs, cooked with a rotating cast of vegetables and spices. Once you get the hang of the formula, you can experiment with seasonal varieties of beans and grains. Most would do well to eat this dish three to four times a week; I do, and it feels great.
6 cups water
1 cup basmati rice
½ cup yellow split mung dal (ideally, soaked for 1 hour or more)
1 tbsp Everyday Savory Spice Mix
pinch of asafetida (hing) powder (optional)
2 cups vegetables (choose from the Everyday Shopping List in appendix 4, page 290), coarsely chopped into ½-inch cubes, leafy greens also coarsely chopped into strips
½–1 tsp salt
fresh cilantro for garnish
FOR THE TEMPERING
1–2 tbsp ghee
½ tsp cumin seed
½ tsp coriander seed
½ tsp fennel seed (optional)
In a large saucepan boil 5 cups water on high heat. Set the other 1 cup aside to add during cooking as needed.
Rinse the rice and dal twice or until water runs clear. Add them to the boiling water, along with the spice mix and optional hing, and keep on high heat until the liquid boils again. Then immediately turn the heat down to low. If using hard vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and squash, add the ½-inch cubes now. Partially cover the pan with the lid ajar and simmer for 20 minutes without stirring. Check after 20 minutes to see if it needs more water. If the dal is not submerged, it does. Pour the additional cup of water on top and do not stir. If using quick-cooking vegetables like greens, green beans, and the like, add those on top to steam now. Simmer partially covered 10 minutes more.
To make the tempering, warm the ghee in a small skillet on medium heat. Add the cumin, coriander, and optional fennel seeds and cook until the seeds pop, about 2–3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into the kichari. Add salt, stir well, and let stand, covered, for a few minutes.
Kichari should have a soupy, soft consistency; serve it in bowls, as you would a stew. Garnish with fresh cilantro.
SEASONAL KICHARIS
Follow the Everyday Kichari recipe on page 94, substituting these seasonal variations:
EVERYDAY KICHARI RECIPE NOTES
Keep it simple: Season with just the spice mix and add ghee to each bowl for serving.
Make it special: The longer you cook it, the more wonderful it tastes, and the easier it is to digest. You could simmer the kichari for about 1 hour. In this case, simmer the rice and mung beans, covered, for as much as 40 minutes. Then add the harder vegetables for the last 20 minutes, and steam quick-cooking vegetables on top for only the last 10 or so minutes. Check in about halfway through, because you may need a cup or two more of hot water to keep your kichari soft. You can also make kichari ahead in a slow cooker or rice cooker, and you will have food when you come home from work. Veggie tip: The more finely you chop your vegetables, the faster they will cook. Half-inch cubes of a hard winter vegetable cook in 20–25 minutes. Baby spinach or arugula, which is naturally fine, can be stirred in with the tempering toward the end.
What we in the West know as food allergies or sensitivities, Ayurveda views as a result of poor digestion and elimination. Generally, weak agni and/or incomplete elimination allow toxicity to build up in the body. This leads to an allergic response, especially to sticky, hard-to-digest foods, like wheat and dairy products. Gunked-up organs are unable to break down certain foods, so the body rejects them or they remain undigested, leading to the creation of ama, more toxicity in the body.
A number of factors—which depend very much on the individual—have an impact on food allergies and sensitivities. Impaired digestive fire can result from:
• not digesting a substance well
• ingesting a substance too often
• taking in too great a quantity at one time
• eating at the wrong time of day
• processing: modern processing and genetic engineering may be creating substances that are unfamiliar to the body and indigestible, so the body rejects them.
The Ayurvedic approach to food allergies and sensitivities begins with strengthening the digestive fire. Kichari is just the food to help a reactive system rest and recover. To learn how to care for your digestive fire, see chapter 2, “The Principles of Ayurvedic Eating.”
everyday basmati rice
Basmati rice is a staple side dish and the center of any Ayurvedic meal because of its sweet taste and cooling effect. I find quick-cooking basmati nicely rounds out a cleansing green soup or dal, and I eat it once or twice a week. Basmati rice is prized for its fragrance and light texture. Note how fine and long the uncooked grains are and how, in the final product, they remain delicate and light. White basmati is considered easy to assimilate and nourishing to all body types. Rinsing rice well removes extra starch, while soaking before cooking softens the grain a bit, ensuring a light and digestible Everyday Basmati Rice.
1 cup white basmati rice
2 cups water
¼ tsp ghee
¼ tsp salt
Using a fine mesh sieve, rinse the rice under cool, running water. Submerge the sieve, rice and all, in a bowl of cool water, allowing rice to soak for 30 minutes. Drain the rice and rinse one last time under cool running water until the water runs clear.
Add the rice to a medium-size saucepan with the water, the ghee (which keeps the pot from boiling over and balances the dry quality of the grain), and the salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 17 minutes. Do not disturb the rice while it cooks—no peeking under the lid or stirring! After 17 minutes, remove it from heat and let it stand for 5 minutes with the lid on.
Remove the lid, fluff with a fork, and serve.
The fibrous bran from the hull is left on brown rices and removed in white rices. In India, when the tall shafts of rice are harvested, farmers have traditionally put them in the road so that passing trucks drive over the grain and break off the husks. The nutritious bran remains stuck to the grain, which we know as brown rice. When the bran is peeled off, the rice is “polished” or white.
Although Western health movements suggest that only brown rice is beneficial, Ayurveda considers white basmati (not parboiled or short grain) rice easier to digest than brown, especially when one’s digestive fire is not strong enough to digest the hull well or when one has a sensitive or inflamed digestive tract, for which fiber can be too rough.
Traditionally, Ayurveda makes mention of many varieties of local grains. Black millet, called ragi, and red rice are two grains I have enjoyed in southern India. While the average palate is used to eating white rice in India, I am seeing a movement toward a return to whole grains for health, supported by Ayurvedic wisdom.
everyday bean pâté
serves 4
Beans are generally dry, astringent, and light. This makes them a good choice for encouraging weight loss and alleviating water retention—but if your body is on the dry side, add a bit more oil and salt to your pâtés. In Ayurveda canned beans are considered stale, but home-cooked, pureed beans are smooth, soft, and easy to digest, as well as versatile. Each seasonal bean pâté contains a bean, an oil, a salt, a spice, and something with zing. Beans add protein to any wrap (like the Collard Wraps with Red Lentil Pâté, see page 253), an Everyday Steamed Salad Bowl, or a simple grain.
1 cup cooked red lentils
½–1 cup water
1 tsp Everyday Savory Spice Mix
½ tsp red miso
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Place the cooked lentils in a large mixing bowl and add ½ cup water, spice mix, miso, olive oil, and lemon juice. Depending how smooth you would like your pâté, either mash the ingredients together with a fork or mix with an electric hand blender until the texture is smooth. Add the remaining ½ cup water if needed to achieve desired consistency.
Serve this pâté beside an Everyday Steamed Salad Bowl; in a wrap made with collards, nori, or Everyday Dosa; or as a dip for parboiled vegetable spears or crackers.
SEASONAL BEAN PÂTÉS
Create seasonal bean pâtés by following the Everyday method on page 99, substituting the ingredients in the table below.
For another spin on the bean pâté, see Spicy Black Bean Hummus (page 152) and Collard Wraps with Red Lentil Pâté (see page 253).
everyday cleansing green soup
serves 2–4
Everyday Cleansing Green Soup is a warm alternative to cold green juice. Green vegetables always contain astringent and bitter tastes. These two tastes, along with pungency, represent the reducing qualities in Ayurveda. This soup is indicated any time you need a break from heavy foods, want to lose some weight, or desire a lift for your digestion or mood. Eating Everyday Cleansing Green Soup is a great habit, and I have seen a number of clients fall in love with this soup.
3 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp turmeric powder
1-inch piece fresh gingerroot
1 cup packed chopped kale (about 2 small leaves)
4 cups packed chopped Swiss chard (about 4 large leaves)
1 cup packed parsley leaves, no stems (about 2 big handfuls)
2 tsp ghee or coconut oil salt and pepper to taste
In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the vegetable broth and turmeric powder and bring to a boil on high heat. (If you plan to use a carafe blender, reserve 1 cup of the broth at room temperature to add later.) Peel and coarsely chop the gingerroot and add to the pot. Add the chopped kale and chard. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and oil.
Remove from heat. If using an immersion hand blender, process in saucepan until completely smooth. If using a carafe blender, transfer liquid and vegetables to carafe and add the reserved cup of broth to cool the mixture down. Put a towel over the blender top and hold it down with your hand. Begin blending on low, gradually increasing the speed, until the soup is smooth. You may need to blend in two batches.
Enjoy this soup topped with toasted sunflower seeds; alongside Everyday Dosa or sprouted grain toast with ghee; or, in warm weather, with hummus and rye or rice crackers.
SEASONAL CLEANSING GREEN SOUPS
Follow the Everyday method above, using the seasonal ingredients listed in this table.
easy morning beverage
serves 1
As its name implies, this warm drink is recommended first thing in the morning. Lemon stimulates a cleansing flush by encouraging bile production, which will get things moving! If in the morning you experience sticky mucus in the throat, use honey in the recipe, as it is known for its scraping action—it removes any nighttime buildup from the mouth and throat. In cold weather, make a winter warmer by boiling one teaspoon of grated gingerroot in the water before adding lemon. If you don’t experience mucus or if you have trouble moderating sweet taste, you can omit the honey.
1¼ cups water
juice of ¼ lemon
1 tsp honey (optional)
In a small pot or kettle, bring the water to a boil. Remove from heat and pour boiling water into a large mug.
To serve, stir in fresh-squeezed lemon juice and honey, if using.
While we are on the topic of morning beverages . . . what does Ayurveda say about coffee?
Caffeine in any form is astringent, and astringent equals drying. You will notice you have a dry mouth after drinking coffee, black tea, and even green tea.
Coffee is heating, sharp, light, slightly oily, and drying. This heavy-hitting combo creates a hot and dry internal environment. The one time in my life I have deeply craved coffee was on the island of Kaua‘i (which, incidentally, has great coffee). After a few days of absolutely still air and rain, the drying, light qualities of coffee felt like God’s gift, as they balanced the weather pattern’s insistently heavy, moist qualities. Coffee is strong medicine, though, and there are more sustainable ways to find a balance in your body.
I have seen clients have very good luck by reducing coffee intake slowly, one cup or half a cup at a time. In some cases a small cup each day is tolerable and worth the joie de vivre it brings. In other cases, I have seen clients abstain from coffee altogether by replacing the dark, bitter, roasted-bean beverage with roasted dandelion root, a plant native to Europe and the Americas and known to benefit the liver. I often hear people say drinking coffee is simply a habit, a ritual, as if they do not even care about the substance itself. Try substituting some roasted dandelion root coffee for your ritual. It contains the same qualities as regular coffee, without being sharp or dry.
Remember, it is when coffee begins sneaking in more than once a day or the one cup is gaining in ounces that you need to rein it in.
everyday digestive lassi
serves 2
The Ayurvedic lassi is quite different from the kind you find in Indian restaurants. A restaurant lassi is very thick and rich, made with undiluted yogurt, often blended with ice and banana or mango. This is not a digestive beverage; it’s a gut-bomb! The medicinal way of drinking cultured milk is to dilute it with water and to skim off some of the fat. The weaker one’s digestion is, the more fat one should remove. Churning the cultured milk with water introduces light, mobile qualities to whole fat milk, which is otherwise heavy, dense, and oily. For this recipe you can use yogurt or kefir, not the buttermilk sold in stores. Traditional lassi is a postdigestive probiotic, which settles the stomach and increases digestion and absorption of nutrients. Lassi is most strongly recommended after the midday meal.
1 cup water, room temperature
¼ cup organic whole milk yogurt
dash of turmeric powder
dash of ginger powder
Put the water in a 16-ounce glass jar and add the yogurt and spices. Churn the mixture on high speed for 1 minute with an immersion hand blender, until it foams. Some of the milk solids will gather on top and stick to the sides of the jar; they look like little bubbles. When the liquid settles, skim off the solids with a spoon and discard.
To serve, pour into two 8-ounce glasses.
Ayurveda recommends eating fresh yogurt or drinking fresh kefir, as the longer a cultured dairy product has been sitting, the more sour its sweet taste becomes. If you are not making it at home, try to buy a locally made yogurt or kefir. Also, nonfat yogurt is more sour than yogurt made with whole milk, as its sweet taste is removed along with its fat. Choosing whole milk yogurt and separating the fats yourself by churning, as described in the recipe, will yield a more beneficial lassi than using nonfat yogurt.
SEASONAL DIGESTIVE LASSIS
Create seasonal variations by following the method above, using the ingredients in this table.
everyday almond milk
makes 1 quart
The Ayurvedic diet often includes almonds for their slightly cooling and nutritive action, which reaches all the tissue layers. Almonds are also thought to improve the skin and increase its luster and beauty. Apart from soaking time, fresh almond milk takes only a few minutes to make, and it offers far more vitality than the kind you buy in a box. Everyday Almond Milk is the base for many of the soups and baking recipes in this book; you might make up a quart every few days and save the leftover almond meal for baking. This recipe keeps well for 3–5 days in the refrigerator, but I am in the habit of making a half batch every other day. It tastes so delicious fresh!
⅔ cup raw almonds
4 cups water, plus about 2 cups for soaking
dash of salt (optional)
Soak the almonds for 6 or more hours (overnight works) in enough water to cover, about 2 cups. Drain and discard the water and rinse the almonds. Using a hand blender or a carafe blender, process them with 1 cup of water until smooth. Add the remaining 3 cups of water. Blend again until smooth and foamy.
To serve or use for recipes, strain the milk through a fine sieve or cheesecloth (strain twice if you like it very smooth). Save the resulting pulp for baking or for thickening blended soups.
SEASONAL NUT MILK VARIATIONS
Milk made from soaked almonds is beneficial in all seasons, but you might also enjoy the following seasonal milk recipes. Follow the instructions for Everyday Almond Milk above, but note that with different ingredients the soaking times may change, as well as whether you use the soaking water in your milk or drain and rinse the nuts or seeds first.
everyday ayurvedic spice mixes and salts
Two simple spice mixes, one sweet and one savory, are featured in many of the Everyday recipes and can come in quite handy in your other cookery or as condiments. Steamed vegetables topped with ghee and Everyday Savory Spice Mix need no special sauce. Cooked fruits or cereals with a dash of Everyday Sweet Spice Mix are ready to enjoy. The familiar taste of Everyday Digestive Salts can spruce up almost anything with minimal effort. Keep these mixes in your kitchen to enjoy their neutral, beneficial qualities for year-round eating and healing.
EVERYDAY SAVORY SPICE MIX
makes ¼ cup
The combination of turmeric, cumin, coriander, and fennel is a traditionally balanced digestive formula for kindling agni, stimulating liver function, and moderating the fire element. You will notice this mixture is the basis for all of the seasonal spice mixes and is indeed the basis for most Ayurvedic savories. I recommend tasting the spices individually first, to be sure you like them. If any flavor does not agree with you, you may reduce the amount of that spice and tailor the recipe to your own taste. (It’s usually the fennel that takes some getting used to!)
1 tbsp whole coriander seed
1 tbsp whole cumin seed
1½ tsp whole fennel seed
1 tbsp turmeric powder
Dry roast the whole spices in a frying pan for a few minutes, just until they release their fragrance and you can smell them. Let them cool completely. In a coffee grinder reserved for spices or, alternatively, by hand with a mortar and pestle, grind to a uniform consistency. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and stir in the turmeric powder.
Using a teaspoon, a funnel, or a postcard folded in half to make a V-shaped chute, pour into a shaker jar with an airtight lid for storage.
EVERYDAY SWEET SPICE MIX
makes ¼ cup
A must for cool mornings, this spice mix is the one to reach for whenever you want to add or enhance the sweet taste, and it offers a warming quality to aid digestion. There is no harm in using the Everyday Sweet Spice Mix generously, as there could be with sugar and other sweeteners. In fall and winter, you can turn most grain dishes into a breakfast with this mix; use it to add flavor to cooked fruits or add it to warm milk to make an instant spiced drink.
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp ginger powder
1 tbsp cardamom powder
Mix the powdered spices together in a glass shaker jar. Use anytime of year.
NOTE: In Ayurveda it is generally recommended to grind fresh, whole spices, but these three are not convenient to grind at home. I recommend buying them in powdered form, in small amounts from the bulk section at a store with good turnover to ensure freshness, or from a supplier in the “Resources” section (page 306).
EVERYDAY DIGESTIVE SALTS
makes ½ heaping cup
Salt, ginger, and lemon are known to increase the digestive fire by encouraging the correct ratio of fire and water in the stomach. Adding digestive salts to your meals instead of plain salt will get your digestive juices really flowing. Use salt moderately in the spring, when the water element accumulates, and in summer, when the fire element accumulates, as salt promotes both water and fire in the body.
1 dainty organic lemon (Meyer if you can find one)
½ tsp fennel seeds (optional)
½ cup sea salt or pink salt
½ tsp ginger powder
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Make lemon zest by grating the outside of the lemon with a fine grater.
Grind the fennel seeds, if using, as fine as you can in a mortar and pestle or spices-only coffee grinder.
Mix 1 tsp lemon zest, the ground fennel seeds, salt, and ginger powder together in a bowl and spread the mixture out on a baking sheet, making sure there are no clumps. Bake for about 15 minutes, long enough to dry out the lemon zest. If the zest pieces look too large to pass through a shaker top, grind again with mortar and pestle.
Cool completely and transfer to a shaker jar.
everyday vegetable broth
makes 3½ cups
Vegetable broth can be enjoyed plain as a beverage with a meal, to replace a meal, or to tide you over between meals. Used as the base for soups and in cooking grains and beans, your broth enhances not only flavor but also nutrition. You can keep a bag of washed organic vegetable scraps (like celery tops, carrot peels, and sweet potato skins) in the freezer as you cook and once a week boil them with herbs or gingerroot to make your own fresh broth. Or you can start from scratch.
5 cups roughly chopped vegetables (carrots, potatoes, leeks, kale, parsnips, fennel) and/or vegetable skins
2 tbsp ghee
1 handful fresh herbs, stem included (thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, parsley) or 2-inch piece fresh gingerroot, washed and thickly sliced
½ tsp salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
7 cups water
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, sauté the vegetables in the ghee over medium heat until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the fresh herbs or gingerroot, salt, black pepper, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and simmer 60 minutes. Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh metal sieve into a glass bowl, saucepan, or other heatproof container, pressing on the vegetables with the back of a spoon to extract as much flavorful liquid as possible.
Allow broth to cool and then transfer to storage jars. Refrigerate for up to 1 week. If freezing, use within 1 month.
If you aren’t finding the time to make your own broth, you can try using a concentrated vegetable paste, such as Better than Bouillon; organic bouillon cubes; or boxed premade broth. The ideal is to make your own, of course, and when I don’t have any on hand, I tend to rely on the flavors of the Everyday spice mixes, quality salt, and the vegetables themselves in my recipes. If you do buy bouillon cubes and you are sensitive to wheat, look for ones that don’t use wheat flour as a binder.
everyday ghee
makes 6 ounces
Otherwise known as clarified butter, often used in French cooking, ghee is considered to be the most beneficial cooking medium in Ayurveda and the jewel in the crown of Ayurvedic healing. This oil has the highest heat tolerance, is light enough to digest easily, and penetrates the body’s tissues, providing the necessary nourishment and unsaturated fat to the deep tissue layers. Think of ghee as a carrier that brings the goods deep into the body. When spices are tempered in ghee, their medicinal qualities become available to these tissues. It must be of a medicinal quality, and so organic butter of the highest quality must be the base for this recipe.
To make ghee you remove the solids from the butter by cooking it over low heat. As it cooks, the water will be released in the form of tiny bubbles, and the solids will separate out, to be strained and discarded. The trick is not to let it burn, and so you must stay present with the butter for the full 15 minutes it takes to separate. Watch as it changes form and take great pride in every batch of golden yellow, spoonable cooking oil you create. Ghee making is a very satisfying and fun job that turns you into a kitchen healer.
This recipe makes roughly a 2-week supply. Once you get the hang of it you can double the recipe and make it monthly.
½ lb (2 sticks) organic unsalted butter
Place 2 sticks of butter in a small saucepan. Melt the butter over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low. After about 5 minutes the butter will begin to form a white froth on its surface, and you will hear popping sounds from the moisture evaporating. Continue to monitor the ghee; do not walk away or multitask. Notice when the popping sounds become more intermittent, and then it’s time to hover. When the solids on the bottom of the pan begin to turn golden brown (after about 10–15 minutes), remove from heat.
Cool until it’s just warm, for about 15 minutes. Strain through a strainer or cheesecloth into a sterilized glass jar (an empty nut butter jar works nicely). Skim off any last bits of foam that might remain.
Everyday Ghee does not need refrigeration for 1 month or so; keep it on the counter with a lid on, and always use a clean utensil when taking ghee from the jar. If you want to keep it longer, I recommend storing it in the fridge, but take it out to soften when you start cooking.
Ghee is great used in place of butter in almost all things: spread on toast, as a cooking oil for eggs, stirred into grains. It does have a different flavor and texture than butter and so will not integrate into finicky baking recipes, but you will certainly find it in my baked goods!