I have been in the kitchen a LOT lately. Maybe you have too with all the time we’ve had on our hands at home during the quarantine. Since starting to study Ayurveda a few years ago, I have kindled a deep love for cooking that I never thought I’d have. I learned about the prana of my food, I connected deeply with my grandmothers lineage through food and my vocabulary of spices and ingredients has grown exponentially. Plus, I have learned which foods are the most beneficial for my unique dosha, or mind/body type and can also council others.
Ayurveda teaches us about the six tastes: Astringent, Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, and Pungent. These six tastes are really just groupings of qualities, called gunas, which also make up the different elements when grouped together. Foods that predominate in the dry, cool, light qualities of space and air, will taste bitter, like kale, for example.
Without going into a huge lesson on cooking OR Ayurveda right now, I’ll just tell you that starting to use more spices is an excellent way to start cooking Ayurvedically! Most Spring Ayurveda recipes call for more warming spices, a little less salt, with maybe a peppery kick instead. This balances out the heavy, wet and cool qualities of Spring. Below are two blends that I remixed in my kitchen this morning since I have already used my first batch up. YUM! I hope you take the time to make them and really taste them!
Spring Spice Mix
1TB whole coriander seeds
1TB whole cumin seeds
1TB numeric powder
1TB ginger powder
1TS fenugreek seeds
1TS black pepper
1/8 TS cayenne pepper
pinch of clove powder
Dry roast the coriander, fenugreek and cumin seeds in a heavy bottomed pan until you can smell them, just a a few minutes.Cool completely. Combine them with this rest of the spices and grind to a uniform consistency in a coffee grinder dedicated to spices or by hand with a mortar and pestle. Using a teaspoon or funnel, transfer the spice mix to a small shaker jar with an airtight lid for storage.
Spring Salts
1TB finely ground pink salt
1/2 cup dried lemon zest
2TBs dried basil
1.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Mix the ingredients together in a bowl, grinding with mortar and pestle first if needed. Transfer to a small glass shaker, using in recipes. I leave mine on the dining table and use as a condiment! Delish.