Takra | Ayurvedic Buttermilk (A Pitta-friendly treat)

Many of us are used to enjoying thick greek yogurt. And what’s not to love. It’s basically like ice cream😋 But for kapha it is much too dense, for vata it is hard to digest, and milk can be aggravating for pitta. Enter takra or Ayurvedic buttermilk. Now, in the traditional sense, this is not buttermilk. This is a cultured, liquid yogurt drink. The addition of water makes it much easier on pitta’s fast digestion while also lending the cooling aspects we want for this dosha. Kapha and vata may still want to limit this drink as it is very cooling.

Take takra about 30 minutes after breakfast or lunch to aid in digestion (cool high pitta digestion) and support good probiotic activity in the body.

Ingredients

Savory Version

1/2 c. plain yogurt (homemade is best but you can also use any good quality yogurt. Bulgarian yogurt has particularly good bacteria)

Pinch of ground cumin

Pinch of pink Himalayan salt

Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 c. room temp water

Directions

Add all ingredients to a small blender or mason jar. Blend on low or shake jar vigorously until everything is combined.

Enjoy 30 minutes after meal.

Sweet Version

1/2 c. plain yogurt (homemade is best but you can also use any good quality yogurt. Bulgarian yogurt has particularly good bacteria)

Pinch of dry vanilla bean or 1/4 tsp of extract

1/2 tsp honey

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Pinch of ground cardamom

1/2 c. room temp water

Warm Cabbage Salad (Chef's kiss)

My fellow pitta and kapha folk, this one’s for you! Oh the wonders of cabbage… Cooling, fiber, calcium, prebiotics, vitamin K…the list goes on and on. Cabbage is great for kidney health, heart health, and digestive health.

In this recipe add carrots, celery, cilantro, and green onion for a fresh and satisfying salad. A hint of ginger and lime makes this play nice with many foods like tofu, rice, lentils, and more. Top with ground flax seeds or add to a veggie tortilla wrap. If you have kapha heaviness, ama, or pitta heat symptoms this is a great dish to combat those qualities.

Ingredients

1/2 head cabbage, shredded

3 carrots, shredded

1 small bunch cilantro, shredded

3 stalks green onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped fine

1/4 tsp grated ginger

Squeeze of lime

Coconut aminos

Pinch of salt

Kitchari | An Ayurvedic Staple

There are as many kitchari recipes as there are chicken soup recipes. It’s just one of those personal, nourishing foods that lends itself to interpretation and flexibility based on what is needed.

This recipe is what we use in our Seasonal Wisdom Program to cleanse the lymphatic system and digestive system. There are countless benefits to eating kitchari as a meal of for several days in a row as part of a cleansing food program. No matter why you eat it, it is sure to be soothing, balancing, and deeply nourishing.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp ghee + 1/2 tsp for topping

• 2 tsp whole cumin seeds (or sub half as much ground cumin)

• 1 tsp whole mustard seeds (or sub half as much mustard powder)

• 2 Tbsp gratedfresh ginger

• 1/2 cup basmati white rice

• 1/2 cup split yellow mung dal (or sub red lentils for vata)

• 1 tsp ground turmeric (plus more to taste)

• 1/4 tsp Hing (asafoetida) Be sure to check for gluten-free options if sensitive

• 3/4 tsp sea salt (plus more to taste)

• 3 ½ cups water

• Fresh veggies depending on dosha: Carrots, beets, cauliflower, celery, onion, garlic, spinach, swiss chard, kale (add harder veggies during cooking, greens and delicate veggies after)

FOR SERVING optional

• Cilantro

• Lemon or lime juice

Directions

INSTANT POT

• Soak mung beans and rice ahead of time: Rinse and soak rice and mung dal in separate bowls for at least 4 hours. Ideally overnight.

• When ready, rinse rice and dal and place to the side.

• In a 6-quart (or larger) Instant Pot-turn the SAUTÉ function to medium. Once hot, add ghee, press “CANCEL”, and then add cumin seeds and mustard seeds and stir until toasted and fragrant (the residual heat after pressing “CANCEL” will toast them without burning).

• Add all remaining ingredients except salt — ginger, carrot, rice, mung dal, cumin, turmeric, water. Stir to combine.

• Put on the Instant Pot lid and turn to seal. Pressure cook on HIGH for 4 minutes (it will take about 5-10 minutes for the Instant Pot to pressurize before cooking begins). Once the timer goes off, let the steam release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure. If in a hurry, you can carefully quick release.

• If using greens add them to the pot and cover for 5 minutes to soften.

• Add salt and adjust to taste. Pitta and kapha should take care not to oversalt.

• Garnish with ghee, fresh cilantro and lemon or lime juice.

• Best when fresh. Try not to eat past 1 day but it will keep for 3-4.

STOVETOP

• Soak mung beans and rice ahead of time: Rinse and soak rice and mung dal in separate bowls for at least 4 hours. Ideally overnight.

• Heat a large rimmed skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add ghee. Toast for ~30 seconds or until fragrant, being careful not to burn.

• Add all remaining ingredients except for salt — ginger, carrot, rice, mung dal, cumin, turmeric, water. Stir to combine. Stir to combine. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until moong dal is tender.

• If using greens add them to the pot and cover for 5 minutes to soften.

• Add salt and adjust to taste. Pitta and kapha should take care not to oversalt.

• Garnish with ghee, fresh cilantro and lemon or lime juice.

• Best when fresh. Try not to eat past 1 day but it will keep for 3-4.

Almond Date Shake | Deeply Nourishing and Rejuvenating

For those who enjoy a smoothie in the morning, Ayurveda has an alternative to the cold, heavy, and haphazard staple of American diet. OK, before you come fore me let’s talk about why smoothies are not great first thing in the morning:

1. Cold and iced foods dampen the digestive fire.

2. Fruits should be eaten alone

3. Milk (if added to your smoothie) is not suggested first thing in the morning unless warmed and spiced. The morning is kapha time and milk is kapha predominant.

4. Folks like to put everything and the kitchen sink in a smoothie. One of the central concepts in Ayurveda is the wrong combination of food leads to disease. Adding grains, fruits, milk, and nut butters to a smoothie is too much for the digestive to reconcile in an effective way.

Enter the almond date shake! This recipe can scratch the itch for folks who love that morning smoothie. So what makes this different? This shake is very noursihing for rasa dhatu (the plasma/lymphatic/interstial fluids and “waters” of the body). In Ayurveda this is the foundational tissue of which all other tissues in the body are nourished. It’s easy to digest and so satisfying.

Ingredients (1 serving)

3 Dates

20 raw almonds

Pinch of cardamom

Pinch of cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground vanilla bean or 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of Himalayan salt

2 cups water for soaking, 1 cup for drink

Instructions

Soak dates and almonds overnight in water (in a pinch you can boil water and cover for 10-15 minutes)

Remove the skins from almonds. The skins will easily slip off when you squeeze them. Watch out, they’re slippery little suckers:-)

Combine all ingredients in a blender (including water from dates)

Blend and enjoy!

High fiber tortillas

These prebiotic and gluten-free tortillas are a mainstay in my household. Easy to prepare (and prepare ahead) for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Psyllium husks are a friend to your gut. Combined with almond, coconut, and arrowroot flours they help with vata digestive regularity, provide good fiber for pitta to slow down hot digestion, and are light enough for kapha to enjoy.

Be sure to use boiling or very hot water for this recipes to expand the psylium husk. Particularly for vata, we don’t want them to expand in the gut to further use water resources.

The quantities for this recipe make a batch of dry ingredients that you can use for about 32 servings. Use approx 1 cup of dry ingredient at a time to make 8 tortillas.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 part psyllium whole husk (must be whole husk or tortillas will be gluey)

3/4 c. coconut flour

1 c. almond flour

1 c. arrowroot or tapioca flour (I like arrowroot)

1/2-3/4 tsp salt

1 tbs baking powder

On cooking day:

1 tsp olive oil, sunflower oil, or dosha-specific oil

1 c. boiled water

Directions

Add all dry ingredients together. Measure out approx 1 cup of dry mix and add to a mixing bowl. This will yield 8 4” tortillas. Save the rest of the dry mixture in air tight container.

Boil 1 cup of water

Heat frying pan, cast iron pan or griddle on med low heat

When pan is hot, add 1/2 tsp oil and wipe down with paper towel (pan should not smoke)

In a mixing bowl, add oil to dry mixture

Slowly add 1/2 cup boiled water to dry mix and stir with a spoon. Note how mixture expands. Continue adding water until mixture can form a ball. When it’s cool enough to knead work the dough into a ball. It’s OK if it’s a little loose.

Let stand for at least 5 minute. 10 preferably.

Cut into 8 sections and roll into balls

Place parchment paper on tortilla press or use a rolling pin to flatten into desired shape.

The dough should peel off the parchment paper. If it’s too sticky, scrape off and add back to dough ball. Add 1/2 tsp of dry mix or enough to being dough together. Alternatively, if the dough is too dry and crumbly, add more water little by little.

Add torilla to frying pan and cook on each side 2-3 minutes or until you see some toasted areas. Flip and do the same on the other side.

You can serve tortillas warm or keep them in the fridge for a day (they’ll last for 2-3 but this is Ayurveda so we like to keep leftovers to a minimum:-)

Serve with any food that you’d eat with a traditional tortilla, pita, dosa, or flatbread. They are strong enough to hold food well.

Seasoning ideas:

Add cinnamon, jaggery, and ghee for a breakfast for a (vata nourishing sweet treat

Add fennel, cumin, and cilantro (or coriander seeds) for a pitta-friendly tortilla

Add garlic powder, turmeric, paprika, cumin, and black pepper for kapha-busting

A cast iron tortilla press is a must-have tool in the kitchen.

The tortilla dough should be pliable, hold together, and easy to peel off the parchment paper.

A cast iron griddle is a great way to cook these bad boys up fast.

In the Field | Vol. 5 | Gut-loving Brownies

Do you dream of having brownies for breakfast? I know I do (and I DO!) I will confess, chocolate is the siren that continues to call me to the rocks despite not really working for my constitution. So, I had to find a way to make this work for me, because I wasn’t going to let chocolate go easily into that good night.

Enter Ayurvedic Brownies.

I was looking for a solution to satisfy (at least pacify) my chocolate desire but also not increase my kapha and pitta too much. Even a couple squares of dark chocolate can slow down my digestion and get my pitta flaring (processed cocoa is very heating and cocoa butter is very heavy).

For this reason, whenever I bake or make hot chocolate for the kiddos, I always use raw cacao because it is far less heating and actually quite cooling for pitta due to it’s bitter tastes. Though cacao can be drying for vata, we balance that with demulcent oats, tahini, and sweet potato in this brownie recipe.

Interestingly enough, this recipe is very low in sugar, high in fiber, and packed with vitamins. You will notice that your hunger will be kept at bay due to the slow burn of the low glycemic index ingredients. And with just a few chocolate chips sprinkled here and there, this is a whole food recipe!

This recipe for healthy brownies is one of the few things that are always available in my house. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

1 very large sweet potato or 2-3 smal ones

1 c Rolled Oats

1/2 c raw cacao

1/2 c tahini

1/2 tsp maple syrup

1/4 c oat milk (or milk of choice)

1/4 c chocolate chips

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

Bake a large sweet potato (or two smaller ones) until soft, let cool (can be warm). In a food processor.

Add rolled oats, raw cacao, baking powder, salt. Mix on high for about 90 seconds. I don’t mind if the oats are not fully ground to a flour.

Add tahini, sweet potato, and 1/2-1 tsp maple syrup (optional, can also add more to sweeten), and milk of choice. Mix for 1 minute until combined.

Taste the batter and add any additional ingredients (more cacao, syrup, etc).

If mixture is cool, add chocolate chips. Spoon into 8x8 baking dish. Top with choc chips. If batter is very wet, go for the 9x12. They will be a little thinner but will bake through