Sunday, March 22, 2015

Greens with fennel and raisins

 In the kitchen we truly can enjoy simple recipes and still have a good tasty meal. This dish can be ensemble in 10 minutes, the same amount of time you need to cook quinoa.
You can use any green vegetables as spinach, kale, mustard green, and collard greens. You can use any of these greens or a combination in this recipe. As spices is concern I have choose fennel to make this dish suitable for children, however you can use cumin, hing or nutmeg as a main flavor.

Cauliflowers with coconut, red peppers and peanuts

Nothing like a shredded fresh coconut, it has the fresh enzymes that pitta need to cool down and the right amount of fat to pacify vatta. This recipe is a colorful addition to a rice of quinoa dish, and of course it is a great companion to any fresh salad. If you are not that friendly to peanuts, you can use almonds, walnuts or sunflowers seed to add a little crunchy texture to this dish.

For vattas you can add a little more ginger, for pitta more coconut and for kapha more chilli. Customize your dish for where you are at.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Cardamon the Queen of spices

Cardamom is also known as Chhoti Elaichi in India. It is a highly valued herbal spice that is used as a culinary agent in Asian cuisines because of its intrinsic flavoring capacity.

Moreover, when used as a home remedy it helps cure various ailments like indigestion, nausea, lightheadedness, etc.This aromatic spice is straw-green to bright-green in color with small, black seeds inside a pod. The fibrous, oval pod has about 8 to 16 seeds.

There is another variety of this herb, that is, Black Cardamom or Cardamomum amomum which is mostly found in Asia and Australia.

Constipation? Serve Chamomile Tea!

Chamomile tea suits all ages and doshas. This soft flower is the best companion of vatta dosha. 
 
Chamomile works to soften the stool, and it adds fiber. Because of this, it helps to keep the stool from becoming dehydrated, which will result in constipation. When you choose chamomile, and drink it as a tea, you are actually accomplishing two things. You will be adding hydration through the tea, and you will be adding a natural and healthy laxative in the chamomile. There is a bonus to chamomile tea. It is known for bringing physical relaxation and stress relief, making it an excellent option any time.

Tea has steeped about fifteen minutes. The water should be well infused with the herb. You can drink chamomile tea several times throughout the day when you are looking for constipation remedies.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Cloves healing benefits and home uses

Cloves is a sweet and hot spice that combine well with most spices, specially cinnamon and ginger. Because of it healing properties is a good spice for vattha and kapha doshas. It non-inflammatory properties also benefit pitta dosha.

 Clove or Laung in Hindi, is an aromatic herb native to Indonesia. It has various health benefits as it helps relieve nausea, vomiting, stomach upset, muscle cramps, toothache and several other ailments. It is also promotes digestive health.

Fenugreek the appetizer for your heatlh

Fenugreek or Methi in Hindi, is a very common spice in India and use in many dishes for the bittersweet taste.

This herb is native to the the Mediterranean countries, however it is also used and grow in Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, France, Egypt, Spain, Argentina, China, Turkey and Morocco.

The bittersweet taste is excellent for pitta dosha and for dishes that are heavy and creamy.
Let contemplate the incredible applications and health benefits of this spice.

15 health benefits of Hing/ asofoetica

When you open a jar of hing or Asofoetida you won't imagine that this stinky spice can be not only tasty but also the source of many health benefits.

When you are cooking with hing you are replacing the rajasic (movement) energy of garlic an onion. It is for that reason that  meditators refer to cook with hing to facilitate a calmer meditation.

Hing tends to lose its pungent odor when lightly fried in hot oil. However if you are not familiar with hing, take your time to experiment in the kitchen the multiple flavors that can give you.

Origins:
 Asafoetida (Hing) is native to Persia and India. It is the dried latex exuded from the living rootstock of

SOS to reduce pitta dosha.


Those unexpected skin rushes, or inflamed red eyes, or any infection or inflammation in the body is a sing of high pitta.
We can take a drastic approach to reduce it by increasing the bitter taste in our diet. You can also eliminate from your diet all food and only each kichadee for 3, 7 or 10 days with  stir-fried bitter melons.

You can include in your diet drinks that are fresh and cooling like, fresh coconut water, aloe vera gel, mint tea, and pomegranates juice. Make it plentiful during the day.

Stuffed bitter melons with sweet coconut mint chutney


This easy and unpretentious dish can heal any pitta complaints. If you are not familiar with bitter melons, this is a good chance to reconciled  yourself with the bitter taste.

Bitter melons, also called bitter gourd, are rich in iron. They have twice the beta carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, twice the potassium of bananas, and contain vitamins A, C, several of the B-complex, potassium, copper, phosphorus, zinc and a minimal amount of protein.

Tip to raise low bloodpressure

Remedy for low blood preassure
I was in India in my annual panchakarma month. In one of my purification days I had very little energy.  Either was iron going low or low blood pressure. My Dr. concluded was low blood pressure the responsible for my lack of energy. She gave me salty drink form of a soupy rice with salt and lemon. It was not only tasty, but in a couple of minutes my blood pressure return to normal.
Ingredients:
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup white rice. Basmati will do.