Author: admin

In India, people usually have a break in the middle of a street especially in the morning to drink a cup of this warm spiced tea with milk, just like our Italian habit of having coffee. It is so common in India that, if we ask for Tea at an Indian kiosk, expecting to be given a nice cup of classic black Tea, we will be disappointed because we will be served some good Chai, this is their Tea. If we wanted black Tea, we would be specific by saying Black Tea, but once we have a taste of Chai, be sure we’ll never ask for black tea again!

Chai Tea is an energizing and activating drink for Agni (digestive fire), it provides energy and rejuvenates but in a sweet way, less violently compared to coffee. We can use different combinations of spices to make it more or less warming and spicy: for Kapha we can add black pepper, which is not recommended for Pitta who should add instead brown sugar or jaggery. The original recipe includes cow milk and leaves of black tea, we suggest vegetable milk (according to the predominant dosha) and leaves of green tea (less stimulating).
Curiosity: if, after tasting Chai, you still feel the need to have coffee sometimes, we suggest you add 1 or 2 pods of cardamom either in your cup or in the moka pot. They will add pleasant flavor and soothe the negative effects of coffee, like anxiety and tachycardia.

Ingredients:

• ½ liter water
• ½ liter milk
• 1 or 2 teaspoons of green (or black) tea
• ghee as required
• 8 pods of cardamom
• 5 buds of cloves
• 1 cm of pippali
• 2 cm cinnamon bark
• 2 cm of fresh ginger, sliced in cubes
• vanilla (optional)
• star anise (optional)
• black pepper (optional)
• jaggery or whole brown sugar as required (optional)

Method:

Pour water into a pot with tea and bring it to a boil on a high heat. Add in roughly mashed spices, let it boil for some minutes, add optional sugar or jaggery, then add milk. When it starts boiling again, add ghee and let it boil for 5-10 minutes, then turn off the heat, filter and serve.

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Clarified butter is dear to Ayurveda and it has innumerable beneficial properties.

In particular, Ghee is very useful to maintain good Ojas (Vigor, vital lymph) and good Bala (physical and mental Strength), which together combine to maintain a healthy immune system. This is what ancient ayurvedic textbooks would say about it, but also recent scientific studies have showed the great benefits of good Fat in the treatment of different diseases. Ghee is also considered a Rasayana (rejuvenating). It is an excellent vehicle for spices and medicinal herbs and it is useful, when applied on the skin in case of inflammation, burns, dermatitis. It is also used in some ayurvedic treatments like massages to newborns or pregnant women.

So, let’s not demonize fats, on the contrary, let’s start including Ghee in our diet. We will benefit enormously. It can replace regular butter, which is poorly digestible due to the presence of water and animal proteins, both make it difficult for our body to separate and absorb them. Ghee, also, is kept out of the fridge for months, differently from butter.

“Everyone should eat Ghee even after getting into debt. Health is wealth. Eating clarified butter improves good health and good health improves wealth.” (Dr. Pankaj Chhayani)

“Ghee promotes digestion, reproductive system and immune system. It is cooling and provides softness to the body. Moreover, it promotes clarity of voice and complexion”.

(Charaka Samhita)

Ingredients:

One or more pats of organic butter

Method:

It is processed by taking out water and milk protein, so obtaining the purely lipidic part of butter, that is to say the “fat” part. This demonized and harshly criticized substance, which is still suggested eliminating from diets because it “makes you fat”, is actually very useful to our organism to be nourished and lubricated.

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A simple and very nutritious meal, excellent for breakfast.

Ingredients:

• 2 coffee cups of Oat flakes
• 10-12 Almonds
• 2 teaspoons of Raisins
• 3-5 Cardamom pods
• 2 cm Vanilla
• 1 coffee cup of vegetable milk
• Water as required
• Ghee or Honey as required
• Star anise to garnish (optional)

Method:

Soak oat flakes, almonds and raisins separately, for about one hour or more. Strain oat flakes (to get rid of extra starch), strain almonds and raisins (or use their water to cook) and put the three ingredients together. Add in vegetable milk (oat for Vata, rice/coconut for Pitta, rice or just water for Kapha), water, cardamom pods (open them up a bit to let their flavor and properties come out), cinnamon and let all cook on a medium/low heat for a few minutes until the desired texture. We can serve it adding a teaspoon of ghee (excellent for Vata) or honey (chestnut or honeydew for Vata, acacia or wildflower for Kapha), and possible other spices.

• If Agni (the digestive fire) is weak add in pippali (long pepper) or fresh ginger.
• If Vata is excessive, add in salt and/or cumin.
• If Pitta is excessive, add in grated coconut.
• If Kapha is excessive, add in Trikatu (three pungent tastes: ginger, pippali, black pepper).

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A very simple, nutritious and detoxifying meal, excellent even when recovering. It is made of basically two main ingredients: mung beans and basmati rice, two foods highly digestible and nutritious. We can make it purely with beans, rice, ghee and spices for a more detoxifying effect or add in some seasonal vegetables.

Especially during a change of seasons, or when we feel the need of purifying and rebalancing our digestion, we can have a 3-day detox period only with Kitchari, for breakfast with sweet spices like vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, for lunch with warming spices that activate Agni (the digestive fire) like pippali (long pepper), black pepper (for Kapha) and ginger, for dinner with calming spices (anti-Vata) that promote sleep like cumin, asafetida (avoid it if you have Pitta in excess), nutmeg.

Ingredients:

• half a glass of Mung Beans (Green Adzuki)
• half a glass of Basmati Rice
• 2-3 bay leaves
• Ghee as required
• 2 carrots (optional)
• 2 celery stalks (optional)
• parsley (optional)

Method:

Soak mung beans overnight, strain them and wash them under running water. Put them into a pot on the cooker and add abundant boiling water. Have them boil for a few minutes, taking off the foam that comes to the surface. Then add in bay leaves, basmati rice and vegetables cut into pieces. Let all cook through. Serve with a teaspoon of ghee and spices and herbs that you like.

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