Ayurvedic Cooking
Anna Yoga
The Art of Ayurvedic Cooking is called Anna Yoga, anna means food.
Food is at the heart of the Ayurvedic healing concept. We eat several times daily, so this is where we can make the biggest impact on our health. Ayurveda recommends to eat seasonal and local food to stay healthy.
Ayurveda distinguishes between 6 different tastes:
Sweet, Sour, Salty, Sitter, Pungent, Astringent.
The tastes are connected to the elements and hence influence our constitution in terms of aggravating or calming it. A complete meal, however, should contain all 6 tastes.
Everything we eat affects our health and well-being both on the physical and mental levels. A healthy diet, which suits our own personal constitution, plays an important role in the prevention of illnesses in Ayurveda.
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Eat Seasonal
Ayurveda promotes local and seasonal eating to stay healthy. This is a great starting point and easy to do for everyone. Local food is fresh and in season.
The seasons underly the doshic qualities too. The spring is governed by Kapha dosha, summer by Pitta and the autumn and winter by Vata dosha, with their respective qualities.
To keep us healthy, nature is offering us the harvest which balances the seasonal doshas.
In spring when the mucousy, heavy and slow Kapha dosha is active, nature offers bitter vegetables and herbs such as nettles, dandelion, rucola which balance the heavy qualities.
In summer, the Pitta dosha is dominant with heat and intensity, the summer harvest is sweet juicy berries and fruits, light salads and abundant vegetables, which help to cool the body.
In autumn and winter, the Vata dosha is present, cold, dry and rough qualities, the late summer and autumn harvest brings nourishing and warming root vegetables, and grains to balance.
Combined with maintaining a seasonal lifestyle, we are able to stay balanced and healthy.
How to eat to balance your Constitution?
As everything underlies the universal elements with their qualities, our food is affected too.
Each food item has
All foods have certain qualities as well, as they are made of the above-mentioned elements.
Same + same = More of the same.
The basic idea of Ayurveda is that if we eat the food of our dominant quality then it will aggravate that quality which in turn will eventually lead to an imbalance. For example, if we have a Pitta dominant constitution and eat lots of chillies which are hot, more heat will be created.
We, therefore, are advised to eat more food of opposite qualities in order to remain balanced.
Which fruits, vegetables, and lentils to eat, which spices to use, and covering all 6 tastes as well as suiting our constitution, is the heart of Ayurvedic cooking.
All sounds very complicated, but it can very be made very simple.
Apart from what we cook, the way we cook our food is equally important.
The food we eat should be a healthy and balanced nourishment for our body and mind, easy to digest and should provide us with the necessary energy to achieve what we would like to do. In order to provide us with this energy, our meal has to be prepared accordingly:
The kitchen should be a clean, neat, and uncluttered place.
Before preparing the food, hands, feet, and face should be washed; hair should be combed and tied back.
Never cook when you are angry or upset. Emotions pervade the energy or the food you are handling. At stressful times, take a few minutes to quieten your mind.
Cook seasonal meals using fresh ingredients.
The food should not be tasted during the preparation and cooking.
Women should not prepare food for others during the first four days of their menstruation.
Learn more about Ayurvedic Cooking!
Why not join one of our seasonal online cooking workshops:
March 2nd 2024, 11.30 - 14.30: Ayurvedic Cooking for Spring, introduction to spices and yummy spring dishes.
June 22nd 2024, 11.30 - 14.30: Cooling Summer Fun
October 19th 2024, 11.30 - 14.30: Nourishing Autumn Dishes.