One look at Sukham Ayu: Cooking at Home with Ayurvedic Insights and it is easy to make out that it’s a younger sister of Cooking at Home with Pedatha, the authors’ first cookbook that has notched up much praise and several awards.

The resemblance lies not only in form but also in content — good photographs, uncluttered layout and the recipes themselves — ingredients and method set out in only a few steps, and tips and other information on the side or as footnotes. Interestingly, the recipes begin with a ‘sweets’ section. A note explains that Ayurveda has it that “the digestive fire” is at its peak around noon, and recommends beginning lunch with a sweet dish, the heaviness of which needs a strong digestive fire.

As sweets increase kapha due to their heaviness, spices such as cloves, cardamom and nutmeg will temper them.

For those of you who cannot be bothered with the three doshas (kapha, pitta and vata) and your prakriti (constitution/nature) but want the goodness of Ayurveda anyway, this book will do, as all the recipes are ‘tridoshik’, suitable for everyone (unless the doctor says no). Knowing your prakriti will however help you know which dish you can indulge in without reservation.

The introduction and the information in the various sections make for interesting reading, and while I’m still confused about my prakriti, wouldn’t it take some mulling to decide if your weight is ‘well-proportioned’ or ‘broad and robust’, your temperament one to “hold grudges for long” or “forgive but not forget” or your stools ‘soft and loose, often burning’ or ‘thick and oily’?

There is also a section on the six tastes (shad rasa), their individual/combined importance to a balanced meal and suitability to the various prakritis.

There is an intriguing section on food compatibility — as much as we like our banana milkshake, Ayurveda may frown on it as bananas are reportedly incompatible with milk (as are sour and citrus fruits, and coconut and raw jackfruit).

So is honey with hot water. Apparently! So those of you who believe/hope this is some magical weight-loss remedy, perish the thought!

A chance meeting with Dr Prakash Kalmadi of Kerala Ayurvedic Research and Rejuvenation Establishment, near Mulshi Lake, Maharashtra some time after the launch of their previous book saw the authors, Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Jain, spending time at the health retreat, researching Ayurveda for their book.

I tried the Basic Home-Style Vegetable (not bad, I used capsicum) and dal, dates kheer and the sweet vermicelli. If you’re someone who’s always cooking something new with a vengeance to put some life into your meals, these will do it. They are rather back-to-the-roots, and stepping back a bit from the frenzied passion for novelty is in itself a discovery.

These recipes reinforce how tasty simple food — without too many elements — can be. Cow’s ghee is recommended for all the tempering and even deep-frying and that’s available in the stores.

The book is easy to use because most of the ingredients are easily available. Some foods don’t feature in this book because Ayurveda says they are best avoided — potatoes, cocoa, cheese and ice-creams, to name some.

As for the dates kheer, despite the precautions, the milk curdled when added to the dates at the end. It was relished anyway, but I wonder if it would be a better idea to boil the milk, cool it and then grind lightly with the dates. A tip: The sweets call for powdered rock sugar. Don’t try to powder it in not-so-hardy, fancy food processors — I nearly wrecked mine in the process.

TENDER DOUBLE BEANS

Fresh double beans 1/2 kg

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Green chillies 2

Ginger 1/2-inch piece

Powdered rock sugar 1/2 tsp

Grated fresh coconut to garnish

Coriander leaves to garnish

Lemon juice 1 tsp

Powdered rock salt to taste

The tempering

Cow’s ghee 1 tsp

Carom seeds 1 tsp

Asafoetida powder 1/2 tsp

1 Shell the double beans. They should amount to approx. 2.5 cups when shelled.

2 Add 2 cups water, turmeric and salt to the shelled double beans and pressure cook for up to 2 whistles or until the beans are soft but not overdone. Slightly mash a few of the beans by pressing them against the sides of the vessel to help thicken the gravy.

3 Pound or grind the chillies and ginger together coarsely.

4 In a wok, heat ghee for tempering. Add the carom and as it crackles, reduce flame and add the asafoetida.

5 Immediately add chilli-ginger paste, sugar and the cooked beans. Allow to simmer over low flame for 10-12 minutes until the gravy thickens slightly.

6 Stir in the coconut and coriander leaves. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice and switch off flame.

Serve fresh with Rotis or Rice.

Double beans look like flat beans, only broader, with thick outer jackets. While the jacket of the flat bean is tender and edible, double beans have to be shelled in much the same manner as green peas. All beans of the ’dolichos lablab’ family are classified as having a sweet essence and post-digestive effect. Cooling, heavy and strengthening, they mitigate vata and pitta. With the warmth of spices like carom and ginger, they can be enjoyed by kaphas in moderation.

SPROUTS WITH YAM

Bean sprouts 1 cup

Fenugreek sprouts 2 tbsp

Yam 2 cups of 1/2-inch cubes

Turmeric powder a pinch

Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder 1 tbsp

Cumin powder 1 tsp

Garam masala 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves 1/4 cup, chopped

Powdered rock salt to taste

Cow’s ghee 2 tsp

The paste

Onion 1 small, chopped

Garlic 1-2 cloves

Ginger 1 inch piece

Fresh coconut 1 tbsp, grated

1 Peel, wash and chop the yam into medium-sized chunks. Boil along with turmeric in a pan of water. When soft, strain and set aside.

2 Steam the sprouts for 5-7 minutes.

3 For the paste, heat 1/2 tsp ghee in a wok. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Grind into a fine paste along with coconut using very little water.

4 Heat the remaining ghee in the same wok. Add paste and sauté over low flame for 2-3 minutes. Add the sprouts, yam, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, coriander leaves and salt along with 1/4 cup warm water. Cover and continue to cook for 5-7 minutes until the water has evaporated. Switch off the flame.

Serve fresh with Rotis.

Sprouts are popular because they are rich in protein and make the lentil from which they sprout lighter to digest. Although readily available in supermarkets world over, they are easy to make and best eaten fresh rather than refrigerated. This recipe combines bean sprouts with the goodness of fenugreek sprouts and yam. In recent times, the fenugreek seed has become well known for its capacity to keep diabetes under control. It is heating, pungent- bitter in essence and helps to kindle digestive fire.

Reproduced from ‘Sukham Ayu: Cooking at Home with Ayurvedic Insights’

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