Ayurvedic cooking is based on ancient Hindu principles of healing and seeks to balance physical, mental, and spiritual harmonies of the body. It uses natural ingredients, spices, and oils, and avoids chemicals, dyes, and preservatives. Different foods are assigned to corresponding elements and body parts, and each person has a particular dosha or body type that determines which foods are best for their health.
Ayurvedic cooking is a method of preparing food based on ancient Hindu principles of healing. While eating meat is not prohibited in Ayurvedic diets, most of the food is vegetarian. The most common ingredients are vegetables and legumes with herbs and spices added for flavor. Following certain principles, Ayurvedic cooking seeks to prepare food in such a way as to help balance the physical, mental and spiritual harmonies of the body.
Common spices used in Ayurvedic cooking include turmeric, ginger and cumin. Ghee is a common oil. This type of cuisine seeks to use foods in their natural states and avoids the use of foods that contain chemicals, dyes, or preservatives.
In Ayurvedic cooking, each of the six tastes is assigned to corresponding elements, or gunas, which in turn correspond to various parts of the body. The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. The gunas are related to tastes and are essence, activity and inertia.
Sattvic foods are fresh, light and sweet in taste. These foods are linked to higher states of consciousness, provide energy to the body, and lead to clarity and balance. Examples are fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh milk and cereals.
Rajasic foods are either bitter or salty. They are connected to activity, creativity and pain. Examples are spicy foods.
Tamasic foods are dry, decaying, or bad-tasting foods. They are connected with ignorance and doubt. Examples include canned or frozen foods, meats and alcohol. Tamasic foods are to be avoided in Ayurvedic cooking.
Ayurvedic cuisine seeks to combine foods in combinations and proportions that promote sattvic qualities and some rajasic qualities to promote healing and well-being. The timing of the food is also important. Midday is seen as the time when digestion is best, as it slows down in the evening. Eating late in the day can lead to toxins in the body from undigested foods. In preparing food, Ayurveda also considers the seasons of the year, the climate and the temperatures of the day.
There is a lot about Ayurvedic cuisine that is determined by the individual who will eat it. Different combinations of foods are considered more beneficial or harmful at certain ages. It is also believed that each person has a particular dosha, or body type, and different foods are better for health depending on the individual’s body type.
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