05 Tips to Cook Healthy Ayurveda Meals – Enjoy the Benefits of Wholesome Meals

A range of healthy and delicious ingredients should fill your kitchen prior to planning Ayurveda meals. Basic ingredients should include the freshest vegetables in season, split mung beans and basmati rice for the grain portion; if you want to deviate from rice stock up on cous cous, quinoa or barley. You should also have some good homemade chutney, healthy wheat flour and yoghurt.

Spices are very important in the kitchen. Stock up on spices that work to your flavour and palette. You will also find that pre-mixing the required spices in appropriate quantities will help save loads of time when cooking. Alternatively there are good quality pre-made Ayurveda spice combinations in the market such as organic calming spice mixes and fragrant organic oils. Spices serve many purposes not restricted to flavour and aroma. Ayurveda organic saffron for instance detoxifies the liver, stimulates digestion, helps maintain cholesterol levels and is a boost for immunity while clearing your complexion. If you visit an Ayurveda hospital in Sri Lanka turmeric or saffron will be a key ingredient in almost all facial scrubs. Organic cumin is an effective toxin eradicator while organic ginger when dried and ground aids with digestion and pacifying the stomach while promoting appetite.

All Ayurveda physicians advise that all six tastes or flavours must be included in a meal; these are salty, sweet, sour, bitter, astringent and pungent. Even if you are following a diet to appease a specific dosha it is best to include all six tastes; try to include more from the taste required for your dosha and less from the others. Like Siddhalepa Hospital you could visit any Ayurveda Vedic who will advise you on tastes and their effects in pacifying certain dosha. As an example those on a diet to reduce pitta dosha should add more of the astringent, sweet and bitter tastes while cutting down on salty, pungent and sour.

Basmati rice is one of the favoured grains in Ayurveda cooking. It should not however be eaten daily due to some heaviness. You could try dry roasting the grains to make it lighter and more feasible to those on a kapha imbalance, for instance. Quinoa is an excellent substitute it is a grain high in protein and cooks very fast. Barley has cooling properties and is also a fast cooking grain.

As you set your grains to boil start preparing the vegetables. Vegetables take a main portion of the meal and should consist of at least two varieties. Carrots, broccoli and cauliflower are well recommended. Green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and collard greens too should be included in the meal; they can be added to the vegetable mix or cooked separately. As dark green leaves contain many minerals and vitamins, the benefits of eating these regularly will have astounding effects on your health.