Dr. Wickermasinghe’s Ayurvedic Detox Tea for Colds and Flu
Drink a quart or more a day of this delicious detox tea if you are fighting off a cold or flu. You can also take this if you are already sick, to get better more quickly, and to prevent secondary infection in throat, sinus, or lungs. Do not use if you have a raging sore throat or high fever. Do use especially if you feel cold and have clear mucus or phlegm. This is a delicious tea made from ordinary kitchen spices that is a powerful remedy for common colds and flu. I learned it in Sri Lanka, from my Ayurveda teacher Vaidhya Wickeramasinghe. Drink from one to 5 cups a day if you...
Read MoreVata Dosha, Fear, Anxiety, and ADDH
Vata Dosha, Anxiety, and ADDH What is Dosha? Ayurveda conceptualizes all aspects of our being, physical, emotional, mental, as fitting into a concept of types. And each of these types represents the manifestation of an element of the natural world—wind, fire, water, earth, and space, in our bodies. The ancients observed, over a long period of time, that human beings are predictable—there is actually a limited range of behaviors and body types, for example in the case of bone structure and musculature people tend to either large boned, medium, or delicately boned....
Read MoreKale with Pomegranate Molasses and Cumin
Kale with Pomegranate Molasses and Cumin One of my favorite ways to cook Kale is inspired by the classic Linguine with Broccoli that you find at Southern Italian restaurants. Their method is really simple–olive oil, garlic, lemon, parmesan. I take the olive oil and garlic and add to it cumin and pomegranate molasses. Pomegranate Molasses in Cooking and in Ayurveda I used to use a little bit of balsamic vinegar or lemon when cooking kale this way, but then I discovered pomegranate molasses and have never turned back. Cooking your green leafies with something sour is said to make the...
Read MoreVegan Kabocha Squash Soup for Autumn
Vegan Afro-Indian Kabocha Squash Soup for Autumn This is a wonderful pureed vegetable or pureed veggie soup, depending on how you serve it, that is based on an African ground nut (pea nut) and squash soup I tasted way back in 1984 at The Prophet restaurant in Encinitas, California.Nuts In Africa this soup would be made with boiled raw peanut and squash ground to a paste with African palm oil and herbs. I don’t prefer peanuts, so I make it with either boiled raw almond or toasted almond butter or tahini. Tahini gives a creamier texture than almond butter, but it is a little bitter and...
Read MoreLassi: Indian Summer Yogurt Drink: Several Recipes
Lassi is an Indian drink based on yogurt and water, especially drunk in hot dry weather (some people in India do not eat Yogurt much at all during rainy season, as it is considered heavy and building to Kapha, which builds climactic ally during the monsoon. This is controversial, as there are other authorities that say Yogurt is the one dairy product that does not aggravate Kapha. I am in the middle; Yogurt is heavy, but easily digested, so I believe it is fine for well balanced Kapha, but should be avoided, with the rest of dairy, by unbalanced Kapha (excessive fluids like watery eyes...
Read MoreIndian Lemonade 2
Years ago when I lived in the small village of Kanadukathan, http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=10.175599&lon=78.7842035&z=16&l=0&m=b in Tamil Nadu, India, I learned from my friend Lakkuman to put Cumin seed in the drinking water. Water is by nature cooling, and there we used to keep the water in an earthenware pot, which had a lovely refrigerating effect. It was so hot in summer. Whether it was for its antibacterial effect, whether it was just because it tastes good, or whether it was because cumin protects Agni from the cooling effect of the copious amounts of water you...
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