Spices and how to use them wiselySpices are the key to making cooking interesting. Asafoetida (Hing) a very pungent and foul smelling spice, and a powerful digestive stimulant used traditionally as an antidote to vatta with pulses and beans. Yogis don’t use it as it is said to be tamasic. Basil a pungent, heating herb, considered very Sattvic. Good for cold. Promotes clarity of mind. Black pepper a very common, pungent spice. A powerful digestive stimulant. Cardamom the seeds of a plant of the ginger family. There are actually two cardamoms: green is traditionally used with sweet dishes, while black cardamom, which has a slightly smokey taste, is used with savoury dishes. Both are sweet and pungent in taste and are excellent digestive stimulant. Green cardamom can be added to milk to counteract its mucus forming property. Cayenne pepper a well known, very pungent spice. It is a very strong digestive stimulant, so should be avoided by Pitta constitutions, but good for Kapha constitutions. Helps detoxification. Cinnamon the bark of a tree. It is sweet, astringent and pungent in taste. Promotes digestion and harmonises circulation. Cloves the dried buds of a flower. A pungent (heating) spice Coriander a sweet, cooling spice, often associated with cumin. Cumin the seed of a plant from the fennel family, used widely in Middle-Easter and Indian cooking. A sweet but slightly heating spice and a good digestive stimulant. Often combined with coriander which balances its heating property. Fennel The seeds of a plant from the cumin family. Sweet and cooling in energy, very good for digestion, as it strengthens the digestive fire without aggravating Pitta. Often eaten in India at the end of a meal. Fenugreek a classic indian spice little used in the est. Mostly bitter in taste. Heating. Garlic a powerful rejuvenating plant which has all tastes but sour. It is very heating and is considered tamasic, so yogis don't use it. Ginger available in dried powder form, or fresh. It is pungent and sweet in taste. Good for cold, cough, etc and as a digestive stimulant. Very sattvic, but heating. Liquorice a sweet and bitter plant, cooling, but good for digestion. Mint a slightly cooling herb, sattvic and good for all constitutions. Mustard: a very heating spice, used in Indian cooking. Saffron the stigma of the crocus flower used for its golden colour. It is the most expensive of all spices. It is pungent bitter and sweet in energy, sattvic and good for all constitutions.
Tumeric
the rhizome of a plant of the ginger family. Usually available in dry
powder form, it is the spice that gives a bright yellow colour to most
"curry" powders. It is bitter, astringent and pungent in energy. An
excellent natural antibiotic, it also purifies the blood, is a tonic for
the skin, and it is said to promote flexibility. Soups Salads and starters Main courses Grains Breads Ghee Deserts Bread Herbal teas Porridge |