Instantpot Pumpkin Dal Recipe

INSTANTPOT RECIPE ALERT!

This Red Pumpkin Dal recipe flow is adapted from #everydayayurvedacookbook for the instantpot. It’s a favorite of mine and so easy when you put it in the pot in the AM, then eat it when you have the lunch break. Enjoy!

Red Pumpkin Dal

Ingredients:
1 cup red lentil or split mung beans
3 cups water
1 can of coconut milk
2-3 cups cubed winter squash (any and all!)
1-2 tbsp seasonal spice mix (see my cookbooks for more!)

Direction:
1. Pressure cook for 5 minutes.
2. Hand-blend if you want it to be really smooth.
3. Serve with a sprinkle of toasted coconut.

Have you adapted any of my recipes for your IP? Please share below so everyone can benefit!

Spring Digestive Tea Uses and Recipe

RECIPE ALERT! 

Don’t miss this one, extremely useful and tried and true by #everydayayurvedacookbook readers for nearly ten years now. 

This tea breaks up congestion, improves digestive fire and appetite, as well as tastes delicious, and curbs a sweet tooth when you sip a bit after meals. 

Spring Digestive Tea 

• Fresh Ginger, ½-inch piece 

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder  

• ½ Star Anise 

• 2-3 Cloves 

• 2-3 Black Pepper Corn 

  2 cups water 

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. 

Coarsely chop the ginger root, including the skin. 

Add the ginger, anise, clove, pepper, and cinnamon to the water. 

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10+ minutes. 

Take 6oz. alongside or after meals. 

Use this consistently for a week or two and you WILL notice a difference. 

HING!

Reduce the bloat.

Hing is the resinous bark of a small tree. It can be found in powdered form, cut with wheat or fenugreek, or in crystals which dissolve when heated. This warming culinary is a must for bringing its oniony flavor and aroma to sattvic dishes and to reduce gases in legume dishes. It appears in many herbal medicines, most often hingvastak churna, a compound where it is roasted in ghee and mixed with cumin and pepper.

Botanical name: Ferula foetida

AKA: Asafoetida

Parts used: bark

Rasa: pungent, bitter

Virya: heating

Vipaka: pungent

Qualities: sharp, penetrating

Actions: enkindles agni, burns ama, reduces gas

Contraindications: aggravates pitta

Shown here, the BEST HING EVER  from @pureindianfoods , they don’t lie! And it's got no wheat.

CLOVES!

It’s that time of year where cloves start finding their way into things...like these baked apples.

Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree native to Indonesia. While the majority of the global crop is used for clove cigarettes, the wide range of medicinal uses of clove has made it a regular in home remedies in many cultures. It is the first ingredient in “Thieves oil” which is used to kill germs and increase immunity. It originates from a story of four thieves who robbed bodies during the bubonic plague without contracting the disease.

Botanical name: Eugenia caryophyllata

Parts used: buds

Rasa: pungent, slightly bitter

Virya: cooling

Vipaka: sweet

Qualities: penetrating

Actions: increase agni, improve digestion, analgesic, clove oil especially useful for gums and toothache.

CARDAMOM!

A necessity for chai, cardamom pairs well with sweets and spiced milk. I keep both the green pods and the powder around, depending on whether I’m cooking with it or making teas. This spice has a broad range of healing actions and it is used in many preparations.

Botanical name: Ellettaria cardamomum

Parts used: seeds

Rasa: sweet, slightly pungent

Virya: cooling

Vipaka: pungent

Qualities:

Actions: increases agni, improves digestion, anti-inflammatory, aphrodisiac, expectorant, relieves nausea

Tip: for nausea or bad breath chew on a pod after meals.

Dude. Seriously. What’s the deal?? CAN we mix fruit with other food???

If its cooked, yes. The idea is that the fruit is introduced to the agni, pre-digested a bit, and it is working out its differences with the foods while they stew together. Regardless, Ayurveda may recommend you not do this every day, for optimal gut health.

Raw fruits for dessert or on the side, not so much.

Personally, I notice if I keep it simple, like just 2-3 ingredients: hot grain, bit of ghee, cooked fruit. It works. When its gets complicated and there’s lot of fruits, or some proteins plus grains plus ghee- or EGGS. Then I get gassy. THIS is how you know if its working. Gas.

Another thing I notice, honestly...as the years go by I am less drawn to mixing fruits with foods, and go for savory a lot more often. Period. I hardly eat fruits in the cold months. Except, of course apple crisp. It all goes out the window for apple crisp! : )

How do you cook fruits with food and how often??

FALL BREAKFAST RECIPE ALERT!

I can’t tell you how many people have told me over the years that this is their breakfast on those “I don’t know what to eat” mornings. When you’re not super hungry but you know you need something. Don’t eat something weird and processed- eat this!

Ghee Bomb Apples

The easiest recipe yet: 

Stir-fry one apple in a tsp ghee, add a Tbsp or 2 of water if it sticks.  Top with sweet cinnamon and ginger powders.  A light, warm breakfast.  Note: this works great with peaches too!!

Is it apple time yet where you are??

Taking care of yourself...

Taking care of yourself is about maintaining good health through a steady practice of self-observation. Ayurveda works when you pay attention to your Self. The information you gain about what makes you glow is pure gold.

Think about caring for plants and pets. You have to pay attention to them—figure out what kind of food they like, how much sun and water they need—by watching how they react to changes. Everybody knows you have to walk a dog and water a plant, but how often? Does it change as they age or at different times of year as the sunshine and rains shift?

There’s no judgment if a plant likes less sun or needs fresh soil. And there’s no need to judge what makes you thrive, like needing more rest than exercise or the other way around. There’s true intimacy, acceptance, and joy in this kind of self-discovery. I am feeling so lucky today that this is part of my work.

RASSPBERRY!!!

This year, my raspberry bushes are on their third summer and look what they did! I find greatest meaning in growing food at this stage of life. I wish I were better at it. Live and learn!

INNER CONFLICT ALERT!

I get overwhelmed by how many of the posts here are about “building your business” and “nobody ever told you this secret” about the algorithm and etc.

Honestly, my move to integrating social media has helped me begin to recognize your names and faces, to share my work, and has increased my income, my reach, and given me a current place to share what I'm thinking about.

Like this: if I am, as they say, an “influencer” I would in this moment like to influence you to put away the phone. Last days of summer. Our enjoyment of the moments as they arise is every bit as important as anything else. Somehow this space makes a person feel like they can never do enough.

I feel like I can never do enough time on the water. The experience links me to something so much greater, lifts my spirits, and refreshes me for the moments which still must be spent...here on this platform.