Ayurveda food is all about eating in balance and according to one’s dosha type. Vegan food can be customized according to one’s needs. Apart from dairy, Ayurveda is pretty much vegan. There are exceptions where the meat may be recommended, but this is rare. Pitta and Kapha doshas can benefit the most by going vegan but Vata due to their dry nature, they will need heavy foods (often these come from animal sources). There are substitutes for these too.
If you are a vegan and want an ayurvedic twist in your everyday meal then below are a few recipes
Ayurveda Vegan Recipes
Ayurvedic Vegan Falafel Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup of soaked (overnight) Mung Beans
1 small Onion chopped
2-3 cloves of Garlic
1/2 cup of chopped Cilantro and Parsley
1-2 tsp each Cumin Seeds and Coriander Seeds
1 tsp each Red Pepper flakes and Turmeric
3-5 tsp Potato Starch (optional – this helps to bind them into patties and give a crispy texture)
Salt to taste
Preparation
-Mung beans cooked lightly are easier to digest. The best and fastest way to cook any kind of beans/legumes is in a pressure cooker. You could use a stockpot to cook these beans make sure you don’t make them mushy.
– In a food processor add all the ingredients mentioned above (except potato starch) along with cooked mung beans and grind this into a coarse texture. Please make sure you use a food processor and not a high-speed blender like Vitamix for this recipe.
-Mix this coarse mixture with potato starch to form falafel balls. Potato starch is completely optional. However using it will make it easier to bind all the ingredients together to form a ball and it also gives a nice crispy texture to the falafel.
-Once you form all the balls keep them in the fridge for about 30-40 mins to set and firm up. It’s easier to saute these balls on a skillet once they are firmed up in the fridge and require very little oil to saute.
-Flatten these balls a little and make them more like a patty, this helps to cook the falafels thoroughly inside out.
-Take your skillet and place it on a low-medium heat, add two drops of olive oil (or any vegetable oil you prefer) and spread it evenly on the warm skillet. Place the flattened balls and cook them on a low-medium heat. Flip them after a couple of minutes to cook on the other side.
Ayurvedic Vegan Sauerkraut
Ingredients
4 large yellow Indian cucumbers (You could use any veggies you like – carrots, cauliflower, zucchini all go well with this recipe.)
4-6 tsp freshly ground mustard powder (you can roast mustard seeds for extra flavor)
1-2 tsp fenugreek and asafoetida powder
2-3 tsp red chili powder
2-3 tsp unrefined sesame oil
Salt to taste
Preparation
Wash the cucumbers in water and pat them dry with a kitchen towel. Cut the cucumbers in bite size pieces after removing all the seeds.
In a bowl mix all the spices together.
In an airtight glass container, incorporate this mixture well into the bite-sized cucumbers. Make sure all the slices are coated evenly with this spice mixture. Let it sit on your kitchen counter top for 12 hours.
After 12 hours, stir this with a clean, dry spoon. Keep it on the counter top for another 24 – 48 hours. Later transfer this pickle into the refrigerator. The flavors get deeper and more enhanced the longer you keep it.
Ayurvedic Rose Smoothie
Rose Smoothie Ingredients
1 cup soaked pumpkin Seeds (you can use any nuts/seeds you like)
2-3 tbsp rose jam (recipe below)
Few strands of saffron
pinch of cardamom powder
1-2 drops vanilla essence (optional)
Water as needed (to make the smoothie consistency)
Rose Jam
1 cup organic rose petals
approx 4-6 tbsp date syrup/ Jaggery/Natural Whole Food Sweetener
Water if using the cooking method
Making the Rose Jam
For the raw, more authentic version, you basically add the rose petals and the sweetener in a glass jar and shake it well. Keep it in the sun for about 1-2 weeks stirring daily. This will be nicely sun-cooked and is very rich and robust in flavor.
For the cooked version (which is simpler and much faster) you take a stock pot add the rose petals and the sweetener and cook it on a very low flame for about 15-20 mins, adding water as needed, making sure the petals are not getting burned.
For the Smoothie
First blend the pumpkin seeds with some water and later add all the remaining ingredients and blend away to nice smoothie consistency.
Indian Gooseberry (Amla) Chutney
If you don’t want to use green chilies, substitute it with red chili powder.
Ingredients
10 to 15 Indian Gooseberry (amla), grated
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp asafetida
1 tsp turmeric powder
3 to 4 green chilies, chopped (or less)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds, lightly roasted and ground
2 tsp salt or to taste
Method
Lightly roast the fenugreek seeds in a heavy bottomed iron skillet or wok. Crush to a powder with a mortar and pestle.
Heat the oil in a wok over a medium flame and put in the mustard seeds. When they pop lower the flame and add the asafetida, turmeric powder, green chilies and fenugreek in quick succession.
Turn off the heat after 30 seconds or else the turmeric will go black and the fenugreek seeds will turn bitter.
Stir in the grated amla and salt.
Allow to cool, put in an air-tight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.
References
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/ayurvedic-falafels/
http://www.divinetaste.com/archives/indian-gooseberry-amla-chutney/
