On a rainy day during the holidays, I turned on the television and with the remote control I went through the numerous channels in search of a movie that I liked. To my great surprise, I discovered numerous broadcasts that were teaching to cook via practical demonstrations. I stopped to look at them because I love cooking and are always open to learning something new.
In reality, I was appalled by the fact that the vast majority of the recipes presented, according to the Ayurvedic dietary principles, but also of a healthy Italian cuisine, were a “jumble” of ingredients. They were mixed together as a means of presenting something new and spectacular, rather than from a healthy, nutritional point of view. Even if they were masqueradinh the recipes as such!
First of all, fried food reigned abundant and everywhere! For first courses, main courses vegetables, cakes, always fried! With a sedentary and stressful lifestyle as we have, which alters the proper liver function and digestion, fried food is ideal for increasing obesity, circulatory problems and, according to Ayurveda, also AMA (toxins, mucus). The Ayurvedic cuisine does not exclude fried foods, but uses it only few times, and with the use of many spices to make the food tastier and digestion easier. Ayurvedic cooking also recommends to drink at the end of the meal, and herbal teas during the meal like Pavana Virya® or to take tablets which are decongesting the liver like Jathara Virya®.
Furthermore, Ayurveda advises to avoid mixing in one particular pasta or recipe both animal protein (meat, fish, cheese, eggs) with vegetable proteins (legumes, tofu, seitan). You should also avoid mixing meat with fish, cheese, eggs. You must eat one type of protein at the time! This goes also for legumes! In a single meal, and all the more in the recipes, you should use one legume (lentils, beans, green beans, chickpeas …) at a time. So for Ayurveda, mixes consisting of various types of legumes are banished as they are too difficult to digest by the stomach and create AMA!
In all recipes shown on TV, very few have used spices and herbs. On those rare occasions they only used them in very small quantities. Ayurveda, just like the traditional Italian cuisine, indicates the abundant use of spices and herbs, both fresh and dried, during the cooking of food, as they stimulate Agni (digestive fire) and harmonise the flavours – Rasa of the recipe making it more ” nutritious “and energetic! You can use mixtures of herbs and spices such as powdered Appeto Virya® (where the salty prevails), Trikatu Virya® (prevails spicy), Milk Masala Virya® (sweet), Fruit Virya® Masala, Indian Masala Tea Virya®.
