The Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook

Book excerpt: Amrita Sondhi is co-host of The Ayurvedic Way on One: The Body, Mind & Spirit Channel in Canada. Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old holistic healing tradition from India whose history is linked to the development of yoga, in which physical and spiritual well-being comes from a number of sources, including a healthful diet based on one's individual constitution. Today, it has a growing constituency, including well-known practitioner Dr Deepak Chopra. Ayurveda is about achieving a physical and spiritual balance through a number of means, including diet. This all-vegetarian cookbook based on Ayurvedic traditions features delectable and nutritious recipes that appeal to particular doshas, which are one's personal constitution based on physical and mental characteristics: air (vata), fire (pitta), and earth (kapha) (the book includes a dosha questionnaire so readers can determine their own). And while the recipes are authentically Ayurvedic, they feature easy-to-find ingredients and modern-day cooking methods appropriate for busy lifestyles. Recipes are divided into Breakfasts, Appetizers, Salads, Soups, Entrees, Grains & Breads, Sweets & Desserts, and Condiments. The book also includes yoga postures (with photographs), cleansing programs, and information on aromatherapy, colour therapy, and menu plans. There also are suggested meat substitutions for non-vegetarians (Ayurveda is not exclusively vegetarian, although this book is). Written with both converts and beginners in mind, The Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook is a twenty-first-century approach to an ancient tradition that will restore your health, energy, and sense of well-being. Amrita Sondhi's second cookbook, The Tastes of Ayurveda, was published in 2012. Partial proceeds from the sale of this book will go to support the Pamoja Foundation, www.pamoja.org. Now in its fourth printing.