I love to cook! Getting creative with a new recipe, dish, technique or food always brings out my inner chef.
Since I started practicing Ayurveda in 2006, Ayurvedic cooking was a top priority. In Ayurveda, we practice that food is medicine, but it doesn’t have to taste like medicine. It can be delicious and pleasing to all our senses while it rebuilds and repairs us.
Today, most of my cooking is inspired by Indian and Ayurvedic dishes. The aroma of the masala spices throughout the house are a signature sign that I’m cooking up something delicious and healthy!
So where do I find my inspiration? Of all the cookbooks I own, there’s three cookbooks that I rotate through every week. They are dog tagged, stained with turmeric, loved around the edges and have notes in the margins for my creative modifications. They have become kitchen companions, friends on the journey of using food as medicine.
Book One: Lord Krishna’s Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, by Yamuna Devi
This is my first favorite cookbook! It came into my possession via a trip to an Ashram, Arsha Vidya Gurukulum, in Saylorsburg PA. With a hefty 800+ pages and 500+ recipes, I’m surprised my luggage wasn’t overweight as I returned home. Thankfully it did, as I couldn’t wait to get it home and start trying all the amazing recipes and techniques.
This book has it all! Traditional Indian breads, dahl, chaat (snacks) and desserts. My one bit of advice is to read through the recipes thoroughly first, as some are quite involved and time consuming (but worth it).
It may take me a lifetime to get through this entire book, but I don’t mind!
If 500+ recipes is too much for you, there is a “Best of” Book offering 172 recipes from the full version.
Available on Amazon
Book Two: What to eat for how you feel: The New Ayurvedic Kitchen by Divya Alter
Available on Amazon
For more of a modern twist to Ayurvedic dishes, this book is a must have in my opinion! If all Indian cooking all the time isn’t your thing, this book has many wonderful options, including a family favorite vegetarian lasagna.
When following an Ayurvedic food plan, making changes for the seasons and digestive fluctuations are important to maintain balance. Divya’s book is broken down by season for you with digestive suggestions. For each season she gives you starters (soups, snacks), main dishes and sweets. Also, an added bonus is the first section educating you on Ayurveda and Ayurvedic eating.
Book Three: The Joy of Balance by Divya Alter
Divya’s second cookbook, the Joy of Balance, was published in September 2022, is highly recommended! While receiving my Ayurveda Nutritional and Culinary Training Certification with Divya in 2021, I was honored to test and taste a number of the recipes in this new book.
What really makes this Ayurveda Cookbook stand out over others is how Divya’s married Ayurvedic cooking principles focusing on ingredients with recipes inspired by classic dishes from all over the world.
Hopefully you can wait for shipping to try the minestrone and fennel soup, the adzuki bean burgers or the vegan bread recipes. There’s also recipes for braised cabbage, marinated paneer, red lentils with celery root and pear muffins to drool over! YUM!
Get your copy now
Why these cookbooks?
Divya and I studied in the Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda (SVA) lineage with our dear teacher, Vaidya RK Mishra. I’ll admit this biases my recommendations.. And Divya studied cooking with Yamunda Devi, what an honor! However, don’t let my bias stop you from adding these two cookbooks to your collection.
A dream of mine is to plan an Urban Ayurveda retreat to New York City and visit Divya’s Kitchen, having a personalized cooking class and special meal at her cafe. How fun would that be?
Add the best ingredient…..Love
Food is a gift of life and love. No matter the cookbook or recipes I choose I always add the ingredient of love. When you’re cooking with your own hands, treasure it as a gift to your loved ones and infuse love into each morsel. I encourage you to enjoy cooking a lovely dish with your loved ones, especially yourself!
