Eggplant has inspired colorful sayings and stories wherever it spread from its origins in South Asia. In India, where it was domesticated, it is sometimes called the "king of vegetables" (baingan ka raja) because of its ability to absorb spices...
Hot and stimulating, dried ginger kindles the digestive fire, supports healthy circulation, and melts away sluggishness.
Buckwheat's hearty warmth hits the spot on any damp cloudy day in November. Enjoy as you snuggle up with your loved ones, or while listening to crackling logs in a wood burning stove. Smoky, nutty and earthy, buckwheat is slightly demulcent like...
Hot, pungent, antiemetic, appetizer, digestive, spleen tonic; stimulates saliva.
Regarded as both a force for good and evil, folklore and superstition abound when it comes to this little but poignant member of the onion family. A garland of garlic kept evil spirits and vampires away in the west. In an eastern Islamic myth, garlic...
Small but potent, mustard seed's penetrating warmth enlivens agni, supports circulation, and clears heaviness from the system. Its hot, sharp, aromatic qualities dispel stagnation and are Ideal for cold, damp, or congested states.
Salt brings out the flavor in food and brings enthusiasm for life. While contraindicated for Kapha and high blood pressure, salt is also one of the most important medicines for Vata
The word 'pepper' is dervied from the South Asian word 'pippali'. Pippali (long pepper) is a famous herb in Ayurveda for lung and heart conditions, and is a close relative of black pepper. The word pepper gradually came to include the unrelated New...
Star anise is a small evergreen tree native to China that closely resembles anise in flavor. Its licorice-flavored start shaped fruit is also grown in Japan and Vietnam. It has a dark brown color and contains six to eight seeded petal-like segments. ...
Cinnamon is a small evergreen tree in the Lauraceae family native to Sri Lanka. Other members of this family include sassafras, avocado, camphor, and spicebush. Trees of the laurel family, including cinnamon, predominate in the world's laurel forests....
Also known as devil's dung, stinking gum, food of the gods, and giant fennel, hing has a varied and suprising diversity of uses. Along the Tex-Mex border hing was used for wolf bait. The odor attracts wolves. In Jamaica, hing is used to protect the...
Found in Tutankhamun's tomb, black cumin is a famous as an Old World spice and medicine. The 'Tibb-e-Nabavi" or "Medicine of the Prophet (Muhammed)", reports the only disease it cannot cure is death. It's many uses have earned it the nickname "seed of...
Thyme tea has been used to stop gastric fermentation. It may be mixed with honey for sore throats. It's diaphoretic properties make it useful to sweat out a fever.
Rosmarinus, is from the latin "dew" (ros) and "sea" (marinus), and means "dew of the sea". Rosemary grows in arid Mediterranean conditions and, as its name implies, can survive on the humidity carried by the sea breeze.
Cloves are an aromatic dried flower bud from a small evergreen tree native to India and Indonesia, in the same family as Eucalyptus and Guava (Myrtaceae family). Cloves resemble a nail in shape. The English name 'clove' derives from the latin...
The zest is the orange skin of the orange. The rind is the white part of the orange beneath.
Highly aromatic & spicy, Allspice is an ideal appetizer that refreshes the mouth. It is a delicious addition to meats and desserts, where it doubles as a digestive aid. It's taste and astringency closely resembles cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and it...
Sesame oil is derived from nutty sweet sesame seeds. As the seed matures, it bursts out of its pod. Think back to the children's story about "open sesame," a secret password in the medieval Arabic adventure tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. As the...
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Founder of Joyful Belly Ayurveda, John Immel, answers the question ‘What is Ayurveda?’
