Ajwain is native to the Middle East and is still common in Egypt as well as Indian cooking. Like turmeric, ajwain is a spice used to enhance digestibility rather than flavor.
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...
Basil's warm and spicy aroma adds a passionate flare to any dish, bringing the heat of the Mediterranean sun to your table. Its bright green color and vigorous flavor is unmistakable in pesto. It adds verve to a home-made tomato sauce, and is a perky...
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...
Black salt is a popular condiment in India. It consists of salt infused with sulfurous herbs and spices. It is a brownish pink color due to sulfides that also give it its unique pungent flavor.
In the Middle Ages, caraway seeds were served with a bit of sugar as a digestive after a big meal, much the way sugar coated fennel is eaten after a meal in India.
Love for cardamom resonates through history - for instance, ancient Egyptians chewed cardamom to whiten their teeth and sweeten their breath. Cardamom helps take the edge off of caffeine in the famous drink Turkish coffee. Cardamom is a member of the...
The entire nightshade family (solanaceae) aggravates Vata and Pitta, due to the weak liver of these two body types. All peppers aggravate Pitta due to heat. Note that black pepper...
Cilantro is the leaf of the coriander seed. Both the leaves and the seeds have citrus overtones. Cilantro, as a cooling herb, pairs well with hot spicy dishes.
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....
Cloves are native to India and Indonesia. They are the aromatic dried flower bud of a tree in the same family as Eucalyptus and Guava (Myrtaceae family). Cloves resemble a nail in shape. The English name 'clove' derives from the latin 'clavus'...
Hot, pungent, antiemetic, appetizer, digestive, spleen tonic; stimulates saliva.
Appreciated since ancient times, cumin's aroma has wafted through kitchens since at least the second millennium BC, even flavoring breads and soups mentioned in the Bible. The highly valued spice was a currency to pay tithes to priests. The ancient...
Dill seems to lighten the palate. It packs the taste of freshness with a little kick. Its Ayurvedic name, shatapushpa (100 flowers) points to the shape of the flower, an umbel like Queen Anne's Lace. Dill is a member of the carrot family...
Dill seems to lighten the palate. It packs the taste of freshness with a little kick. Its Ayurvedic name, shatapushpa (100 flowers) points to the shape of the flower, an umbel like Queen Anne's Lace. Dill is a member of the carrot family...
Cool and soothing, verdant and fragrant, fennel is a member of the carrot family that includes other popular spices such as cumin, coriander, dill and celery. Fennel is used as a flavoring in some natural toothpastes and mouth fresheners. Fennel seeds...
Fenugreek is one of the oldest medicinal plants. It has been used since 4000BC. It's name means "ram's horn clover". It was found in the tomb of Tutankhamen.
Hot and stimulating, dried ginger kindles the digestive fire, supports healthy circulation, and melts away sluggishness.
IntroductionA steaming hot mug of ginger tea on a damp day warms up your bones and burns away thick, heavy congestion. When the weather is soggy, you feel tired and groggy. You naturally crave sunlight and heat. Pungent and light,...
The entire nightshade family (solanaceae) aggravates Vata and Pitta, due to the weak liver of these two body types. All peppers aggravate Pitta due to heat. Note that black pepper...
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...
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.
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...
Aromatic, pungent, astringent & sedating. A soporific digestive spice famous for its use in insomnia and cold type diarrhea. It is popular in spiced desserts such as egg nog. Excessive doses can cause hallucinations.
The zest is the orange skin of the orange. The rind is the white part of the orange beneath.
Parsley was revered for its medicinal potency long before it was eaten as a food. Native to the central Mediterranean region, the herb was sacred to the ancient Greeks. They used it to adorn victorious athletes and decorate the tombs of the dead.
Pomegranate molasses is an effective sour for all three doshas with less astringency than pomegranate juice.
Poppy seeds are taken from the same plant as opium. While the culinary seeds themselves contain little to no of the opium alkaloid used in narcotics; small residues of the pod's latex are typically found on the seed's surface, giving them the...
Can't find an ingredient? Make sure you aren't filtering results by diet.
Founder of Joyful Belly Ayurveda, John Immel, answers the question ‘What is Ayurveda?’
On MeWe
On Pinterest
On Facebook
On Twitter
On WhatsApp
On Email
MY SAVED FOODS
My Edited Recipes
Create a Recipe / Free Recipe Analysis
RECIPES WITH IT
