How to Make Ginger Dal

SERVINGS: 4

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 40 MINUTES

SKILL LEVEL: EASY

MEAL: LUNCH-DINNER

STYLE: INDIAN

PREPARATION: BOILED

EAT IN: SPRING

FOR OCCASION: CLEANSE

How Can Ginger Dal Make You Feel Great?

AYURVEDIC ANALYSIS

Bright and colorful, Ginger Dal adds a festive highlight to any meal. With it spices, Ginger Dal warms your body from core to limbs. This savory, heartwarming Indian favorite is belly filling. It provides comfort and calm as it satisfies a big appetite, but without the calories and heavy carbs of other comfort foods.

No South Indian traditional Thali plate is complete without dal. Almost every Indian meal includes dal in some form. Dal soups, like our spicy ginger and chili version, are the protein component of a hearty vegetarian diet. It is usually accompanied by roti (whole wheat flat bread), rice, a vegetable dish, sour chutney and something sweet.

Gets Your Blood Moving

Ginger, the major component of this spicy dal recipe, increases circulation. After a few bites, you will feel warmth in your chest and tummy. After about ten minutes, this welcome heat spreads all the way out to your fingers and toes. The hot, sharp qualities of many ingredients in dal- ginger, chili, mustard seeds and turmeric get your heart pumping and thin your blood, improving circulation and flushing out your lymphatic system. In the spring, while your body is working hard to move fluids and melt stagnation for a light summer ahead, this spicy blood moving soup helps you sweat out toxins and quickly melt winter stagnation.

Detoxifying

Bean soups are an essential genre for detoxification. The high fiber content of beans cleans the colon, but only if you can digest them well.

How do South Asians cook beans for better digestibility? Instead of thick hearty soups, the preference is for thin soups, just as satiating but easier on the stomach. So the first and most important tip is to add fewer beans. Think minestrone instead of chili. Yellow lentils, like all legumes, are difficult to digest for those with weak digestion. To improve digestibility, soak lentils overnight and pour off the water to leach out difficult to digest saponins. Boil for twenty minutes and pour the water off again.

Why do spices work?

Spices are the difference between a tasty meal and a bland one, and also the difference between healthy and poor digestion. Just as spices stimulate the tongue, spices also stimulate the stomach. So, a well-spiced dish digests better than a bland one, giving you maximum benefits of eating this dish.

WHY SHOULD YOU EAT AYURVEDICALLY?

Eating Ayurvedically makes you feel nourished and energized. An Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body type and the specific imbalances you are working with at any given time. Foods that supplement your specific body type’s needs and digest easily create your menu. Watch as you eat less but feel more satisfied because what you are eating truly nourishes you. Since Ayurveda believes all disease begins in the digestive tract, food is your first medicine. By eating a healthy diet that’s ideal for your body, you experience optimal health.

LEARN MORE

Is Ginger Dal Good for Me?

Find out by taking this free, easy quiz. You'll learn your body type, and whether Ginger Dal is a good fit for you. Time to complete: approximately 1 minute.

MEDICINAL QUALITIES

INCREASES Increases These Qualities (Gunas) Functional Ayurveda helps you assess imbalances through 20 main states (gunas). Aggravating these characteristics weakens your body and causes imbalance. By knowing which states are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct imbalances before you get sick. Every state has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold). You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite state. Learn More	CLEAR ABOUT CLEAR GUNA Clear refers to anything that cleanses or flushes out wastes, or that digests ama. LEARN MORE ABOUT CLEAR LIGHT ABOUT LIGHT GUNA Lightness is identified by reduced weight. LEARN MORE ABOUT LIGHT EASY ABOUT EASY GUNA Easy refers to anything easy to digest, or digests quickly. LEARN MORE ABOUT EASY DRY ABOUT DRY GUNA Dry is identified by lack of moisture, lack of fat, or anything that causes diuresis. LEARN MORE ABOUT DRY HOT ABOUT HOT GUNA Hot is identified by increased body temperature, metabolism, or inflammation. LEARN MORE ABOUT HOT
TASTES The 6 Tastes Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food. Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body. Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food. Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods. Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion. Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste. One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes. The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below? Learn More	PUNGENT ABOUT PUNGENT GUNA Pungency is characterized by irritation, or sharp, spicy foods that irritate the mouth such as black pepper. LEARN MORE ABOUT PUNGENT BITTER ABOUT BITTER GUNA Bitter is disagreeable and stimulating rejection, and a strong taste often associated with black coffee, dark chocolate, and most salad greens. LEARN MORE ABOUT BITTER
DOSHAS The Three Doshas / Body Types People tend to get sick, over and over again, due to similar causes and habitual imbalances that are unique to the person. Your body type summarizes this tendency, showing you the 'type' of conditions and imbalances that frequently challenge your health & wellness. Using body type, you can also identify remedies likely to improve your strength and resiliency. Your body type identifies physical and mental characteristics as well as your personal strengths and weaknesses. The calculation of your body type is based on your medical history. The 3 functional body types (doshas), are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha). Catabolic individuals tend to break down body mass into energy. Metabolic individuals tend to burn or use energy. Anabolic individuals tend to store energy as body mass. Catabolic people tend to be easily stimulated, hyperactive, underweight and dry. Metabolic people tend to be rosy-cheeked, easily irritated, focused, driven, and easily inflamed. Anabolic people are heavy, stable and grounded, but if they store too much energy, they could gain weight easily and have congestion. Learn More	PACIFIES AGGRAVATES
HAS THE FOLLOWING	EFFECT Alkalizing ALKALIZING An herb or food that makes the urine more alkaline (higher pH). This herbal action can be helpful for a number of inflammatory conditions. LEARN MORE ABOUT ALKALIZING , Prana PRANA Prana is the Sanskrit word for vital life energy, similar to Qi in Chinese Medicine. Many herbs stimulate your energy, or improve the flow of prana through your body. Generally, prana needs to be increased in spring after a sleepy winter. LEARN MORE ABOUT PRANA , Sattvic SATTVIC Sattvic foods promote awareness and a refreshed mind by nourishing the body without taxing digestion. Sattvic foods do not stimulate desire or nervous energy. They create clarity instead of drowsiness or heaviness. LEARN MORE ABOUT SATTVIC , Tejas TEJAS Herbs that increase tejas improve metabolism & brightness by stimulating the fire element at a cellular level. Destroys toxicity, excess fluids, & improves digestion. Also helps with mental function such as poor memory, lack of inspiration & depression. LEARN MORE ABOUT TEJAS TYPE Beans Legumes CONTAINS Nightshade NIGHTSHADE A member of the plant family Solanaceae. Members of this family have a tendency to irritate the liver and arthritic conditions. Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and bell peppers. LEARN MORE ABOUT NIGHTSHADE

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

Experiences are Personal

Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary. The list of actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.

Bone & Joint	Antiarthritic ANTIARTHRITIC Herbs that ease arthritic pain and promote joint health. LEARN MORE ABOUT ANTIARTHRITIC
Digestion	Digestive DIGESTIVE Herbs that encourage healthy digestive. LEARN MORE ABOUT DIGESTIVE , Carminative CARMINATIVE Stimulates the release of gas. Helpful for bloating or cramping abdominal pain. Propels food downward. LEARN MORE ABOUT CARMINATIVE , Sialogogue SIALOGOGUE A sialogogue increases saliva. Sour foods are often great sialogogues, and increase output of all exocrine glands. Salty taste is very moistening as well. Bitter, pungent and sweettastes also increase salivary output but to a lesser degree. Astringents LEARN MORE ABOUT SIALOGOGUE , Stomachic STOMACHIC An herb that increases appetite or settles a nauseas or nervous stomach. These generally increase the digestive fire, therefore relieving symptoms of sluggish or difficult digestion. LEARN MORE ABOUT STOMACHIC
Cleanse and Detox	Detoxicant DETOXICANT An herb that eliminates or metabolizes toxins from the body. LEARN MORE ABOUT DETOXICANT , Burns Toxins BURNS-TOXINS An herb that detoxifies by helping your body metabolize toxins, as opposed to eliminating them. LEARN MORE ABOUT BURNS-TOXINS
Energy Vitality Strength	Stimulates energy STIMULATES-ENERGY This category groups thyroid and adrenal stimulating herbs LEARN MORE ABOUT STIMULATES-ENERGY
Heart & Circulation	Cardiac stimulant CARDIAC-STIMULANT Herbs that increase the heart rate. Useful in cardiovascular health, blood stagnation, and subjective feeling of heaviness in the chest area. LEARN MORE ABOUT CARDIAC-STIMULANT , Vasodilator VASODILATOR A vasodilator is an herb that widens the blood vessels by the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, thereby increasing circulation systemically or to a local area. LEARN MORE ABOUT VASODILATOR
Immune System	Anti Inflammatory ANTI-INFLAMMATORY Reduces inflammation in the body. Different herbs and carriers target different body systems. LEARN MORE ABOUT ANTI-INFLAMMATORY , Anthelminthic ANTHELMINTHIC Kills worms LEARN MORE ABOUT ANTHELMINTHIC , Antimicrobial ANTIMICROBIAL An agent that kills microorganisms or inhibits their growth. Antimicrobial is an umbrella term that can be broken down into specific categories of target microorganism, such as anti-bacterials, fungals, and virals. LEARN MORE ABOUT ANTIMICROBIAL
Liver & Gall Bladder	Cholagogue CHOLAGOGUE Cholagogues stimulate the release of bile from the gall bladder for improved digestion. LEARN MORE ABOUT CHOLAGOGUE
Reproductive Health	Galactagogue GALACTAGOGUE Increases production of breast milk. LEARN MORE ABOUT GALACTAGOGUE
Bowel-Poop-Elimination	High Fiber Laxative HIGH-FIBER-LAXATIVE A class of laxative that adds bulk and water to stools. The size of a stool stimulates peristalsis and the stool passes more easily through the colon. It is important to drink plenty of water when using high fiber laxatives, as they can be dehydrating. LEARN MORE ABOUT HIGH-FIBER-LAXATIVE