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1. Grate your potatoes in a cheese grater. Place in a sieve over a bowl and let the water drain for 15 minutes. Pour off excess liquid.
2. Mix in the chopped shallots, eggs, flour, salt and pepper.
3. Heat 1/4 inch of oil over medium high heat in a large frying pan. Fry scoops of potato mix that make pancakes about 3-4 inches in diameter. Fry for 3-4 minutes, then flip. When the edges are crispy and the whole latke is golden on both sides, they are ready to eat!
4. Serve with applesauce or sour cream or cottage cheese mixed with sour cream. Garnish with chopped chives.
How Does This Ayurvedic Recipe Improve Wellness?
CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW
Crispy and hot around the edges, sizzling Potato Latkes will be devoured as soon as they leave the frying pan. As this fun & hearty treat sizzles in the pan, it will warms your heart in the cold winter. Bright green scallions sprinkled on top add a light freshness. A dollop of yummy applesauce or sour cream adds cooling sweetness.
Potato Latkes are a traditional food served at Hanukkah. Their appeal draws kids and adults alike to gather around the holiday table. A variety of cultures throughout Eastern Europe, such as in the Ukraine, each offer unique variations of these crunchy, crispy, satisfying potato pancakes. Latke is a Yiddish word, but the Hebrew word for lakte is levav. Levav translates to both "heart" and "potato pancake." So, you could say that latkes are truly a heart-warming choice for Hanukkah.
A Lighter Version
An Ayurvedic preparation of Latkes has several minor changes: instead of wheat flour, substitute easy-to-digest and lighter spelt flour. Potatoes can be a little hard to digest because of their cold and heavy qualities. Black pepper is a remedy because it stimulates digestion. Sunflower oil lubricates the digestive tract and counteracts potato's dryness. If you've never experienced potato's dryness, compare the difference between a baked potato and a latke. The baked potato may leave your mouth feeling parched. Many people who suffer from gas and bloating will be surprised to find that it's often due to dryness, so have a latke!
Medicine for Vata/Winter
Oily, heavy, salty, and slightly sweet, Potato Latkes stengthen those with a dry or fragile Vata constitution. However, latkes and other fried foods are aggravating to oily Pitta and heavy Kapha-types.
Grounding Traditional Foods
Holidays are grounding by nature. They remind you of who you are and where you come from. Incorporating foods from different cultures and traditions creates a sense of togetherness and understanding, and isn't that the very spirit of the holiday season? If you are Jewish, there's a good chance you grew tapping your toes waiting for Potato Latke season. But if you're not, the savory pancakes are a delicious introduction to traditional Jewish cuisine.
WHY EAT AN AYURVEDIC DIET?
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. Ayurveda shows you your specific body type’s needs and what
should be favored in your Ayurvedic 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.
Functional Ayurveda helps you assess imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics
(gunas).
Aggravating these characteristics weakens your body and causes imbalance.
By knowing which characteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct imbalances before you get sick.
Every characteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold).
You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite characteristic.
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?
According to the biocharacteristic theory of medicine,
people tend to get sick, over and over again, due to habitual causes and 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.
Bland means doesn't have much taste. In Chinese medicine, bland taste refers to afood without little macronutrients, such as cabbage, radish or bok choy.
Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary.
The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.
Encourages feelings of stability and heaviness. Makes you feel settled, mentally relaxed. Mildly sedates the nervous system to ease stress. Can bring a spacey or anxious person back to earth.
Sedative herbs create a sense of calm in the mind and body by specifically calming or quieting the nervous system. Excellent for anxiety, stress and chronic pain.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda biocharacteristics.
His approach to Ayurveda is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs Joyful Belly's School of Ayurveda,
offering professional clinical training in Ayurveda for over 15 years.
John's interest in Ayurveda and specialization in digestive tract pathology was inspired by a complex digestive disorder acquired from years of international travel,
as well as public service work in South Asia.
John's commitment to the detailed study of digestive disorders reflects his zeal to get down to the roots of the problem.
His hope and belief in the capacity of each & every client to improve their quality of life is nothing short of a personal passion.
John's creativity in the kitchen and delight in cooking for others comes from his family oriented upbringing.
In addition to his certification in Ayurveda, John holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
John enjoys sharing Ayurveda within the context of his Catholic roots,
and finds Ayurveda gives him an opportunity to participate in the healing mission of the Church.
Jesus expressed God's love by feeding and healing the sick.
That kindness is the fundamental ministry of Ayurveda as well.
Outside of work, John enjoys spending time with his wife and 6 kids, and pursuing his love of theology, philosophy, and language.
My first try with 'Ayurvedic food' and I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. Can a stomach 'purr' out of pure satisfaction and a warm feeling of peace? Because mine felt like it did. For about 45 minutes. Oh, and it was simply delicious :D
My first try with 'Ayurvedic food' and I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. Can a stomach 'purr' out of pure satisfaction and a warm feeling of peace? Because mine felt like it did. For about 45 minutes. Oh, and it was simply delicious :D
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.