How to Make Potato Latkes
SERVINGS: 2 PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES COOK TIME: 10 MINUTES
INGREDIENTS
| 1/2 tsp | |
| 2 whole | |
| 4 whole | |
| 1/2 tsp | |
| 1/4 c | |
| 2 tbsp | |
| 1/4 c | |
PREPARATION
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 Can Potato Latkes Make You Feel Great?
AYURVEDIC ANALYSIS
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 VersionAn 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/WinterOily, 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 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 Potato Latkes Good for Me?
Find out by taking this free, easy quiz.
You'll learn your body type, and whether Potato Latkes 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 characteristics
( 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.
Learn More
| CLEAR  ABOUT CLEAR GUNA
Clear refers to anything that cleanses or flushes out wastes, or that digests ama.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CLEAR HEAVY  ABOUT HEAVY GUNA
Heavy is identified by sedation, sluggishness, or increased weight.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HEAVY | 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
| SWEET  ABOUT SWEET GUNA
Sweet refers to anything builds tissue, including macronutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SWEET | 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
| | HAS THE FOLLOWING | EFFECT:
Ojas OJAS
Ojas is the essence of healthy tissue, immunity, stable energy and happiness. Substances that improve ojas are recommended after long-term illness, debility, emotional and physical trauma, and even sadness.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OJAS , Rajasic RAJASIC
Rajasic foods stimulate desire or nervous energy. Red meat, high protein food, garlic and onions stimulate desire. Rajasic foods include chili peppers, coffee, and anything that stimulates movement.
LEARN MORE ABOUT RAJASIC , Tamasic TAMASIC
Tamasic foods promote rest, sleepiness and stillness. Examples include wheat, mushrooms.
LEARN MORE ABOUT TAMASIC , 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
TYPE:
Vegetables, Roots
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 , Allergens, , Gluten GLUTEN
A constituent of wheat, barley and rye that is sticky, heavy, and cold. Many people are allergic to gluten.
LEARN MORE ABOUT GLUTEN
ELEMENT:
SUBTASTE:
Bland BLAND
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.
LEARN MORE ABOUT BLAND ,
NUTRIENT:
Carbohydrate, Fats
COLOR:
White, Yellow
NOURISHES:
MOVES ENERGY:
Downward DOWNWARD
Downward-moving (Adho Gati Marga) substances move food downward in the GI tract, settle the nervous system, and relax muscles.
LEARN MORE ABOUT DOWNWARD |
MEDICINAL PROPERTIESExperiences 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.
Energy Vitality Strength: Lung and Sinus: Demulcent DEMULCENT
Herbs that coat or form a soothing film over a mucous membrane, relieving minor pain and inflammation of the membrane.
LEARN MORE ABOUT DEMULCENT Mind, Stress & Sleep: , , Grounding GROUNDING
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.
LEARN MORE ABOUT GROUNDING , Sedative SEDATIVE
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.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SEDATIVE
Eat Well for Life With Ayurveda: Balance Your Dosha
Love our recipes? Discover how to balance your diet for only $35 with this popular short course.
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About the Author
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda.
His approach to Ayurveda exudes a certain ease, which many find enjoyable and insightful.
His online course Balance Your Ayurvedic Diet in a Week provides tools for gracefully healing with Ayurveda to thousands.
John also directs Joyful Belly's School of Ayurveda
, which specializes in digestive tract pathology & Ayurvedic nutrition.
John and his wife Natalie recently published Explore Your Hunger: A Guide to Hunger, Appetite & Food.
John's interest in Ayurveda and digestive tract pathology was inspired by a complex digestive disorder acquired from years of international travel, including his 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.
Read more
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red, russet, yukon? which potato to use?
- wahneta trotter , 12-05-14 ( Reply) We recommend red or yukon. Russets are best for baking.
Delicious and satisfying! I used almond meal instead of spelt flour. My husband said they taste authentically Eastern European.
Make a chia seed egg... 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 3 tablespoons water, mix and let sit for a few minutes. That equals one egg.
- Margie, Sandpoint, ID , 09-10-16 ( Reply) 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
Question? Are eggs combined with potato the same as protein with starch?
- Jennifer, Manitou springs , 08-14-17 ( Reply) Yes. You can use an egg replacer if you prefer. Eggs help hold the latkes together.
- Kimberly Kubicke, Asbury park, NJ , 08-21-17 ( Reply) |
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