From Gaia with Lunch (or, local resource #2)

This is a story about a little shop that I love, and the salad lunch that came from it. I considered titling this post “where everybody knows your name” because I go into Gaia so often it’s almost embarrassing…not that I would let such a thing stop me. And I think at least half the staff do know me by name now, and after this post, I suppose they all will. But I didn’t want to title my post with a line from an ’80s show about a bar.

All local people who read my blog should know about Gaia because they carry the ingredients for most everything that’s on here. Beautiful fresh (and dried) shiitake mushrooms, sunflower and pumpkin seed butters, agave nectar, local organic produce, individual little bars of non-dairy soy or rice milk frozen treats in the freezer, Asian foods (pumpkin/ginger/rice noodles, perfect with stir-fry), sea vegetables, and well you get the idea. All sorts of tasty healthy things, the usual and the unusual, and if you don’t see it on the shelves, they might be able to order it in for you. They have almost all the spices I use: asafoetida (they carry a wonderfully potent mix), cumin, black mustard seeds, and most other spices that I have in my collection. They don’t have curry leaves but those are right down the street at Mann Food & Wine, so if you head to Gaia and then keep going down Russell Terrace, you’ll have everything you need to make an awesome Indian curry that will be almost totally organic. They don’t have cat food, but I think I can live with that.

I hadn’t noticed until today, but they also have some fabulous hand-made posters with yoga poses, natural remedies, herbs, and women’s health info on the wall. How cool is that??

Maybe the best thing about Gaia, and I think they’d agree, is what a community it is. I can walk in and find posters for local classes or a new shiatsu therapist who’s looking for practice clients. I myself post fliers for my cooking classes on their boards and have some Ayurvedic brochures on the big platform by the door with all the other local holistic leaflets. As someone who’s new to the country and even newer to Leamington Spa, it’s fantastic to have a lil’ place where I can go and feel like there’s familiarity and shared interest. I’m sure that people who have lived their whole lives here feel the same way.

After I got home from photographing the shop today, I decided to finally fix myself a lazy lunch. For some odd reason I couldn’t be bothered to turn on the stove or oven; maybe because there were already enough pots in the sink. Salad it was. It occurred to me that almost everything in the salad came from Gaia: therefore, along with a shop review, I have a salad recipe for you.

Summer Salad with Various Vegetables

My salads lately have been very off-the-cuff. I went through a phase where my dressings had about 10 ingredients; thankfully I’ve switched now to oil, vinegar (or lemon juice), salt, pepper and maybe crushed garlic. I love fresh herbs in salad, but usually chop them finely and toss them with the lettuce instead of putting them in the dressing. One thing I do adore is roasted, spiced nuts on salads – a salad without spiced, roasted nuts is like a wedding or childhood birthday party that doesn’t include a goody bag at the end. They’re also quite easy to make even though they seem très gourmand.

1 small bag of salad greens (a large bowl-full. My bag had rainbow chard, red lettuce, arugula, parsley; spinach would be nice too)
1 small golden beet
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 tsp ground allspice or cinnamon
1/2 TBS maple syrup or agave nectar
1/4 large or 1/2 small avocado
2 TBS diced red onion
1 1/2 TBS olive oil
3 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Wash and peel the beet, then chop into 1/2 inch pieces. Lightly salt enough water to cover the beet pieces in a small pot, bring it to boil and put in the beet. Boil until tender, about 30 minutes depending on the size of the pieces.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F (160 C). Put the walnuts onto a small baking sheet or pyrex dish and add the allspice and syrup. Mix to coat evenly, then put in the oven and roast for 8-10 minutes, checking after 5, until they smell toasted and are starting to brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the dish.

Take half of the avocado, and run a knife from top to bottom through the meat of it, taking care not to press too hard so that you don’t poke yourself. Then run the knife through in the perpendicular direction, and with a spoon or a butter knife, scrape out either the whole thing or half, depending on the size of the avocado. It should come out in nice little cubes.

When the beet pieces are pierced easily with a fork, take off the boil and run some cold water over them to take down their heat. Drain off the water.

Wash and dry the salad leaves, and chop any larger pieces into a manageable size. Combine the leaves, diced onion and beet in a large enough salad bowl. Drizzle the olive oil and vinegar over, then give a pepper grinder a few twists (to taste) and sprinkle some salt over the whole thing. Add the avocado and walnuts and toss again, or add them on top of individual portions. Serve.

Ayurvedic Herbs and more in Leamington Spa

You might be thinking, “…this all sounds tasty and healthy and I’d love to try this food, but where do I get all these ingredients and products?” Well then, I’ll help you out with a few resource postings. If you live in the Warwickshire area, these reviews will tell you what you can get and where, to support your budding Ayurvedic or natural, holistic lifestyle. You need to get out there and explore a bit, so here’s a starting point.

I was in a café, speaking with someone who’s new to Ayurveda, and they asked about local resources to support this lifestyle – where do I get the spices? where can I find other people who are trying this? This is almost as much of a mystery to me, since I’ve only lived in the UK for 7 months, and Leamington for 1 month. Serendipitously, as I left the café, I stumbled into my first resource. “To Takeaway Therapy” is in Leamington Spa at the corner of Park and Regent Streets, across from Neal’s Yard Therapies. The vibrantly fuscia-colored sign on a white background is easy to spot. The freshness of the shop and colourful displays make you feel good as soon as you walk in. I was excited to see a whole shelf of Pukka Ayurvedic supplements – things like triphala, shatavari, ashwaganda and more. There was also a stack of information booklets to help choose which supplement to take, although I’d say it’s best to ask someone with a thorough Ayurvedic education before starting an herbal treatment program. But now I know there’s a place to get these locally instead of ordering them over the internet.

There are plenty of other goodies to look at. Several lines of natural cosmetics, tons of body and hair care products, gluten-free breads and crackers, a selection of books on natural medicine and vegetarian cooking, aloe and aloe-cranberry juice, a packed wall of bagged grains, nuts, pulses, dried fruits and muesli, cereals, herbal teas, essential oils, flower essences, ‘healthy junk-food’, the list goes on. I think it’s a great place to go if you want to pamper yourself naturally or if you have health objectives that you want to approach holistically.

I asked Claire, who runs the store, what makes the place special. She pointed out that they have their own line of ‘therapist in a box’ products: it’s a little pink box that’s shaped a bit like the happy meal boxes I ate as a child (pre-Ayurveda). Inside are flower essences, quality vitamin & herbal supplements, and nutrition & food advice from qualified therapists. They’re tailored for all sorts of things from jet lag to women’s health concerns.

Stop by and tell Claire that you heard about her store through my blog. Next posting will be about the spices.

Breakfast Rice Pudding with Spices

This is a very versatile dish, a really tasty and elegant way to start the day, and the rice with ghee and milk is a wonderful sort of ‘canvas’ or background for playing with flavours. It can also be a lovely desert if you want something light with digestion-friendly spices. It would be my choice over fruit or something very heavy and creamy, both of which would fall under the “improper food combining” category of Ayurvedic no-nos when following a meal.

Here’s a list of spices that I’ve put in my breakfast rice over the years: saffron, cardamom, fennel, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, fresh/powdered/candied ginger, allspice, star anise, coriander, even a bit of black pepper now and then.
Optional toppings or other ingredients include: ghee, butter, chopped dates, roasted coconut flakes, soaked peeled & chopped almonds or walnuts or others nuts & seeds, orange zest, rose water, vanilla pods, almond/vanilla/orange extract…you get the idea. This is yet another opportunity to play with your food.

The following recipe is how I made my breakfast rice today, taking the season and my constitution (Pitta) into account. It’s warm and breezy, so I wanted spices that would aid digestion without creating too much heat, so I chose cardamom, saffron and fennel. I had just been for a run, and so I wanted some ghee to nourish my joints (ghee is also great for digestion). Saffron and fennel help to digest toxins in the body without creating additional fire, so they’re perfect for me. Cardamom is one of the main Ayurvedic digestives, along with ginger, coriander and others, and I just love the way it tastes – definitely more pungent than saffron or fennel. It also helped with the fact that I used raisins, which is a fruit and best eaten alone, but cooking the rice and fruit together for a long time with spices aids the digestibility of foods that may be less than optimal together. This dish is tridoshic, meaning good for all constitutions. Kapha should use goat’s milk or water, less ghee and less sugar, and perhaps add some powdered ginger.

Breakfast Rice for Summer
Originally adapted from The Ayurvedic Cookbook by Amadea Morningstar

1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cardamom seeds
pinch of saffron threads (maybe 5-10 threads)
1 TBS ghee
2.5 oz pudding rice or basmati rice
1 pint (2 cups) of water, milk (rice, cow, goat, etc), or a mixture of the two
1 TBS unrefined sugar, honey, or maple or rice or agave syrup
2 chopped dates (or 2 TBS sultanas)
2 tbs shredded unsweetened coconut

With a mortar and pestle, grind the fennel and cardamom well, for about a minute. Put them and the saffron into a small saucepan and gently dry-roast on medium/low for a few minutes, until they release their aromas. Add the ghee, let it melt. Then add the rice and stir for several minutes, until well coated. Add all the rest except the coconut. If you are using honey to sweeten, do not add it until you’re ready to serve. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed enough to create a pudding-like consistency.

Meanwhile, heat a small pan to just below medium and add the coconut. Toast the coconut, tossing it in the pan every 30 seconds or so to keep it browning evenly and to avoid burning it. When done, scrape the coconut out of the hot pan.

Check the rice after about 45 minutes, or right when it seems that the steam has stopped coming out from under the lid. When the liquid is absorbed, spoon it out into bowls and stir in the honey if you’re using it. Top with the coconut. Heavenly. Serves 2-3.

You actually drink that stuff??

Yes, I really do. Aloe Juice is a wonderful Ayurvedic supplement. Here’s what it does for me, other medicinal/supplemental uses, and where to find it:

I should of course say that I am not a medical doctor and any material posted here about supplements, herbs, spices, foods and natural remedies is no substitute for medical treatment, neither is it a diagnosis. I am someone who has studied yoga, Ayurvedic medicine/diet/lifestyle and who has seen the profound benefits that cooking, eating and living in an Ayurvedic fashion has made in my own life and the lives of friends, family and clients. Moving swiftly on…

Aloe juice is a great way of administering herbs, especially for Pitta and Kapha. If you take triphala before bed (the Ayurvedic wonder herb combo-cleanses the digestive tract), you can mix 1-2 TBS aloe juice with the tea and drink them together. If you hate the taste of aloe, you might not want to combine it with triphala, which also causes many ‘yuck’ faces. I mix 1 – 2 TBS aloe juice with a small shot of an anti-oxidant juice supplement that I’m taking at the moment and drink this in the morning on an empty stomach. This way, it’s in my body before I’ve eaten, and therefore gets first priority for absorption. I imagine it would be very nice if you mixed it with sparkling water or juice and apple concentrate and drank it this way on a hot summer afternoon, between lunch and dinner.

Aloe is quite cooling, as you can guess from its use on burns. It’s a tonic for the stomach and female reproductive system. It helps in healing and eliminating intestinal parasites, excess weight, excess acidity in the stomach, regulation of fat and sugar metabolism, and many other symptoms of Kapha/Pitta excess. Externally it’s great for sunburn, sores, herpes and rashes.

I prefer it with something sweet such as fruit juice, but have also mixed it with 1/4 or 1/2 tsp turmeric powder for times when I really wanted to balance my blood sugar while nourishing my skin, spleen and liver. When mixing with turmeric, I added a splash of hot water and a few drops of agave nectar (a sweetener from the same plant family which does not raise your glycemic index and therefore does not cause swings in blood sugar levels) to help with the taste. I have also read that taking aloe with turmeric is helpful for enlarged glands. Perhaps this would support recovery from some thyroid problems?

I find that aloe juice taken after a meal helps to stabilize my appetite and curb sweet cravings. I suppose this is part of its ability to support healthy blood sugar, as well as the bitter/astringent/pungent taste acting to balance any sweet cravings. Eating more bitter greens (kale, dandelion greens, chard, etc) and spices gives us a satisfaction that is deeper, longer lasting and more nourishing than grabbing for chocolate, candy or refined flour products. Similarly, the bitter taste of aloe helps to balance the cravings for sweet which are ingrained in many of us these days.

In my experience, the best solution to a craving is to sit down, take several conscious breaths and look at what’s behind the craving. However, there are many nutritional aids and lifestyle changes that can support and ease this switch from impulse to insight, and aloe juice is one of them.

Contraindications: Pregnancy, Family history of breast cancer (aloe is estrogenic), fibrocystic changes in breast or uterine tissue, high vata conditions. If you want to take aloe but have concerns, it’s best to consult your doctor.

Indian Dhal Soup with Vegetables

This soup got me through school. It seems to be perfect for any stressful situations, because I always crave it when things are hectic. We spent the past two weekends moving to a different town, and I’ve made it twice in two variations. It’s lovely, light and energizing, leaves me feeling nourished and clear headed. It’s simply dhal, a recipe I made up by combining other Ayurvedic spices and cooking techniques I was fond of at the time. All of a sudden, I had my own version of the soup that’s found in so many Indian restaurants across the world. This is more light and subtle than what you might find in your local curry house. You could add basmati rice (and decrease the amount of Mung Dhal) and make it a complete meal.

Split yellow mung dhal and basmati rice are both tridoshic, or good for all three Doshas (body types). I like using one sweet and one astringent vegetable, such as asparagus with carrots, or zucchini with sweet potato. Without further ado, here’s the recipe:

Yellow Dhal with Vegetables

1-3 TBS ghee (more for vata, less for kapha)
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida powder (hing)
1 tsp turmeric
1 small onion or leek, diced
1-2 TBS diced ginger root
1 large garlic glove, minced (optional, omit for Pitta)
1/2 small green chili, seeded & diced (optional, omit for Pitta; can substitute a dash of cayenne)
Small handful cilantro leaves, chopped
Small handful curly parsley, chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 cup each of two vegetables, chopped: asparagus, zucchini, carrot, sweet potato, white potato, etc.
1 cup yellow split mung dhal
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 heaping TBS coconut (optional)
lime wedges for garnish
Water: enough to cover the dhal (around 6 cups). Adjust as you like, for a runnier soup or a thicker curry-like consistency.

Wash the beans. Melt ghee in a soup pot over medium heat. Add asafoetida, mustard and cumin seeds. When the seeds pop, add onion and turmeric. Add a bit of water as you go if you need more liquid. When onion is translucent and sweetened, add ginger, garlic and chili. Cook a few more minutes. Add the herbs and coriander powder, cook until herbs soften and spices are mixed. Add the vegetables, dhal, water and salt. Boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer. Check the consistency after 15-20 minutes. Continue to check every 10 minutes or so, adding more water if you like. Cook until the beans have broken down and the vegetables are nice and soft, 30 – 50 minutes. Taste for salt & pepper, and garnish with a squeeze of lime and extra cilantro if you like.

This is an excellent soup for Pitta in the summer, if you omit garlic and chili.

What To Do With a Bunch of Beets?

Aren’t they beautiful? Cooking a bunch of beets is a great experience. The deep purple next to bright green is such a treat for the eyes, and the greens are so good for you. Spring is a great time to eat hearty, deep green leaves like this. Great for the liver, blood, etc. and many of us need it after a long winter of festivities. They’re packed with folic acid and therefore good for the female reproductive system. Ayurvedically, they can be heating in excess, so Pittas should only eat them on occasion. They can be great for a tired Pitta liver if they’re juiced and had in small quantities combined with the juice of, say, cilantro or other greens. They’re good for Vata in fall, or Kapha in spring.

Sometimes I’m not sure what to do with beets. When I first started to cook, my signature dish was a spinach salad with chopped boiled beets (I didn’t roast back then), crumbled goat or feta cheese, and walnuts, with a simple vinaigrette. I was mimicking a popular salad in many NYC restaurants that I loved, and a pretty good first recipe.

It’s still a great salad, and is a very easy and nourishing meal with the greens, beets, nuts and cheese. It was often a whole dinner for me back in Brooklyn. But today I thought I’d be spontaneous and draw from past beet experience without looking up a recipe. I love these red roots with cumin, coriander, walnuts, orange, tarragon…so here’s what I ended up with. I did a semi-Japanese mix of ingredients with the greens and it tasted great.

Beets and Beet Greens on a Rainy English Day

4 smallish beets, separated from their greens and trimmed, peeled and sliced 1 cm. thick
Beet greens, one bunch (about as much as you see in the photo)

For the greens:
olive oil
1 TBS minced ginger root
2-3 minced garlic cloves
1 TBS sesame seeds
lime juice (2-3 TBS), orange juice (1/4 cup) or apple cider vinegar (2 TBS) or a mixture of these
tamari or Bragg’s liquid aminos to taste – approx 2-3 tbs
salt and pepper
several pinches chopped cilantro for garnish

For the beets:
2-3 TBS walnut oil
juice of 1 small orange
tarragon leaves
salt & pepper
optional: crumbled goats cheese and roasted walnuts for garnish

For the beets:
Preheat the oven to 190 C or 400 F. Put the beets, walnut oil, orange juice, tarragon and salt & pepper in an oven dish; cover and place in the oven. Roast until a fork easily pierces them, 30 – 50 minutes. If you are roasting the walnuts, toss them with a bit of oil and spices of your choice, put them on an oven-safe dish or baking sheet and roast in the oven at the same temp for 5-10 minutes, until lightly browning and fragrant. Top beets with nuts and cheese.

For the greens:
Separate purple stems from green leafy part. Wash stems and leaves; slice both into 1 inch strips. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium or large skillet. Add the tougher stems and stir to coat in the oil. Cook until about half done, 5 minutes or so. Add a small splash of apple cider vinegar, stir. Add the garlic and ginger, stir again. Sautee several more minutes, until the garlic starts to brown. Add the greens, orange juice, sesame seeds and tamari. Stir to coat and to let all greens contact heat and cook down. When the greens are wilted but not too mushy, taste for salt and pepper, toss on the cilantro and serve.

These were delicious; I had the greens for lunch and some of the beets for an afternoon snack. I’ve definitely had my veggies for the day. With the greens, I think next time I might use only apple cider vinegar and only about 1 tbs of it. The vinegar with orange juice overpowered the orange, and besides, I already had that with the roots.

Spicy Red Lentil Soup with Vegetables

I’ve really been looking forward to posting this soup. The first time I made it last summer, it was too spicy for me, but Colm couldn’t stop swooning over it. He might have gone back for thirds. Now I tone down the cayenne and he adds more to his own bowl.

I teach this recipe in my cooking classes and it’s always a hit as the main dish. It’s adapted from a simple red lentil soup recipe in “Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing” by the dynamic duo of Ayurvedic food, Usha Lad and Dr. Vasant Lad. It’s one of the great dishes that kept us going through our first chilly winter in the UK, but it’s great in the summer, too.

I love putting sweet potato and zucchini (courgette) in my Indian soups, but white potato, peas, asparagus, cabbage, chopped squash, and many other veggies are options. Go with what sounds good.

You can find curry leaves at your local Asian or Indian grocer, or order them online. I’ve had a hard time finding them in conventional or normal health food stores, but every Asian market I’ve been in has them.

Ayurvedic Red Lentil Soup with Vegetables
Adapted from “Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing” by Usha Lad and Dr. Vasant Lad

For Masala Powder:

The masala mix for this soup should contain equal parts ground cloves, cardamom, bay leaf, black pepper and cinnamon, plus cayenne pepper: 1/4 to 1 teaspoon depending on the heat units of the cayenne (it varies) and what you can stand. If you have high Pitta symptoms (feel free to ask for more info), you might want to just leave it out. Grind all ingredients together in a clean coffee grinder, or with a mortar & pestle. Store in a glass jar.

Soup:

1 cup red lentils
water
2 tablespoons ghee (or sunflower oil)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 pinches asafoetida
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 curry leaves, fresh or dried
1 handful cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 – 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 + 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon masala powder
1 small sweet potato, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 medium courgette, sliced in 1/4 inch rounds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
optional: Lime wedges, chopped cilantro and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or a mild soy sauce) for garnish

Wash the beans. For easier digestion, soak them for several hours or overnight.

Heat the oil over medium in a soup pot, then add the black mustard, cumin seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds pop (they really will pop – they might even jump right out of the pot!), stir in the onion and cook until browned. Add the garlic and cook a minute or two more. Add the curry leaves, cilantro, ground coriander seed, turmeric and masala powder. Cook another minute or two, until the spices have released their oils and aromas. Add the lentils and vegetables and cover with water. Bring to a boil, add the coconut and salt. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until the lentils have broken down and the vegetables are soft, 30 – 60 minutes. If you like a thicker soup, cook a bit longer; thinner, add some water for desired consistency.
Serve with basmati rice & ghee or whole grain bread. Garnish with a squirt of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos if you want a bit of extra salt and a nice earthy flavor. Lime wedges add more depth with a bit of sour, and extra chopped fresh cilantro takes the edge off the cayenne.

As long as it’s not too spicy, this soup is tridoshic (good for all doshas). Kapha-types should try it with white potato and peas or asparagus.

Chai Spice Biscuits

In England, it’s a biscuit. Back home, it’s a cookie. I call them Chai Cookies because I use many of the same spices for the dough that I use in chai tea. My favorite combination is freshly ground cardamom and fennel seed. I went crazy for ginger last year and was putting finely minced fresh ginger in them for a while. Then, in one of my cooking classes in Los Alamos, someone accidentally put some finely ground black pepper in the batter, and it was amazing – the spicy pungent pepper contrasted beautifully with the fennel and sweetness.

I like to use whole grain spelt flour for these cookies, but a gluten-free flour with xantham gum would also be nice. You can use room-temperature butter but I use ghee for two reasons: without the milk solids, the cookies will last longer and in terms of food combining, ghee with egg isn’t as bad as milk with egg (according to Ayurveda, milk products and eggs are hard to digest together). My yoga teacher in Albuquerque, who wants to have these on her deathbed with a mug of chai, told me about an experiment without the egg. She formed little biscotti with the dough by squeezing little blobs of it in her palms and said it was delicious. So you could use butter and not need the egg at all, I suppose.

A note on sweetness: Agave nectar is delicious and doesn’t raise your glycemic index. Demerara sugar is unrefined and has a nice crunch. Or you can grind the demerara crystals in a clean coffee grinder to create a healthier version of powdered sugar. Have a play with these cookies and see what you like.

Chai Biscuits

1/2 cup (4 oz) room temp unsalted organic butter or ghee
1/2 cup demerara sugar or scant 1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tsp each fresh ground cardamom & fennel seed. Variations: 2 tbs minced ginger root; 1 tsp ground ginger, black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon…play around.
1 egg
1/4 tsp finely ground salt
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups whole grain spelt flour or gluten free flour (in which case, add 3/4 tsp xantham gum for binding)

Preheat the oven to 175 C, 375 F. With a mortar & pestle or clean coffee grinder, grind the fennel & cardamom seeds and, if you choose, the demerara. Cream butter and sugar, then mix in the spices. Crack the egg in and stir to combine. Add the salt, then the xantham gum & flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until it clears the sides of the bowl and forms a dough. You can either roll the dough into two square-shaped logs, refrigerate for an hour or more and slice into 1 cm thick squares, or just drop spoonfulls onto a cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, until turning golden around the edges. Let cool for 15 minutes, if you can!

Chai Tea: not from Starbucks

Do you really like your chai tea latte from Starbucks? Don’t you think it’s too sweet and sort of watery? Not to mention that the mix comes out of a box that was probably flown half way across the country. Or the one they make at Cafe Nero in the UK, which is lovely and creamy (even with soy milk), but doesn’t have much zing to it. Not much life there at all, except for the blanket of cinnamon they shake over the top. And it comes out of a pouch. What’s in that? If I really were allergic to dairy, asking for soy milk would make no difference, because there’s plenty of dehydrated milk solids in that little sugary bag.

Luckily, there’s a tasty and healthy answer to these questions: homemade chai, with just the right spices for you, with your choice of add-ins. It’s super easy and even though it takes a while to simmer to perfection, you’ll feel so proud of your little concoction and your house will smell like Christmas from the boiling spices.

Here’s a list of everything I might think of putting into chai tea. Please not that I would not put all of this in at once!

ginger root; cloves; cardamom pods; cinnamon bark; allspice berries; star anise; anise seeds; cocoa bean shells; vanilla; fennel seeds; coriander seeds; cumin seeds; licorice root; black peppercorns; rooibos leaf; mint; dried orange peel; saffron; chamomile flowers; other herbs such as rose hips, nettles, tulsi (Indian holy basil), etc…

You can choose your spices based on the weather or your current state of health. If it’s chilly, windy and getting dark at 4pm like winter in the UK, some nice choices might be ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cocoa bean shells and cloves, with milk and a bit of honey if you like (only add the honey after the chai is in your cup and off the stove – according to Ayurveda, cooked honey is indigestible and therefore creates toxins in the body). If it’s the middle of summer but you still want to make chai, try selecting from mint, fennel, licorice, coriander, chamomile, vanilla. Only a few drops of vanilla is needed per quart of water. A combination like this helps if you’re subject to feeling overheated, heat sensitive, rashes, breakouts, acid indigestion, or other Pitta conditions.

It’s a good idea not to boil the milk with the chai, as some of these spices are acidic and could curdle the milk. But you can heat it separately, and froth it by hand in a French presse (Caffetiere) by pumping the wire basket up and down inside the glass container to force lots of air into the milk. Or use an espresso machine.

Chai Tea

Take a saucepan, pour 4 -6 cups of water in. If using ginger, chop 1/2 – 1 inch of fresh root. Cinnamon, 1-2 sticks. Saffron, a pinch. Cardamom pods, 10 – 20. For small seeds, 1-2 tsp works fine. You get the idea – a bit of whatever you want, depending on how much water you’re using and for how many people you’re making it. Try toasting seeds in a pan until they release their aromas before boiling them.

Bring water and ingredients to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 – 50 minutes. The longer you simmer, the more aromatic and flavorful the chai will be. If you’re using ginger, it gets nice and spicy after a longer period of time.

Strain the liquid into mugs, top with milk (froth optional), and stir in a bit of sweetener if you want. I like agave or maple syrup.

Bok Choy and Carrot Stir-Fry with Spicy Peanut Sauce

This dish can take a bit of chopping time, but it’s well worth it. It’s great to have a wok to cook it in, because it allows you to make a big batch that you can eat for the next meal or two – that way the time invested in all that knife work pays off a little more. Sometimes I get a craving for something like pad Thai, something with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce with lots of fresh vegetables, and especially lots of colour, and this dish does the trick. It’s a very sensory experience – there’s the orange, tan, deep green and reds in the dish, plus the combination of intensely sweet, spicy, sour and the bitter of the bok choy greens. If you want to liven up your weekend evening with something different and fun, or serve something as a colourful main dish at a casual dinner party, this would be great. Bean sprouts can be added along with the the greens toward the end; you could also garnish with extra chopped coriander leaves, chopped peanuts and shredded unsweetened coconut – that would add a touch of presentation to this, if you serve it in a nice big bowl.

Ayurvedically, I wouldn’t recommend peanuts, chili or lots of salt to someone suffering from high stomach acidity or lots of skin problems. However, this dish balances those ingredients with cooling coconut oil, bok choy and coriander. If the weather is hot for you at the moment or you suffer from other ‘hot’ health problems like those mentioned above, you could use almond or sunflower butter in place of peanut; thinly sliced sweet potato in place of carrot; and reduce the chilies, and this dish would be more balancing for you. Lime juice to add tang in place of vinegar would also really help.

Enjoy!

Stir-fried Greens & Carrots with Citrus Nut-Sauce

2 tbs coconut or sesame oil
4 Asian shallots, cut in half, then sliced thinly lengthwise
1 inch fresh ginger root, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced (can omit for Pitta-types)
1 large bunch bok-choy, stalks and leaves separated and both sliced into 1/4 inch strips
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced thinly into rounds
juice of 1 large sweet orange (a blood orange is nice)
3/4 tsp finely grated orange zest
2 tsp fish sauce, or 1 tbs tamari
1/2 tsp salt
1+1/2 tbs brown rice vinegar
1/4 cup creamy peanut, sunflower seed or almond butter
1/4 – 1/2 tsp red chili flakes, optional (omit for Pitta-types)
2 tsp ground coriander seed
1 – 2 tsp demerara or other unrefined sugar
large handful chopped fresh coriander

1 + 1/2 cups short grain brown rice, jasmine rice or other Asian noodles

serves 3-4

Place brown rice and 3 cups water in a pot. Boil, then reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer until done, about 45 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the orange juice and zest, chili flakes, peanut butter, 1/2 tsp salt, fish sauce or tamari, and brown rice vinegar. Stir to combine (doesn’t have to be perfect). Melt the coconut oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the shallots, cook until they begin to brown. Add the garlic and ginger; cook for a couple minutes, to take the edge off the garlic. Add the juice mix, the carrot and bok choy stalks; stir to coat the vegetables and to completely mix the sauce ingredients. Cover and cook on medium/low until the vegetables are nearly done, checking on them every few minutes, stirring, and adding a bit of extra water if needed. Toss in the coriander powder and sugar. Stir well and taste – you might need to adjust for acidity, salt, sweetness or spiciness. If needed, add a bit more vinegar, tamari, sugar or chili. When you’re happy with the consistency of the vegetables, add the bok choy leaves and fresh coriander. Mix. Pour over a helping of brown rice and serve. Other Asian noodles would go wonderfully with this – mung bean noodles, rice noodles…we live near a store that sells pumpkin ginger noodles, and they’re quite nice!

This would be lovely accompanied by a “cocktail” of crushed mint and cilantro leaves with a bit of agave nectar, mixed with room temperature still or sparkling water. The mint, cilantro and agave are very cooling and will balance the heat of chili, garlic, carrots and peanuts.