Cooking the Ayurvedic way

The Ayurvedic Cookbook

Rating: 4 out of 5

Author: Amadea Morningstar and Urmila Desai

Editor: Amadea Morningstar and Urmila Desai

Year: 1990

Category: Healthy Alternative Cooking

Publisher: Lotus Press

Price: 13 USD

ISBN: 0914955063

This excerpt comes from one of my relatives who has a passion for collecting cookbooks; according to her ayurvedic cooking is a tad bland compared to the usual spicy fare that Indians are so used to. This may well satisfy the palate of those looking for a healthy way of cooking and also for the benefit of our western-Indian food lovers.

Here are some reviews from Amazon.com:

This is a fantastic cookbook for experienced cooks wanting to explore both Indian cooking as well as Ayurvedic cooking. I’ve learned a lot about the appropriate use and balance of traditional Indian spices.

However, if you are relatively new to cooking, you may find the recipes to be a bit difficult. They are pared down for those who are more intuitive with cooking, but you will not have a step-by-step guide on how to do each task, like you might find in grocery store recipe magazines or Betty Crocker cookbooks. I have also run across occasional omissions of ingredients in the directions, and some of the grain recipes call for too much water (way too much).

On the whole, this book has a great net benefit. In fact, it’s the only book I’ve been using for the last 3 weeks. Indian grocers sell incredibly affordable pantry items, and the food is simply wonderful. Please give this book a try!

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This book is slowly turning me from “I don’t like to cook” to “Why not cook” and I cannot wait to try all of those recipes. The pumpkin or sweet potato halva recipe had us on our knees. It is sublime. The Indian tastes are simply like swimming in a deep ocean while the American cooking is more like swimming in a small and shallow pond. Why not jump in on the deeper side of life?

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