This dish is a creative Ayurvedic fall spin on the popular Thai yellow curry you can find in your favorite Thai restaurants.
What's interesting about it is how it incorporates warming spices that help stoke your inner digestive fire while also helping you maintain your mental and emotional balance. This is how it kindles your creative juices without making you feel overheated or angry as a result. Most dishes that increase your digestive fire make you feel fiery emotions, too, which is why this recipe involves making your own curry powder with specific spices recommended especially for the fall season.
Fall is the time of the year when pitta dosha, the Ayurvedic bioforce that governs metabolism and transformation and is made of the fire and water elements, is naturally increased. That is why you want to eat foods that support digestion without overheating you. You can enjoy this wonderful recipe with cooked jasmine rice.
Serves 4.
INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
1 tsp kalonji seeds
4 small potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
4 cups coconut milk
2 cups sweet heirloom tomatoes
2 cups asparagus, chopped
3 tsp curry powder for fall* (see recipe below)
1 tsp ground turmeric powder
½ tsp ground cloves
1 cinnamon stick or ½ tsp ground cinnamon powder
½ tsp nutmeg
¾ tsp cooling pungent masala (see recipe to make it below)*
pink rock salt, to taste
1 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
*Curry powder recipe for fall (below) is a custom spice blend I created to help you enjoy the wonderful effects of digestive spices without suffering from excess heat as a result of them.
Roast the following whole spices and leaves for a few minutes first until they are very fragrant (do not scorch):
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
4 tsp cumin seeds
4 dry curry leaves (or 1 bay leaf)
2 cloves
Let spices cool completely. Then grind in a spice mill or electric blender (or even a Magic Bullet or Vitamix) with the following added to the blend:
1 tsp cooling pungent masala **
2 tbsp turmeric powder
1/4 hing
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
**Cooling pungent masala is an amazing recipe from Divya Alter in her wonderful book "What To Eat for How You Feel." It's a way to have black pepper without getting heated by it - it's very effective (have personally verified it).
Blend together:
4 tsp fennel seeds
4 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp Sucanat, organic cane sugar, coconut sugar, or your favorite sugar substitute
METHOD:
Heat ghee in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add kalonji seeds.
Add potatoes, coconut milk, asparagus and tomatoes. Bring mixture to a boil.
Reduce heat to a low simmer. Add spices. Stir well and simmer for about 20-25 minutes.
Garnish with cilantro leaves.
Take a moment to inhale the wonderful aromas of this beautiful sun-colored yellow curry. Offer an intention to create for the benefit of the greater good to receive the fullest benefit from your food to nourish you and empower you to give to others. It is in giving that we receive our greatest inspiration for creativity.
To learn more delicious recipes like this, and to learn how to design your own Ayurveda lifestyle, in harmony with the rhythms of nature, join The Ancient Way's Wellness Ambassador Program starting March 26th, 2022, to spread the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda in your community.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ANANTA RIPA AJMERA is founder and CEO of The Ancient Way and Advisor of Ayurveda at THE WELL, a modern wellness club that brings together world-class doctors and master healers for a more balanced you. She is author of The Ayurveda Way, a compilation of 108 simple, doable practices for better sleep, less stress, optimal digestion and more.