Ayurveda, Herbs & Ingredients

Reading the chips: vāta + means the entry traditionally balances vāta · · means neutral · − means it can aggravate that dosha.

• Herb

  Amla

  Āmalakī

  The sour, cooling gooseberry at the head of the rasāyana list; tridoshic, vitamin-C-rich and the anchor of both triphalā and chyawanprash.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Fruit

• Herb

  Ashwagandha

  Aśvagandhā

  The renowned "strength of a stallion" root, ayurveda's classic warming rasāyana for tired nerves, scattered vāta and sleepless nights.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  − , Can aggravate pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Root (and the whole plant in some preparations)

• Kitchen ingredient

  Basmati Rice

  Śāli-taṇḍula

  The fragrant, long-grained rice the tradition classes among the finest grains; sweet, cooling, light and balancing to all.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  · , Neutral for kapha

  Dehusked grain

• Herb

  Brahmi

  Brāhmī

  The "herb of Brahmā", a cooling, satvik brain tonic of the classical rasāyana list, loved for steady memory and a quiet mind.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  · , Neutral for kapha

  Whole plant (leaf and stem)

• Herb

  Cardamom

  Elā

  The queen of spices, sweet, gently warming green pods that settle the stomach, sweeten the breath and make milk and coffee easier to bear.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  · , Neutral for pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Seed (in the pod)

• Herb

  Coriander

  Dhānyaka

  The cooling seed of the coriander plant, the classic soother of burning digestion, acid rising and hot-weather irritability.

  • vāta  · , Neutral for vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  · , Neutral for kapha

  Seed (and fresh leaf as food)

• Herb

  Cumin

  Jīraka

  The everyday digestive seed, the tadka's backbone; that kindles agni without adding heat, making it safe even for pitta stomachs.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  · , Neutral for kapha

  Seed

• Kitchen ingredient

  Dates

  Kharjūra

  The dense, sweet fruit of strength and rest; soaked, stuffed or blended into milk, the tradition's gentle energy and iron.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  − , Can aggravate kapha

  Fruit (fresh or dried)

• Herb

  Fennel

  Miśreya

  The after-meal seed of every Indian restaurant, sweet, cooling and famously settled of stomach; the gas-and-bloating herb that tastes like candy.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  · , Neutral for kapha

  Seed

• Kitchen ingredient

  Ghee

  Ghṛta

  Clarified butter, the golden fat the texts place above all others: it carries herbs, kindles digestion without burning, and builds ojas.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  − , Can aggravate kapha

  Whole butter, clarified by slow simmering

• Herb

  Ginger

  Ārdraka (fresh) / Śuṇṭhī (dried)

  The universal medicine, viśvabheṣaja; a warming rhizome that wakes up digestion, thaws cold limbs and settles travel sickness.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  − , Can aggravate pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Rhizome, fresh or dried

• Herb

  Holy Basil

  Tulasī

  The sacred basil of every courtyard, a satvik, clarifying herb for the breath, the chest and the household's morning ritual.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  · , Neutral for pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Leaf (and whole aerial plant)

• Kitchen ingredient

  Honey

  Madhu

  The sweet that behaves like a medicine, drying, warming in action and kapha-scraping, with one famous rule: never heated.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  · , Neutral for pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Bee-hive honey

• Herb

  Licorice

  Yaṣṭimadhu

  Sweet root, sweet voice: the singer's and speaker's herb, cooling, coating and famously kind to a raw throat.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  − , Can aggravate kapha

  Root

• Kitchen ingredient

  Mung Dal

  Mudga

  The small split green gram the texts name the best of pulses, light, complete and gentle enough for the sick, the base of kitchari.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Split, hulled seed of the green gram

• Kitchen ingredient

  Sesame Oil

  Tila-taila

  The king of oils, warming, penetrating and the classical medium for abhyaṅga, the daily self-massage.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  − , Can aggravate pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Pressed seed of the sesame plant

• Herb

  Shatavari

  Śatāvarī

  She of a hundred roots, the great cooling, nourishing tonic of the female tradition, and ashwagandha's gentler sister.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  − , Can aggravate kapha

  Root tuber

• Kitchen ingredient

  Spiced Buttermilk

  Takra

  Thin-churned yogurt water with roasted spices, the meal-ending drink of the tradition, praised for settling the gut and lifting heaviness.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  · , Neutral for pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Yogurt churned with water (¼ yogurt to ¾ water)

• Herb

  Triphala

  Triphalā

  The three-fruit blend, āmalakī, bibhītakī and harītakī; ayurveda's most trusted daily rasāyana and gentle regulator of the bowels.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  + , Balances pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Dried fruit pulp of three trees, in equal parts

• Herb

  Turmeric

  Haridrā

  The golden rhizome of every Indian kitchen, bitter, heating and blood-purifying, as much a medicine of the pot as of the pharmacy.

  • vāta  + , Balances vāta
  • pitta  − , Can aggravate pitta
  • kapha  + , Balances kapha

  Rhizome (fresh or dried powder)