There’s a quaint little bookshop in Bhanimandal, Lalitpur, called Wisdom Books and Aroma Shop that sells books, notebooks, candles, incense, and various other handicraft items. It also has a small cafe on the first floor where you can get some tea or coffee and light snacks. It’s a place I often go to if I want to buy a little something for someone or if I’m in the area and have some time to spare. 

During one of my visits, I chanced upon a cookbook called ‘The Ayurvedic Cookbook’ by Gita Ramesh. It was on the counter and it was a slim volume. For a while now, I’ve been into finding and collecting interesting cookbooks so that I can learn to cook a variety of dishes. The copy I was holding in my hand turned out to be a third edition published in 2016. I thought to myself if the book had to be reprinted three times, it must be good. The bookstore owner also said he and his wife had been following some recipes in the book and that the meals were simple and satisfying. 

The Ayurvedic Cookbook is a basic cookbook. The recipes, divided into sections like salads, soups and mains, are simple, so simple that I often wondered why the author had even bothered including something like that in a book. I later realized that we often forget the joys of simple meals and having it written down somewhere reminds us to indulge in them whenever you can. My mother, who has been cooking and feeding her family for over 35 years, says she will have forgotten about a certain recipe for months, only to be reminded of it out of the blue one day. 

The problem in regular cooking is that you tend to make the same dish over and over again instead of trying to cook a particular vegetable in different ways. The Ayurvedic Cookbook will teach you to use everyday ingredients in a variety of ways and in different forms. I learnt a great recipe for a banana cucumber salad that I really enjoyed. I was initially doubtful about the combination but surprisingly bananas and cucumbers go really well together. The papaya salad was another recipe that I liked. I don’t like papaya and I would have probably never known how great it can be in salad form if it hadn’t been for this book. 

The cookbook also has a nice section on soups. There are recipes for the regular tomato soup and mixed vegetable soup as well as more elaborate ones that teach you how to incorporate oats in your soup and even make a tasty okra soup. As for the mains, you will learn to cook different vegetables in interesting ways. The curry recipes in the book result in light and flavorful dishes. Basically, all the recipes in the book can be replicated using simple ingredients that you can readily find in your fridge and pantry. 

As a practitioner of Ayurveda, Ramesh has also included a section of diet plans at the end of the book for weight management and healthy living. There’s a daily diet plan section, with different recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, for 12 days. The good thing is that all the recipes require minimal preparation and cooking time so they aren’t difficult to follow. In the introduction to the book, Ramesh says that she has kept in mind that the recipes in the book are suitable for all body types. The aim, she says, is to offer readers a balanced diet that is delicious and meets all their nutritional requirements.

What I really liked about the book was the informative section of different spices, fruits, and vegetables. I have found that it helps to educate yourself about the variety of ingredients in your kitchen so that you can decide what you want to add to your food to suit what you might want and need at that given moment. You are also able to use food as medicine if you understand the properties of different herbs and spices. In that way, The Ayurvedic Cookbook arms you with a lot of helpful information while teaching you to use basic ingredients to whip up simple and wholesome meals. 

The Ayurvedic Cookbook

Gita Ramesh

Publisher: Roli Books

Published: 2013

Pages: 95, Hardcover