In today’s fast-paced and adulterated lives, where huge sums of money are spent on treating illnesses, it is imperative to have a healthy lifestyle, the backbone of which is a healthy diet. Based on this thought, a project to create an Ayurvedic cookbook was undertaken as a collaboration between Srishti’s Centre for Public History and the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (I-AIM).

 

My project involved creating an illustrated Ayurvedic cookbook using the recipes of I-AIM that are developed by modern practitioners of Ayurveda and adapted to contemporary life. This cookbook, targeted at the patients of I-AIM, will take them on a culinary and visual journey of Ayurvedic cooking and explain how and why it works. This cookbook based on Ayurvedic traditions features nutritious recipes that appeal to particular doshas, which are one’s personal constitution based on physical and mental characteristics: air (vata); fire (pitta), and earth (kapha). Additionally, it includes simple instructions to help the reader to determine their dosha type, so that they will know what kind of food is beneficial to them.

 

The client, I-AIM Health Care Centre is a specialized medical research and health services unit of The Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), situated in Bangalore. They are a multi-specialty, 100-bed integrative hospital offering Ayurveda & yoga based treatments with modern diagnostics facilities. 

INITIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
How is Ayurveda different from modern medicine? 
What is the relation between Ayurveda, cooking and healing?
What is the relationship between herbs, plants, trees and spices and human health? 
How does Ayurveda perceive this relationship?
What similarities does Ayurveda have with other age old healing techniques?
What are the benefits of Ayurvedic cooking?
How does diet in Ayurveda work with your dosha type?
What are the common ingredients used in Ayurvedic cooking?
How easily available are the ingredients? Are there substitutes available?
How do the recipes differ for vata, pitta and kapha?
Are there special recipes for specific diseases/ailments?
Are there existing books on Ayurvedic cooking? Are there any illustrated cook books?
Can main stream recipes be modified with Ayurvedic ingredients to be more healthy and nutritious?