Cooking -

Spicebee Kitchen

What I can do through cooking

What the most important thing is that what you eat is properly digested and metabolized to nourish every corner of your body. So what kind of cooking should we do and what kind of meal should we eat?

What is Ayurvedic cooking?

I think like this: from a macro-point of view of the season and age and from a micro-point of view of the day’s temperature and body condition. We should take these conditions into consideration in order to digest well, metabolize well and discharge unnecessary stuff from our body smoothly.

It’s impossible to control our internal organs, but we can decide what to eat. If we look after our gut, our gut will look after us. For example, I may take something to make my body cool because the day is very hot, or if I feel bloated, I should take this spice, or since I’m getting old and digestion is not the same, I should eat less. Like this, nature and our body should have harmony and choosing what to eat by being aware is the key for Ayurvedic cooking.

Recommendation from the Ayurveda doctor

When the pandemic happened in 2020, Dr. Sadananda Sardeshmukh, the director of BSDT Hospital, gave us a life advice. The food recommended there was not very familiar to Japanese people, so I made a simple video of how to cook it. The recipies are from Dr. Prabatai. Also please refer to “Ayurveda Diet-Theory and Recipes” by Kaoru Katori and Makiko Sato (Komichi Shobo Publishing Co., Ltd.).

The example of satvik foods

Some Indian dishes which I made

Pav Bhaji

This mashed vegetable gravy with fluffy bread is full of flavour. Topped with butter is a must.
Misal Pav

This is definitely my favourite Pune food! No other explanation is needed.
Samosa

Samosa is a popular snack and everybody likes it. This is one of the Indian snacks which I have cooked for a long time.
Navratan Pulao

This is flavoured pulao with nuts and dry fruits. Usually we don’t cook rice with dry fruits but I feel it gives a rich taste and good nutrition.
Varan Bhaat

This is the most simple and basic Marathi recipe. Topping with some ghee is real mouthwatering.
Puran Poli

This is a popular festival dish in Maharashtra. Sweet stuffing is made from chana dal and the stock after cooking lentils can be used as amti. Taking a little time to make puran poli but this sweetness makes us happy for special occasions.
Aamras And Fajeto

Lovely mango dishes from the hottest season in the year. Sweet aamras, kadhi-like fajeto and puri combination is just awesome!
Shrimp And Lemon Garlic Biryani

This recipe is from Kaoru Katori who is my Indian cooking teacher. Her biryani cookbook focuses on easy and tasty recipes.
Veg Pulao

This recipe is from Prabha tai. Easy pressure cooker made pulao but tastes wonderful. I cooked it over and over.
Sabudana Kichadi

One of the most popular dishes for fasting day. Sabudana needs to be soaked for a few hours but it’s well worth waiting.

Indian Sweets

The reason why I started to make Indian sweets was that sweets were indispensable when praying in India. When the Pooja is over, you can get the sweets as a gift, so I was very surprised and pleased when I made Indian sweets and offered them.

Ghee is a very important oil in Ayurveda and we would like to take it positively, but I think that many Japanese people are not familiar with it. However, if you make a sweet like a dumpling called Ladoo, even elderly people can easily take ghee, for example. Alternatively, you can make steamed bread with ghee instead of butter. I would like to incorporate the essence of Ayurveda into our life by replacing things that are familiar to us, and in this way to make sweets from now on.

Some sweets which I made

Apple Gujiya

Apples are very popular fruits in Japan so I cooked them with sugar and raisins for gujiya’s stuffing. Crispy dough is made by atta.
Coffee Barfi

When I was making barfi, the taste was a bit different from what I had imagined. So I added some coffee flavour in it and it turned out unexpectedly to be a nice barfi.
Kaju Katli

Easy and it can be ready in less time, only what I need is cashew and sugar!
Chirote

These crispy and layered sweets are nice for a gift. For someone who has a sweet tooth I would dip it into sugar syrup. It is always good to have an option.
Matcha Coconuts Ladoo

Condensed milk and coconuts can be made into ladoo very easily and I added some Japanese green tea, matcha powder into it. It gave a nice colour and a bit of bitter taste. Japanese and Indian hybrid ladoo.
Chocolate Sheera

This recipe is from Tarla Dalal. Easy and wonderful taste. I used small cups to give to friends.
Ragi And Moong Dal Ladoo

These are ladoos that patients can eat during panchakarma, which are healthy and nutritious.
Petha

Wintermelon/kushmanda has a lot of good effects on our body, especially in the summer season it makes our body cool down. Moreover our brain would be rejuvenated and it’s good for the respiratory system. Perfect ayurvedic sweets.
Walnuts Barfi

This recipe is from your food lab. Made by besan and crunchy walnuts, I think this taste is loved by everyone.
Pista Barfi

Pistachio is a popular flavour and has lovely colour. I made white milk barfi dough and green pista dough and they became two layered barfi topped with some rose petal, yum!