Healing with Spices: An Introduction to Ayurvedic Cooking

**This event requires a sliding scale ticket at the door ($15-$35). No one turned away due to lack of funds.

Dive into an interactive systematic study of the three doshas, the ayurvedic spice pharamacy, and an interactive cooking demo

Part 1: Foundations of Ayurvedic Nutrition (30 Minutes)
What is Ayurveda?: Introduction to the"sister science" of yoga and the concept of food as a tool for healing.
The Three Doshas: A brief overview of Vata (air/ether), Pitta (fire/water), and Kapha (earth/water) to help participants identify their unique body-mind type.
Agni (Digestive Fire): Discussing why strong digestion is more important than what you eat, and how to identify "Ama" (toxins) caused by poor digestion.
The Six Tastes: Explaining the six primary tastes (sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent) and how they balance or aggravate the doshas.

Part 2: The Ayurvedic Kitchen & Spice Pharmacy (30 Minutes)
Essential Spices: A walkthrough of core spices like turmeric, ginger, cumin, coriander, and fennel, and their specific medicinal actions on the body.
Setting up Your Kitchen: Tips for
organizing a space for efficiency and choosing healing fats like ghee over processed oils.
Conscious Cooking: The importance of
preparing food with positive intention and love to enhance its "prana" (life force).

Part 3: Live Cooking Demonstration (45 Minutes)
Demonstrate simple, "tri-doshic" (balancing for all types) recipes that serve as daily staples:
Kitchari: A nourishing one-pot meal of mung dal and rice, often used for cleansing and building strength.
Digestive Tea: A simple cumin, coriander, and fennel (CCF) tea to sip during or after meals to aid digestion.
Seasonal Vegetable Saute: Using specific spices to adapt common vegetables to the current season.

Part 4: Tasting, Q&A, and Closing (15 Minutes)
Communal Tasting: Sampling the prepared dishes and discussing how different tastes are experienced.
Practical Tips: Hand out a simple dosha test and a "pantry starter list" for participants to take home.
Q&A Session: Addressing specific dietary concerns or questions on food combinations.