Building your Ayurvedic kitchen - an exclusive look into the products and brands I love and use daily
What you choose to eat has a profound impact on how you think, feel, look and act.
One habit I recommend to anyone looking to improve their health, is to design a kitchen that focuses on whole, fresh and seasonal foods, proper tools and pantry staples, that make healthy eating and living easy every single day.
Today, I’m sharing an exclusive look into how I do this in my own kitchen.
Below you’ll find a list of plant-based foods and Ayurvedic staples you’ll find in my fridge and pantry year-round, including links to the products and brands I love and use almost every day (never sponsored, never gifted).
And after that, some advice and insight I share with my clients to help them design a kitchen that sparks joy and inspires well-being - a must for establishing long-term motivation to cook healthy, nourishing meals.
Let’s get started…
Fresh Items
Seasonal fruits and vegetables
Lemons
Limes
Cilantro
Curry leaves
Ginger root
Turmeric root
Spices
Bay (leaves)
Cayenne (ground)
Cloves (whole)
Fennel (seeds)
Fenugreek (seeds)
Ginger (ground)
Brown mustard seeds (whole)
Nutmeg (ground)
Saffron (threads)
Salt (Pink Himalayan)
Turmeric (ground)
Yellow mustard seeds (whole)
Grains, Beans, Flours
Basmati Rice (white)
Glysophate-free oats (rolled)
Canned beans (kidney, chickpeas, black beans)
Flour (whole wheat, chickpea, coconut, almond meal)
Nuts and Seeds
*note: nuts and seeds are always raw and unsalted
Oils
Sweeteners
Dried dates (locally bought at Bautista Farms)
Herbal Teas
Peppermint (fresh leaves)
Ginger (fresh root)
Turmeric (fresh root)
Vinegars and Sauces
Ayurvedic wisdom has taught me a lot. Perhaps most important, is to treat your kitchen and pantry (especially the spices) like a pharmacy. Incorporate as many items with healing benefits and something to offer your body as possible.
That said, I’m not one for perfection.
And just like most pharmacies, my pantry and fridge also contain things are not necessarily designed or used for healing and nourishing the body and mind.
The point of this post is not to promote perfection or encourage you to throw away anything in your kitchen that isn’t considered an Ayurvedic staple.
The purpose of this post is to outline the things you can bring into and keep in your home that will make Ayurvedic cooking more of an easy, regular thing.
On that note…
A Few Tips For Getting Started
If you’re interested in Ayurvedic-inspired cooking, and building an Ayurvedic pantry, here are some tips to help you get started.
You don’t have to do it all at once.
I certainly didn’t. And there are still ingredients out there I have yet to discover and explore.
So I recommend that you build out your fridge and pantry little by little, based on dishes and recipes you’re interested in trying and items you don’t yet have on hand to make them.
And start with a single dish.
Choose one dish or recipe that appeals to you (my first was Kitchari), buy the necessary ingredients and get cooking.
Use ailments or discomforts as an excuse to get cooking.
Ayurvedic dishes are often designed to heal dis-ease and discomfort in the body.
Whenever I’m trying to heal or treat something, I consider natural remedies (these are often spices in Ayurveda) first, and buy those to keep in my pantry.
For example…
When I was breastfeeding my son, I drank fennel and fenugreek tea daily - so I stocked my pantry with those seeds.
I also have a sensitive stomach, so I make cumin, coriander and fennel (CCF) seed tea often to drink in the evenings.
Because I love to cleanse, Kitchari is a staple in our house. That means I always have moong dal, basmati rice, and digestive spices on hand to whip it up easily.
Finally, get rid of the unhealthy stuff.
Refined sugars, processed foods, low quality dairy or meat, etc.
If you’re uncomfortable with waste, then use up what you have and simply commit to no longer buying it and keeping it in the house.
Revamping your pantry, over time, is a great first step and intro to Ayurvedic cooking and lifestyle.
It won’t be long before you feel the difference -in your kitchen as you learn to cook with ease and in your body as you benefit from increased energy, efficient digestion and improved mood.
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