TRIDOSHA SPICED FRUIT PORRIDGE
This is a recipe we enjoyed regularly when staying at Moksha Ayurveda Centre in Mallorca this Autumn cooked by David - one half of husband and wife Ayurveda practitioner couple Nathalie and David - ready to break our fast post morning yoga session. Oatmeal porridge is warm, sweet and nourishing, therefore grounding for body and mind. To cater for all their guests Moksha Ayurveda prepares it for breakfast in a tridoshic way during PK (panchakarma) and well-being stays to make it easily digestible for all three doshas.
The fruits are cooked with ghee and some of my favourite spices with the addition of aromatics - fragrant peppermint and rose petals. Cooking fruit is important when the fruit isnβt (or wonβt!) fully ripened. Unlike raw fruit-topped porridges, the spices and ghee combined with a long cooking time, help with digesting this popular food combination. The result is melt-in-the-mouth fruit in a sweet and fragrant liquor to pour on top of your steaming hot oats, a feast for the eyes and a recipe full of prana for a soothing morning start.
The type of oats you use is important, steel cut, whole oats or groats - these all need soaking overnight and a longer cooking time to make them easily digestible. Using husked, steamed and then rolled oats such as Alnatura are easier to prepare as they donβt need to be soaked the night before and their pre-prepped state makes them quicker to cook as well as easy on digestion. Roasting them for a minute or two in ghee enhances their nutty flavour and helps break down phytates.
When there is more Kapha involved in your constitution or being experienced as an imbalance, it is advisable to cook the oats with water instead of oat milk to keep it light and to use half a teaspoon of honey, rather than the other sweetener options, after the fruit topping has cooled down a little less than 40 degrees. Raw honey is the best option for balancing Kapha, remember not to cook it. A final flourish of poppy seeds to finish is also great to balance Kapha and improves digestion for Vata and Pitta when taken in moderation and used at breakfast - the Kapha time of day.
For those north of the equator I recommend apples and pears right about now. For more ideas see tips below.
INGREDIENTS
Recipe serves 2
Fruit topping ingredients:
1 medium apple
1 medium pear
1/2 cup of water
1 teaspoon of ghee/coconut oil
1 pinch of sea or rock salt
Herbs:
1/4 tsp of dried peppermint leaves
1/4 tsp of dried rose leaves
Spices:
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp clove powder or 1 clove
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Sweetener options: Jaggery (Vata), Sharkara (Tridosha specially Pitta), raw honey added when cooled (Kapha)
Oatmeal ingredients:
1 tsp of ghee
1/4 tsp of turmeric
1 cup of rolled oats
2 cups of water or quality oatmilk
Optional: sprinkle of poppy seeds to serve
METHOD
Peel the fruit if the skin is thick/tough and cut them into cubes. Heat the ghee and saute the fruit for a minute or two. Add the herbs, spices, sweetener of your choice (except honey), salt and water. Simmer for about 15 minutes on a medium flame adding a splash more water if necessary.
Meanwhile, in another pot, add the ghee and roast the oats for 2 minutes at medium temperature. Add the oat milk and boil for 5 minutes, then add turmeric and simmer with the lid on at low temperature for 2 more minutes, adding more milk if necessary until the desired creamy consistency is reached.
Divide the porridge between 2 bowls, spoon over the fruit, pour over the remaining liquid and serve immediately.
East by West tip: cook with only apples or only pears if you like, peaches and cherries in summer are deliciously prepared like this!
