Ayurvedic Winter Menu

Pineapple-Banana Chutney

Ingredients

• ½ pineapple
• 4 cloves
• 1 banana
• 2cm piece of fresh ginger
• 5 prunes
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 4 tbsp water
• 1 tsp cardamom
• 1 pinch of salt

Preparation

Peel pineapple and cut into small cubes. Finely grate or cut the ginger.

Coarsely chop the prunes. Put all ingredients (except banana) into a small saucepan and stew gently for five minutes.

Then add the diced banana and let simmer for about five more minutes, until the mixture reaches a creamy consistency. 

Spiced Apple Punch

Ingredients

• 1.5 L water
• 2 slices fresh ginger
• ½ L apple juice
• 1 star anise
• 2 handfuls of fresh or dried apple peel (or use two fresh apples)
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp anise seeds
• 5 cloves

Preparation

Add spices and apple peels to water and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, turn off the heat, and allow the punch to infuse for 30 minutes.

Then remove the spices by straining the mixture; add apple juice and serve warm. 

Basmati rice with roasted almonds

Ingredients

• 150g basmati rice
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 pinch of asafoetida
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ghee (or olive oil for a vegan alternative)
• 4 tbsp flaked almonds

Preparation

Rinse rice until water is clear. Bring to a boil in one-and-a-half times its volume of water, cardamom and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to minimum and let simmer until cooked. 

Heat the ghee (or olive oil) in a small pan and gently roast the flaked almonds, together with the cinnamon and asafoetida, until golden brown. Springle each rice serving with a spoonful of roasted almonds.

Baked apples with spiced whipped cream

Apple Ingredients

• 4 tart apples
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp almond slivers or walnuts
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp oat flakes
• 3 pinches of ginger powder
• 2 tbsp cranberry compote
• 3 pinches of clove powder
• 150ml apple juice
• 1 tbsp butter

Whipped cream ingredients

• 150ml single cream (whipping cream with min. 10 % fat)
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp gingerbread spice mix

Preparation

Wash apples, remove the cores, and place the apples in a casserole dish. Coarsely chop the almond slivers or walnuts. Mix together the cranberry compote, oat flakes, almonds/walnuts, maple syrup and spices and fill the apples with the mixture. Top off with flakes of butter and pour the apple juice into the casserole dish. Put the dish in a pre-heated (1800 C.) convection oven, and bake 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the type of apple used.

Whip the whipping cream, add the gingerbread spice mix, sweeten with maple syrup and serve with the baked apples.

Fried herb flatbread (8 pieces)

Ingredients

• 150 g fine spelt flour
• ½ tsp blue fenugreek
• 50 g wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 tsp savory
• 1 tsp salt
• 100ml warm water
• 1 tbsp ghee or 2 tbsp olive oil (vegan)
• Ghee or olive oil (vegan) for frying
• 1 tbsp nettle seeds

Preparation

Knead the ingredients into a smooth dough and let sit for 30 minutes. Then divide the dough into 8 equal pieces on a flour-dusted surface. Shape pieces into balls and cover with a moist cloth. One by one, roll each ball into a thin flatbread, using as much flour as needed. 

Heat some ghee or olive oil in a pan (level 7 of 9) and place one piece of flatbread into the pan. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side. If the dough begins to form bubbles, use a cloth to gently press them down. Put the flatbread on a plate and keep warm in the oven; cover with a lid until all the pieces have been fried.

Chickpea dal

Ingredients

• 180g dried chickpeas 
• 3 pinches of cinnamon
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp fresh, finely grated ginger
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp ghee (olive oil or coconut oil for a vegan alternative)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp raw cane sugar
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• water
• some lemon juice and zest
• salt
• fresh parsley

Preparation

Rinse the chickpeas, then put them in a bowl with three times their volume in water and let soak overnight. The next day, cook the chickpeas in the soaking water until soft, about 40 minutes. Keep an eye on the liquid while cooking, adding water as needed. The chickpeas should always be covered in liquid.

Heat the ghee (olive oil/coconut oil) in a saucepan and roast the mustard seeds until they begin to pop. Remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining spices and raw cane sugar. Continue roasting carefully until fragrant. Add a small amount of water or vegetable broth.

Now add the chickpeas, at first without liquid, and puree them using a hand blender. Gradually add the chickpea water until the mixture has a thick, creamy consistency. Simmer again for a few minutes, then add salt, pepper, lemon juice and zest to taste. Garnish with fresh parsley. If desired, fold in 2 tbsp whipping cream for an especially creamy dal. 

Squash and Brussels sprouts curry

Ingredients

• 350g onion squash or Musquee de Provence pumpkin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 300g Brussels sprouts (washed and cleaned)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 pinches of asafoetida
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 100ml whipping cream (soy cream or oat cream for vegan alternatives)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 250ml vegetable broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cm cinnamon stick
• 2 spikes of star anise
• 1 tbsp ghee (olive oil or coconut oil for vegan alternatives)
• lemon juice and zest
• fresh parsley or coriander

Preparation

Wash the squash, peel (except the onion squash), and cut into 2cm x 2cm cubes; cut Brussels sprouts in half. Heat the ghee (olive oil/coconut oil) in a saucepan. Add the mustard seeds and roast them until they begin to pop. Remove saucepan from the stove.

Add remaining spices and Brussels sprouts and continue roasting. Add 100ml of the vegetable broth and let simmer for 5 minutes. Now it’s time to add the squash and remaining vegetable broth. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Add the whipping cream, finely puree a few cubes of squash with a bit of liquid, and then mix them back in with the curry.

Let simmer briefly so it becomes creamy. Add more liquid if necessary. Season to taste with lemon juice, lemon zest and salt. Sprinkle fresh parsley on top.

Celeriac ravioli

Ingredients

• 200g celeriac
• 1 tsp raw cane sugar
• water
• pinch of salt
• ½ tsp ajowan
• Ghee or olive oil for frying
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Ingredients for filling

• 100 g celeriac
• Salt and pepper
• 3 pinches of coriander
• 2 tbsp whipping cream (soy or oat cream for a vegan alternative)
• nutmeg

Preparation

Halve the celeriac and cut off 12 thin slices using a kitchen slicer. In a wide pan, mix the ajowan, sugar, salt, and lemon juice with a bit of water, bring to a boil and cook the celeriac slices in it until al dente. This should take about 10 minutes. Drain and reserve the celeriac water. Rinse the slices in cold water.

For the filling, cut the remaining (100 g) celeriac into small pieces and cook in the reserved water until soft. Add the spices and whipping cream and puree until very fine.

Now put two spoonfuls of filling on the celeriac slices and fold together to make ravioli. Fry them in ghee or olive oil until golden brown on both sides.