Wednesday, June 11, 2008

RECIPE ~ Churans (Dosha Spice Mixes)

Especially in households where each person is a different dosha, these spice mixes called "churans" can help balance out meals that are either tri-doshic or, say, too Vata for the Kapha in the family. Sprinkle these on foods for a touch of flavour that your body will thank you for! Pictured here a blend I made using ingredients from the Pitta and the Kapha churans, since I'm a Pitta-Kapha (without mango powder as it was unavailable).

VATA-BALANCING CHURAN
3 tsp ground fennel or anise
1 tsp each turmeric, ground cumin, ground ginger, black pepper, cardamom, salt, turbinado sugar, fenugreek and dried mango powder

PITTA-BALANCING CHURAN
6 tsp ground fennel
2 tsp each ground coriander and ground cumin
1 tsp each turmeric, salt, turbinado sugar and dried mango powder

KAPHA-BALANCING CHURAN
2 tsp each ground ginger, black pepper and turmeric
1 tsp each ground coriander, ground cumin, sweet paprika, salt, turbinado sugar and dried mango powder


For all spice mixes, mix well and store in an airtight container. Sprinkle on foods while cooking for yourself or add to finished meals (soups, salads, sandwiches, stews, rice, casseroles, pasta dishes, vegetables, etc).

Alternately, choose 3 or 4 spices/herbs from the lists below, according to your dosha, and follow the same directions as for the spice mixes above:

VATA SPICES
cardamom, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, salt, cloves, mustard seed, black pepper

PITTA SPICES
coriander, fennel, cumin, dill, mint, turmeric

KAPHA SPICES
turmeric, ginger, mustard seeds, cayenne pepper, anise, black pepper, basil, parsley

10 comments:

Ram said...

Thanks Fran for the spice mix, will sure go and give it a spin. Good health and peace to all!
Thanks - Ram

Anonymous said...

Great idea - thanks for sharing. Now that it's warm outside, I'll make myself a summer mix :-)

Carol Nava said...

Thank you for sharing...can I try having a small amount of this with a hot tea before meals?...I'm Kapha

Claudia said...

Sounds like a good idea, Carol!

Jennifer said...

thanks claudia,
this was really really fun to do, i have a spice grinder on my food processor and the blend from whole spices is sooo fresh and appetising

and i now have a personalised spice formula that is easy to adjust to my taste and to the seasons, thanks for the inspiration which bridged me from dreaming to action!

om shanti
jennifer

j e t s e t WISDOM said...

I'm pretty sure that you mean 'churna' (which means powder- not dosha spice mixes, not Churan.
Where did you get your recipes from, they are definitley not the traditional mixing of spices...just wondering.

clhlaw said...

I have a recipe calling for tridoshic charna - do you have a recipe for that?

clhlaw said...

I have a recipe calling for tridoshic charna - do you have a recipe for that? Thanks!

KimRose said...

Churna, not churan. Your recipes aren't bad, but they are much, much simpler than recipes I've received from Ayurvedic experts. Also, different churnas are meant to be used for balancing during different seasons, not just for a person's individual dosha.

Unknown said...

Thanks for these churna recipes.
I'm roughly half-half vata and pitta, with a bit of kapha as well, so have been thinking of creating a churna that's proportionately accurate for me - so like about equal quantities of the vata and pitta spices, and then about a quarter of the amount of kapha spices. Am I going to too much trouble??