704 Ayurvedic Foods, Spices & Culinary Herbs

Aam panna

Roasted green-mango cooler with cumin and black salt — the traditional shield against loo (heat-stroke wind); sourness that cools

Edible acacia gum (gond)

The winter laddu gum — gond crystals fried in ghee puff into crunchy building material; the classical postpartum and cold-season s

Pickle masala

The North Indian pickling blend — fennel, fenugreek, kalonji, mustard and chili in mustard oil; preservation chemistry as flavor.

Adzuki bean

One of the easiest whole beans to digest after mung; valued in macrobiotic and Ayurvedic cooking alike for kidney support.

Agathi flower

Named for the sage Agastya — Tamil households cook agathi on dvadashi to settle the gut after fasting days.

Agathi leaf

Strongly bitter ritual green of Tamil tradition — eaten on dvadashi days to cleanse; classical agastya is respected and dosed with

Cheese, aged (cheddar)

Ajwain

Strongest household remedy for gas, colic and abdominal cramping; dispels cold from the digestive tract.

Ajwain water

The strongest spice water — ajwain's thymol heat for cramping, gas and cold sluggish digestion; the postpartum staple of North Ind

Alkanet root

The crimson of rogan josh — ratanjot is a colour dravya: steeped in hot fat it bleeds ruby red, doing with pigment what Kashmiri c

Almond

Premier nut for building ojas and nourishing nerve tissue (majja dhatu).

Almond milk

Homemade almond milk (soaked, peeled, blended) is a genuine vata tonic; commercial cartons are mostly water — pleasant but not bui

Almond oil (dietary)

Badam rogan tradition — drops in warm milk for brain, eyes and chronic dryness; the luxury oil taken by the spoon, not the pan.

Aloe vera pulp

Kumari — rejuvenative for the female reproductive system and liver; the inner gel cools where the leaf latex strongly purges.

Alphonso mango

Amaranth grain

'King's grain' — fasting food and children's strengthener (rajgira laddu); one of the gentlest pseudo-grains for all doshas.

Amaranth leaves

Tanduliya is among the most praised greens in classical texts — cooling, tridoshic when cooked, safe even for the sick.

Ambali (fermented ragi porridge)

Overnight-fermented ragi porridge thinned with buttermilk — the millet-revival movement's favorite gut drink, with deep Deccan roo

Ambarella (amtekai)

Amchur (dried mango powder)

Sour note without moisture — the cook's tool for adding tang to dry dishes where tamarind or tomato would not work.

Dried amla

Foremost rasayana — sour taste yet cooling and pitta-pacifying, an exception to rasa rules; contains five tastes (all but salty) a

Fresh amla

The living rasayana — fresh amalaki carries all five tastes and rejuvenates without heating; the exception fruit that is sour yet

Amla juice

Fresh-pressed amalaki — five rasas, sour-dominant yet cooling, the rare fruit that pacifies all three doshas; the daily rasayana i

Amla murabba

Rasayana in preserve form — sugar-curing softens amla's sharp sourness into a daily tonic the old texts' spirit approves for pitta

Indian sarsaparilla

The sherbet root of the South — sariva cools blood and skin from within; classical raktashodhaka for pitta rashes, summer heat and

Apple

Vinegar, apple cider

Fermented sour that kindles agni — modern analog of classical shukta (fermented sour liquids); used pre-meal for sluggish digestio

Apricot

Arrowroot (fresh)

The convalescent starch — tavakshira porridge is the classical food for inflamed or recovering digestion, soothing where grains wo

Artichoke, globe

Bitter liver-supportive vegetable; Western tradition uses it for bile flow — an Ayurvedic pitta-kapha ally.

Arugula

Asafoetida

Supreme anti-flatulent; makes beans and cabbage-family vegetables digestible for vata.

Ash gourd

Celebrated medhya (intellect-nourishing) vegetable; fresh morning juice is a modern-classical hybrid practice for acidity and heat

Ash gourd juice

The modern-classical morning cooler — kushmanda's medhya (mind-clearing) coolness in a glass; strong pitta constitutions thrive on

Ash gourd (juicing flesh)

Kushmanda fresh-pressed — the modern morning juice with classical credentials: medhya (mind-nourishing), cooling to pitta, soothin

Ash gourd (tender, for sabzi)