How Cooking Ayurvedically Nourishes the Body, Mind, and Spirit

My love for cooking did not come naturally. Growing up, I was always the one being fed rather than the one doing the cooking.

My late mother was an incredible cook in our community, known for her chicken curries, biryani, famous potato chops, and cinnamon rolls. My older brother is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a well-seasoned chef who has worked in some of the most popular restaurants from Las Vegas to Boston, where he currently resides. Our family holiday meals have always been exceptional!

How Cooking Became My Meditation

I was born in Bandra, Mumbai, where my mother was also born and raised within a rich diaspora of Indian, Portuguese, and British influenced cuisine known as East Indian culture and cooking. Her food was a fusion of these traditions, infused with her own intuitive style. She never measured ingredients, worked with whatever was available while living in the United States, and relied on her senses rather than recipes. Her kitchen was filled with large jars of turmeric, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon sticks, jeera or cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, and more.

My father, who is Bengali from Kolkata, brought yet another layer of Indian cooking into our home by adding a teaspoon of sugar to nearly everything he cooked, no matter the dish. It was a true reflection of the sweetness often associated with Bengali culture.

From Ancestral Kitchens to Ayurvedic Practice

It was not until graduating from the Kripalu School of Ayurveda during the Covid pandemic that I was guided into cooking all of my meals at home. With more time and space, I began creating, experimenting, and spending long hours in my kitchen. I explored the spices my mother used and recognized their deep connections to Ayurvedic herbs and principles. I loved uncovering the true origins of her cooking and of South Asian cuisine as a whole.

During the pandemic, cooking became a form of meditation for me. It allowed me to be fully present while creating meals that were Ayurvedic, balanced, nourishing for my husband and myself, and genuinely delicious.

Over time, food has become one of the primary ways I express love. I deeply enjoy sharing my cooking with others. Those who visit my home know they will be well fed! There is almost always a pot of kitchari, curry, soup, or masala chai brewing on the stove, ready to be shared or sent home to be enjoyed later.

Cooking as Devotion: Returning to My Roots Through Ayurveda

My intention for Ayurvedic Cooking with Kaveri in the Kripalu Online Studio is to bring mindfulness into the kitchen and to demonstrate that Ayurveda teaches us how we cook is just as important as what we cook. When we prepare food with care, presence, and intention, we infuse our meals with love and sattva. Likewise, how we eat is just as important as what we eat when seeking balance in the mind, body, and spirit. Cooking Ayurvedically has brought me back to my roots and culture while allowing me to develop a beautiful, respectful relationship with food as medicine.

I plan to share meals and recipes that are first and foremost delicious, easy to digest, and deeply nourishing. Each dish will include the six Ayurvedic tastes and emphasize fresh, natural, local, and seasonal ingredients, while remaining simple enough for anyone to recreate at home for themselves and their loved ones.

The ingredients list will be shared the Monday prior during my monthly Ayurveda Hour workshop in the Kripalu Online Studio. Members of the Kripalu community are warmly invited to cook along, take notes, ask questions, or simply be present and listen, whatever feels most best in the moment.

Breaking bread (or naan!) in community whether in person or virtually is just as nourishing as the food itself. Together, we will cook and connect, explore Ayurvedic principles, ask meaningful questions, share laughter, and create sukha, a sweet and supportive space, in Sangha.