How to Stay Balanced in Spring + My Favorite Recipe

Written By anna beryozkina

Springtime is right around the corner! It's been an exceptionally cold winter here on the East Coast, and I am definitely ready for some sunshine ☀️. What are some Ayurvedic recommendations for the spring season 🪷? 

Ayurveda describes the seasons in terms of a natural cycle of accumulation, peaking, and pacification of the doshas.  Kapha dosha (water and earth element) accumulates and solidifies throughout the cold winter.  In the spring, kapha dosha peaks and “melts” from the warmth of  the sun.  This is similar to how ice and snow accumulate on the mountaintops during winter and then melt in the spring as the weather warms up.  This “melting” of accumulated kapha dosha can cause spring allergies as well as sluggish metabolism and other kapha related symptoms especially if kapha accumulated in excess during the winter season.  

Ayurveda tells us that to stay healthy in the spring season, we should embrace some of the opposite qualities to those inherent to kapha dosha.  Kapha dosha is associated with the qualities of oily, cold, heavy, slow, slimy, smooth, and stable. In the spring, we can invite the opposite qualities of  hot, light, dry, and mobile as well as the kapha pacifying tastes of pungent (in moderation), bitter, and astringent through our food and lifestyle.  

How do we do this?

As always, Ayurveda is unique to each individual.  Specific recommendations can depend on many factors including your age, where you live, vikruti (current state of the doshas), and prakruti (natural state of the doshas). However, for an overall healthy individual, making minor adjustments in diet and lifestyle according to the season can help to keep the doshas in balance. 

In the spring, we can eat food that is lighter to digest and slightly dryer (rather than soupy or sticky) in nature.  We can pay close attention to our hunger and refrain from overeating and eating before the previous food is digested. We can keep our metabolism functioning well by doing more exercise and enjoying time in nature. 

Foods that are recommended in the spring include more bitter, astringent, or warming vegetables such as leafy greens, asparagus, cauliflower, artichoke, peas, green beans, and carrots etc.  Using ghee and warming spices when cooking will also help the digestion process.  Kapha pacifying grains such as barley, millet, and buckwheat are recommended as well as beans (especially green mung) and lentils. Non-vegetarians can enjoy lean meat such as goat, chicken, and turkey (preferably barbecued, baked, or roasted) in small quantities.  If you experience low appetite or heaviness after eating and you don’t have excessive heat in the body, sipping boiled water with dry ginger (½ tsp dry ginger in 1 quart of water) throughout the day can help to increase the metabolic fire (agni). Taking local, raw and unprocessed honey (1 tsp) in the morning on an empty stomach can help scrape excess kapha from the body as well as support the body to manage any allergens. Drinking warm tulsi tea is also wonderful for supporting the respiratory system during the spring season. 

In general, it is advised to avoid daytime napping, excessive sweet taste (dairy, sugar, processed carbohydrates), sour taste, heavy to digest food, cold food and drink, and excessively oily/fried food as all of this will increase kapha dosha even more.  

Early spring is also the perfect time for a gentle cleanse or detoxification of the body. 

One of my favorite dishes for springtime (and anytime really!) is Kitchari. It is simple, nourishing, and easier to digest compared to most foods (especially if made soupy).  Paired with sautéed vegetables, kitchari makes a hearty and satisfying meal without overwhelming your digestion.  I make this simple meal at least once a week and it is always my go to when I need to have a rest day for my digestion as well as on those days when I don’t have the time, energy, or ingredients for anything complicated but know that I need some healthy nourishment.  

Try it and let me know what you think 😀. 


Kitchari Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup white basmati rice 

  • 1 cup yellow or green split mung beans

  • 3 cups water 

  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing) powder - Hing acts to make the mung more digestible (less gas producing)

  • 1/2 inch fresh ginger root, grated or minced 

  • Himalayan Pink salt, to taste (1/2 tsp) 

For garnish: 

  • 2 tsp ghee 

  • 1/4 tsp cumin seeds 

  • 1/4 tsp coriander powder 

  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 

  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing) 

  • 1 tablespoon minced cilantro

Instructions:

Stovetop:

  1. Wash and soak rice and mung beans in water together in a bowl overnight (or for at least 3 hours before cooking). Option to add a small piece of Kombu to the beans and water. The kombu will help make the beans more digestible (less gas producing); you can throw it out after soaking is finished.

  2. Drain the rice and mung beans and place in a medium saucepan. Add 3 cups water, asafoetida, ginger, and Himalayan Pink salt. The water level should be 1/2 inch above the rice and mung bean mixture. If needed, add more water.

  3. Cook on medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil.

  4. Simmer on low heat, partly covered, until texture becomes soft, almost mushy, 20-25 minutes, adding more water if all the water is absorbed before it is soft.

  5. Turn off heat and set aside. Prepare the garnish.

Garnish:

  1. Heat ghee in a small frying pan. When hot (begins to shimmer, which will be almost immediately), add cumin seeds, coriander powder, hing,and turmeric powder.

  2. Heat on low-medium heat for about 10-15 seconds being careful not to burn the spices.

  3. Add the ghee mixture on top of the cooked porridge.

  4. Stir porridge; then garnish with cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Vegetables: You can add vegetables to the pot and cook with the kitchari. Root and hardy vegetables do best when cooked in this way. You can add leafy green vegetables at the end (less time is required for cooking these).  You can also steam or saute the vegetables separately and add them at the end to the porridge.

Instant Pot:

  1. Add the water, rice, mung beans, hing, ginger, and salt to the Instant Pot.

  2. You could add vegetables to the instant pot as well. Root vegetables work great; greens can be added at the very end and cooked with the Instant Pot on Soup mode for a few minutes.

  3. Cook on High Pressure for 10 minutes (if pre-soaked). Cook on High Pressure for 13 minutes if unsoaked. Let the pressure release naturally for 3-5 minutes and then release the pressure manually. You may need to add extra boiled water to the pot if the consistency is too solid after cooking. *You can play around with the cooking time depending on the desired consistency.*

  4. Cook the garnish (ghee and spices) separately and add to the porridge and stir. This step can also be done in the beginning using the Saute function of the Instant Pot and then adding the rest of the ingredients and cooking everything together. 

  5. Garnish with cilantro and a squeeze of lime.



anna beryozkina