An Ayurveda Inspired Appetizer for your Fall Holiday Celebrations

Tomato Date Chutney

Ingredients

• 1 ½ tbsp ghee
• 2 small, dried red chili peppers
• ¾ tsp mustard seeds
• 4 medium tomatoes (1 lb), roughly diced
• 6 Medjool dates, pitted, quartered
• 2 tbsp coconut sugar
• ¾ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp salt

Preparation

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt ghee. Add chilies and mustard seeds; sauté until seeds pop, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, and cover; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes soften, 7–10 minutes.
2. Stir in dates, coconut sugar, cumin, and salt. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until chutney thickens and date and tomato pieces blend together, 10 minutes.
3. Cool to room temperature, pull out chilies or leave for garnish—just warn guests not to eat them since they are intensely spicy—and serve.

Serve with whole-grain crackers or papad (Indian lentil-flour crisps).

​Nutrition Information

• Serving Size: serves 8
• Calories: 90
• Carbohydrate Content: 18 g
• Fat Content: 3 g
• Fiber Content: 2 g
• Protein Content: 1 g
• Saturated Fat Content: 2 g

recipe by KATE O’DONNELL for Yoga Journal Magazine, OCT 12, 2016

 
Ayurvedic Tips for Delightful and Health Promoting Thanksgiving – Add Tomato Chutney to the mix.
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Ayurveda is the sister science of yoga. It is the practice of considering how what you take in affects what comes out. These considerations influence not only the health of your body and mind, but also of your heart and soul.

According to Ayurveda - or the Science of Life – it is wise practice to have six tastes present in every meal in order to feel satisfied by the end of it. These tastes include: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. According to Ayurveda the Sweet, Bitter, and Astringent tastes have a cooling effect in the body. Sour, Salty, and Pungent tastes are all heating. Each taste exerts a unique influence on us as individuals, depending upon your individual doshic mix. If you know your dosha (which I am happy to help you determine) you may adjust the types of foods you eat to support physical, mental, and emotional balance, even as the seasons and other conditions around you change. 

The seasons of the year are represented by a specific combination of the six tastes. In Autumn, when the qualities of nature tend to be dry, rough, windy, erratic, cool, subtle, and clear, you are wise to counter them with specific food choices to promote good health. The qualities of Autumn are shared by the vata dosha. If you have a strong mix of vata in your dosha, you may find that you feel unsettled and unbalanced this time of year. To counter this, and foster balance as a result, add in foods that subdue the dry, light, and erratic nature of the fall. This might include eating more dense, warming, and oily foods. Root vegetables are grounding. Meats, nuts, dairy, and good quality oils can be nourishing (think of yummy stews or fatty side dishes) and calming this time of year. Sweet tastes calm the vata dosha.

Offered below is a wonderful Indian inspired chutney recipe that may help to lighten up the heaviness of the typical Thanksgiving meal while also countering the effects of seasonal weather influences. The delicious condiment or appetizer is sweetened by dates and heated by red chili, mustard seeds, and tomatoes which are considered heating due to their natural acids. The heat of pungent (spicy) foods in small amounts can bolster your digestive fire, which may slow down when ingesting lots of oily and heavy foods.

Enjoy this fall inspired addition to your meal, and the time you spend with family and friends.

Wishing you a graceful, grateful, and gratifying holiday celebration!

​Namaste~Sharon Harvey Alexander