Varsha Rutucharya/ Monsoon lifestyle

Herbal tea

Varsha ruthu is the first season of Dakshinayana, which is the season of rain (Monsoon), which is the time between July to September with slight variations! By the end of Greeshma Rutu (previous), digestive capacity of human being would have come to its minimum level. Hence at the beginning of varsha, it is necessary to strengthen the declined digestive capacity (Jataragni).
Food ingredients that improve digestion/ appetite need to be consumed in this season. The following food items are indicated in Ayurveda book ‘Ashtanga hrudaya’.

• Old stored cereals/ grains (1 year) – Stored barley, wheat, rice…
• Soups those treated/ seasoned with fat & spices such as ghee, ginger, rock salt, pepper, cumin etc…
• Amla/ nellikai, lemon, Drumstick leaves are good to have.
• Meat which is light by nature (I am skipping this as this is a vegetarian blog).
• Soups of legumes specifically made of green gram or juice made of pomegranate.
• It is suggested to intake old fermented drinks as they have digestion improving capacity.
• Whey/ liquid portion of curds is suggested to be used in meals. Buttermilk with added salt, pepper & ginger is ideal.
• Always better to drink boiled water.

Rainy Day

Unpleasant day (with heavy rain, wind, very cloudy)

Food to be consumed on an unpleasant day should be light with moderate usage of fat (ghee/oil), sour, salty in taste. Ex: Ganji Saaru (rice starch/ ganji combined with buttermilk with the addition of salt, pepper & seasoning of ginger, garlic).

Honey is good to combine with other food.

Dry food such as papad, khakra…

Don’ts/ Things to be avoided in Varsha ruthu:

• River water
• Flour made items which are mainly mixed with ghee & are semisolid
• Day sleep
• Heavy physical exercise
• Sunlight exposure

Reference: Ashtanga Hrudaya, an Ayurvedic text book

This article/ post credit goes to Dr. Sowmya Bhat, M.D. (Ayu). I wrote it by taking her suggestions. Thank you Soumya!

List of recipes (from this blog) &can be followed for this season are:
Ginger Tambuli
Doddapatre tambuli
Lemongrass tea
Coriander Cumin Kashaya
Barley juice/water
Lemon rasam
Jeera pepper rasam
Lemon coriander soup
Amla/ Nellikai Stew
Dal soup (made with old dal)
Moringa rice
Neer dosa
Green gram kichdi
Moong dal roti

Monsoon vegetable: Colocasia leaves