Recipe: Spicy Oil by Dr. Jay Apte

This Spicy Oil is superb for three reasons: 

1. It makes cooking very easy by eliminating the need to measure multiple spices.

2. It makes your food taste Amazing! 

3. It's tri-doshic, or good for all constitutions. 

I received this recipe from Dr. Jay Apte when she taught our cooking segment last year at Mount Madonna.  She is a gifted cook and Ayurvedic practitioner. She sells Ayurvedic packaged foods under her label 'Ayurfoods' at Whole Foods. The meals (including kitchari!) are very tasty, but the recipes she gave us are even better. This 'Spicy Oil' recipe can be used in a number of dishes, including her kitchari & apple pickle recipes I'll be posting soon! Make some of this oil on a Sunday and you'll have a much easier time cooking up delicious healthy meals all week long.  I recommend making a half recipe (as shown above) if this is very new for you; a little goes a long way.

1 c cooking oil (I used grape seed oil today)

2 T Mustard Seeds

1 1/2 T Cumin Seeds

1 1/2 T Turmeric

1 t asafoetida (a.k.a. hing)

Heat the oil in a small pot. Add 2-3 mustard seeds in oil while it is heating, not when it's cold. They will start popping once the oil is hot. Remove the pot from heat and add the remaining mustard seeds and cover the pot. After the seeds stop popping, add cumin seeds, turmeric & hing. (See photo below.) Stir. Allow oil to cool down for 5 minutes and then pour it in a thick glass jar or oil jar and store at room temperature.

• V, P, K: Great!! Pitta can use yellow mustard seeds instead of black mustard seeds. (as seen below)
• Vata: Use any type of oil. Untoasted sesame oil is especially good. 
• Pitta: Use Avocado, Olive, Grape seed, Sunflower or Walnut Oil. 
• Kapha: Use Almond, Corn or Sunflower Oil.