She helped lululemon get off the ground before starting her own eco-yoga line, Movement Global. She was inspired to start the Pamoja Foundation to alleviate poverty in East Africa after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. And, in between teaching yoga classes on Bowen Island, she wrote The Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook.
How does Amrita Sondhi find the energy? In the foreword to The Tastes of Ayurveda: More Healthful, Healing Recipes for the Modern Ayurvedic, she writes, I have always believed we must be, in large part, what we eat what we nourish ourselves with, on both physical and emotional levels.
Ayurveda comes from two Sanskrit words: ayus (life) and veda (knowledge or science.) She encourages readers to take her questionnaire to figure out their primary dosha (air, fire or earth) so they will know which foods affect their constitution.
But the book stands on its own as a source of wonderful recipes. There are 200 in total, all of them vegetarian. Heres one that might surprise you chocolate cake made with quinoa.
Quinoa Dark Chocolate Cake
Serve this with strawberries and whipped cream for a sumptuous dessert. If you are a dark chocoholic, this is your cake! Quinoa gives it a great taste and texture and wont spike blood-sugar levels. I omitted the oil in this recipe by mistake once, and it still tasted moist, rich, and chocolatygreat for Kapha.
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (125 mL) almond milk
2 cups (500 mL) cooked and cooled
red quinoa
1/2 cup (125 mL) melted and cooled
coconut oil
1 1/2 (375 mL) cups panela, granulated
gur, or unrefined cane sugar
1 1/4 (310 mL) cup raw cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp good salt
Preheat oven to 350?F (180?C). Lightly grease an 8-in round (1.2-L) baking pan and line with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse eggs, vanilla, milk, and cooled quinoa to blend. Add coconut oil and blend until smooth. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients (quinoa mixture) into dry and stir well to mix. Pour batter into baking pan and cook for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Makes 8 servings.
Variation 1: Omit oil.
Variation 2: Add 1 tbsp grated orange rind and omit oil.
Raw unadulterated cocoa powder is what foodies call cacao, as chocolate is from the seed of the cacao tree. Cocoa is high in magnesium, which helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function (and thus prevents cramping), keeps our heart rhythms steady, and our bones strong, and supports a healthy immune system. Chocolate contains caffeine, so if youre eating it at night, go easy!
Win The Tastes of Ayurveda by going to the Contests page at WEVancouver.com.
