Stewed Apples and Dates
Prep Time 20 Minutes
Cook Time 10-15 Minutes
Serves 1
Breakfast Inspiration
Ayurveda has a lot to say about breakfast. You are indeed- ‘BREAK’ing the FAST from when you ate dinner the previous night until the following day.
Breakfast gently rekindles your digestive fire (agni). If you think about when you are starting a fire, you can not put too much wood on it or it won’t get burning. It needs more air and space around it and smaller pieces of wood (kindling wood), then it really get it blazing. The same principle is true for your agni in the morning. You want to feed it something, but not a huge meal that would put your digestive fire out and could leave you feeling sluggish and possibly not even hungry for lunch.
When apples are uncooked they have more astringency which can aggravate vata dosha. But cooking them helps alleviate this effect, and is exactly what your agni wants on a winter’s morning, a WARM cooked meal.
Fruit helps support your elimination, is mildly cleansing, sattvic, helps build your blood plasma, cleanses the blood, and creates lightness in the body and mind. Because fruit digests so quickly Ayurveda recommends that you don’t combine it with other foods to avoid fermentation from occurring in your gut. This is one of the reasons many Ayurvedic Practitioners enjoy cooked fruit for breakfast!
Dates are one of Ayurveda’s SUPERFOODS, and to me exemplify the expression of heaven on earth. They are a lovely choice if you have a sweet tooth, as long as you eat them in moderation. Below I share my recipe for my Barhi-date-ghee whip, but if you cant make it you could always just add a couple of chopped Medjool dates to this dish.
If you do make the barhi date whip I promise you this: it DOES taste like apple pie filling!
Enjoy!
The Ingredients
2 apples ( I use fuji )
2 tsp ghee
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
2 whole cloves
1 star anise
pinch of sunthi ginger powder
1/4 apple juice (optional) and 1/2 cup water (you want enough liquid to cover the apples by 75%, most of the liquid will be cooked off)
Instructions
Peel, cut and core your apples.
With a 1 quart sauce pan or ceramic pot, add the ghee and all the spices and simmer for 1 minute.
Then add the apples and gently stir as you coat them in the spices.
Next add the apple juice and water and bring to a boil.
Once the are cooking, reduce flame to medium heat, cover the pot and cook for 10-15 minutes.
If preparring- this is when you can blend up your date whip.
The Ingredients for Barhi~Date~Ghee~Whip
1 & 1/2 cups pitted barhi dates (or medjool)
1/2- 3/4 cup ghee
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup hot water to blend
Instructions
Pit all of your dates. You can use Medjool dates if you dont have access to the Barhis.
Combine all of the ingredients in your Nutri- Bullet or high speed blender.
Blend until smooth.
You might need to add more water depending on the softness of your dates.
If you do end up using Medjool dates, I recommend soaking them in warm water before blending.
Another option is to let the dates soak in a jar with ghee before blending.
Enjoy the sweetness of life!
