Ayurvedic Wellness Spotlight - February 2023

Kapha season is a great time to add more warming culinary spices to your diet. Spices like cinnamon, ginger, clove, and black pepper can help warm up and melt away some of kapha’s heavy, stagnant, and sticky qualities. These warming spices can help boost the stagnant digestion often associated with kapha dosha, and can loosen up some of that thick, heavy mucous that so many of us experience in these waning days of winter and early spring.

One of my favorite ways to warm up and savor the last days of my favorite season, while keeping the building kapha qualities in check is with a nice warm cup of masala chai.

Most westerners call it chai tea, but that’s linguistically incorrect. Chai is the Hindi word for tea. So when you call it chai tea you’re basically saying you’d like a tea tea. The correct name for this spiced tea is masala chai. Masala is the hindi word for spice. Calling it a chai tea latte is also incorrect. Latte is made with steamed milk, masala chai is not. For a more deep and rich history of this popular Indian drink, check out this great read.

Masala chai recipes vary from person to person, and ayurvedically speaking can and should take into consideration the constitution of the person consuming. Although recipes vary, most include cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves and black pepper. And, while often sweetened, traditional masala chai is NEVER the sickningly sweet concoction you’ll pick up at your local coffee shop.

I highly recommend making the effort to steep up a batch of your own homemade masala chai at home. Get my recipe below and enjoy!