In the age of air fryers and instant pots, we often overlook the time-tested cooking techniques that have been an integral part of Indian kitchens for centuries. While modern methods prioritize speed, traditional Indian cooking techniques emphasize nourishment, balance, and digestion—core tenets of both Ayurveda and holistic nutrition.
These culinary traditions aren’t just about flavor; they’re embedded with wisdom that promotes gut health, immunity, and overall well-being. This blog explores how returning to these roots can elevate not just your meals—but your health too.
1. Slow Cooking (Dum/Pak/Simmering)
Technique:
Dishes like biryani, dals, and kormas are traditionally slow-cooked over low flame, often in sealed pots to retain aroma and moisture (a technique called dum).
Wellness Benefits:
- Preserves nutrients by preventing overheating
- Enhances bioavailability of spices and herbs
- Facilitates easy digestion by breaking down complex compounds
💡 Ayurvedic Insight: Slow-cooked meals are considered saatvik, meaning pure and balanced, which harmonize bodily energies.
2. Tadka/Tempering (Chaunk/Phodni)
Technique:
A blend of spices is heated briefly in ghee or oil to release their essential oils, then poured over cooked food.
Wellness Benefits:
- Activates phytonutrients in spices like mustard seeds, cumin, and asafoetida
- Boosts digestion and absorption
- Adds antioxidants and antimicrobial compounds to food
🔗 Explore more: Healthline – Why Cooking Spices Boost Their Benefits
3. Fermentation
Technique:
Staples like dosa, idli, kanji, and dahi are naturally fermented using lactic acid bacteria, enhancing both flavor and nutrition.
Wellness Benefits:
- Improves gut microbiota and digestion
- Increases levels of B-vitamins and bioavailable iron
- Enhances immunity and mental clarity via the gut-brain axis
💡 Traditional Tip: Use earthen pots or steel vessels—not plastic—for fermentation to maintain microbial health.
4. Clay Pot Cooking (Matka/Bhagona)
Technique:
Cooking in clay pots is an ancient practice where heat spreads evenly, allowing for nutrient retention and natural enhancement of flavor.
Wellness Benefits:
- Clay adds natural minerals like calcium and magnesium
- Acts as a pH balancer, especially for acidic foods
- Retains moisture, reducing need for excess oil or salt
🔗 Read more: NDTV Food – Health Benefits of Cooking in Clay Pots
5. Sun-Drying and Dehydration
Technique:
Vegetables, papads, pickles, and even spices are sun-dried to preserve them without chemicals.
Wellness Benefits:
- Preserves enzymes and nutrients better than artificial dryers
- Helps balance gut flora when done with fermented preparations
- Avoids additives like sulfites or artificial preservatives
💡 Healsome Hack: Use sun-dried amla or ginger slices for a natural immunity boost.
6. Cooking with Ghee
Technique:
Pure desi ghee is used as a base in many Indian dishes due to its high smoke point and nutritional richness.
Wellness Benefits:
- Rich in butyrate, which supports gut lining
- Aids in absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K)
- Anti-inflammatory and supports cognitive health
🔗 Scientific source: PubMed – Ghee and its role in Ayurveda and nutrition
7. Stone Grinding (Silbatta/Ammi)
Technique:
Chutneys and masalas were once ground on flat stones or using hand mills, which created less friction and heat.
Wellness Benefits:
- Preserves delicate antioxidants and enzymes
- Enhances flavor and aroma through coarse grinding
- Avoids nutrient degradation due to overheating
💡 Try this: Use a mortar and pestle for small batches of spice mixes or chutneys to taste the difference.
8. Boiling & Blanching
Technique:
Vegetables and legumes are briefly boiled or blanched to soften and clean them.
Wellness Benefits:
- Reduces anti-nutrients like oxalates and phytic acid
- Makes legumes easier to digest
- Inactivates harmful microbes without excessive nutrient loss
💡 Tip: Save the boiled water (especially from dals or veggies) and reuse as stock—it’s full of minerals.
9. Soaking and Sprouting
Technique:
Grains, legumes, and seeds are soaked overnight and sometimes sprouted to enhance their nutritional profile.
Wellness Benefits:
- Reduces enzyme inhibitors and anti-nutrients
- Boosts vitamin C and B complex levels
- Improves protein digestibility and gut friendliness
💡 Healsome Insight: Start your day with moong sprouts + lemon + black salt for a detoxifying breakfast.
🧘 Final Thoughts: Food as Medicine, Technique as Therapy
India’s traditional cooking techniques aren’t just methods—they’re rituals of health, mindfulness, and balance. They speak to a philosophy where food is more than sustenance—it’s healing, heritage, and harmony.
At Healsome, we draw from these ancestral wisdoms to create food that’s not only functional but rooted in tradition and elevated by science. We believe wellness isn’t a fad—it’s a return to what once worked beautifully.