This dish is a wonderful way to get in the mood for the cold season. It connects you to the lower cauldron - your three energy centres. It is about savouring the sweetness of life, retreating into the belly of Mother Earth, cultivating introspection and connecting with All That Is. Colours are also very important when eating, as they have a direct connection to your energy centres. You can find more on this topic in my blog.

What are energy centres?

There are 7 main energy centres, which are also called flames or chakras. From bottom to top starting with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Each individual flame/chakra is connected to the physical body and also has a strong effect on our soul life and our spiritual experience.

The flames are divided into 3 so-called cauldrons. The lower cauldron with red (root chakra), orange (sacral chakra) and yellow (solar plexus) is the cauldron of joy of life. You can feed the cauldron with everything that is good for you, what you love and, of course, with good food.

The second and middle cauldron is the cauldron of vocation and illuminates the heart chakra with the colour green. What is my calling? What am I burning for? What do I like to do? You feed this cauldron with passion and food that is connected to the heart.

The third and upper cauldron contains the chakras blue (throat chakra), indigo (forehead chakra/third eye) and violet (crown chakra). This is about the spiritual, the connection, thoughts, personal expression. You feed this cauldron with good thoughts, meditation and light, vegan food.

Pumpkin from an Ayurvedic perspective

Pumpkin has a sweet, bitter and tart flavour and contains the elements water and earth. It increases the KAPHA dosha and balances the VATA dosha. Autumn and early winter with their storms move VATA and like to bring us into imbalance. The flavours sweet, sour and salty can help to weather the storms. You can find out more about energies and doshas on my Kitchen sound page. In combination with the dates, figs and rice, this pumpkin dish gives us cosy warmth and the sweetness of life.

How did this recipe come about?

I completed my Ayurvedic cookery training with Gabriele Sitaram Sabnis, who runs Ayurveda training and courses together with Nicky Sitaram Sabnis. Nicky has written many Ayurveda cookery books together with Gabriele. This recipe is a suggestion from his cookery book: "Mindful Ayurveda Cuisine".

I always like to get ideas from cookery books, especially from Gabriele and Nicky, whose knowledge of Ayurvedic cuisine is very comprehensive. With these ideas, I go to my cookery studio and compose my own variation that is meaningful to me and my fellow diners at that moment.