Certain foods are not compatible to digestion if eaten in their original form. They need to be processed in a manner to be made suitable for consumption.

Eg: When we eat broccoli as a salad it’s difficult to digest unless you have a strong Agni/digestive fire. However, the same broccoli when steamed is easier to digest irrespective of your Agni.

The below mentioned methods are used for processing the foods:

Cleansing and treating with water

Water is needed as a medium to change the form, qualities and digestibility of the food.

Eg: Water is required as a medium to cook dal or rice. This method of treating with water and cooking with it as a medium makes the dal or rice digestible. Whilst the uncooked ones cannot be digested when eaten as it is.

Heat application/heat processing

Heating, boiling, grilling, cooking the food on fire changes the taste, flavors, properties and digestibility of the food items.

Eg: Raw meat is hard to digest and can even cause digestive issues if one has weak Agni/digestive fire. Grilling, barbecue or cooking the meat on fire will make it digestible as well as more flavorful.

Cleaning and washing

Isn’t cleaning and washing any edibles an integral part of our household basics? This practice was encouraged from the times of Ayurveda  as well and it holds validity even today.

It not only comes under the karana/processing aspect but is also pertinent from hygiene point of view.

Eg: Any vegetable or fruit that we consume is washed with water. This not only makes it clean so as not to cause any infection, but also makes the taste prominent.

The product becomes visually appetizing, which also leads to secretion of saliva and gastric juices leading to improved digestion.

When rice is cleansed and washed with water (cleansing), mixed with water (treating) and then cooked at appropriate temperature (heat application) it involves all the above three processes. The same rice which is inherently heavy becomes light to digest when processed in this manner.

Churning

Churning is moving, stirring or shaking a liquid with great force in order to break its particles and change it from one form to another.

Eg: Curd is heavy to digest and when churned and made into buttermilk is light to digest. Curd is contraindicated in inflammation or any swelling while the same curd when made into buttermilk will help reduce inflammation and oedema.

Place/region of origin of food

The inherent quality or property of a food substance can be changed or preserved by changing its place. Similarly, the nature of food also changes geographically.

Eg: Foods like avocado, chilies, tomatoes, pumpkins etc. are native to America and thus suitable for their consumption. However, these foods when introduced into Southeast Asian cuisine were not so compatible to their digestion initially. Therefore, they were processed with other spices and made digestible. Later with time and adaptability they became an equally integral part of the Southeast Asian cuisine as well.

Time period

Certain food items when left for a certain period can exhibit change in their appearance and properties.

Eg: Banana when unripe is astringent in taste and increases Vata.  The same banana after a period becomes sweet and the flesh also changes colour from green to yellow to dark yellow.

Ripe banana is sweet in taste and increases Kapha.Raw banana when boiled also becomes sweet and Kapha increasing.

Processing with spices/flavors

Processing a food substance with certain spices and flavors changes its taste and properties, also prolongs its shelf life.

Eg: Cow’s milk on its own increases Kapha. When turmeric or saffron is added to it, it balances Kapha.

Broccoli on its own is Vata aggravating while adding sesame seeds, garlic or ginger can make it easily digestible and it also doesn’t aggravate Vata.

Pickles in Indian cuisine are processed with many different spices like mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cumin, salt, turmeric etc. and oils which not only enhances its flavor but also act as a preservative and increases its shelf life.

Impregnation

Leaving the food substances soaked in water or other solutions like saline water, marinades etc. helps improve its digestibility and property.

Eg: Nuts when eaten without soaking in water have heating potency and are heavy to digest. Same nuts when soaked in water for 6-8 hours become cooling and light to digest.

Heavier lentils like horse gram, red beans, black eyed peas also when soaked in water and cooked get digested easily and do not aggravate Vata as much as they would otherwise.

When we marinate the meat, it tenderizes the meat and makes it more easily digestible. Not only that, it also smoothens the surface and enhances the flavors.

Ageing – time/change of season

Ageing is a process, where you leave a food substance for certain time period, which brings about change in its properties and digestibility quotient.

Eg: New rice (freshly harvested) is difficult to digest, whereas puranashali (old rice) is lighter. 1 year old rice (after harvesting when it attains 1 year maturity) is lighter and 2-year-old rice is even better.

These days we are eating newly harvested rice making it difficult to digest, which in turn gives birth to many health issues. Rice usually has the effect of increasing Kapha dosha when overeaten, however aged rice is tridosha balancing.

Other than rice, ghee, jaggery and millets are also aged, making them more digestible and dosha friendly.

Storage vessels

Containers or vessels in which foods are stored, served or eaten also have the potency to alter the qualities and benefits of the stored substance. They may enhance the properties or at times bring about change, which could be detrimental to the health.

Traditionally there were different materials used to make vessels like iron, gold, silver, mud, wood, stone etc. With modernization many variety of materials have been developed and are being used in our day to day lives such as plastic, glass, different metal alloys etc. Using such containers may either enhance or deteriorate the quality of the Ahara dravya (food substance). 

Metal vessels should not be used to store pickles and curd should not be stored in copper vessels.

Chutneys made grinding on the stone tastes much better than done in a mixer.