Baklava Rolls

We’re slowly transitioning from Vata season to Kapha season. We’re soon going to leave the dry, cold air behind and enter the heavy, moist season of snow and more rain which will bring us into Spring in a couple of months. 

Before we leave Vata season, I couldn’t resist sharing this nut-filled twist on the classic Mediterranean dessert, Baklava. Traditionally Baklava is made from pistachios and from a syrup made from refined sugar. To make it healthier, many have replaced the sugar with a honey syrup not realizing that consuming heated honey is like consuming poison due to the toxic compounds that form when heat is applied to raw honey. 

Now, you won’t drop dead from having a bit of heated honey but in Ayurveda, food can be classified as channel clogging and when the channels in the body become clogged, normal movement of the bodily functions can’t occur and this will lead to disease. So in other words, heated honey is channel clogging. 

Raw nuts can also be channel clogging. They are unctuous and heavy on the digestion. Our bodies cannot break down the fats and proteins in raw nuts so it’s always good to process them in some way before eating whether it’s by soaking (which is the best method), roasting, or baking. 

Almonds and walnuts are revered in Ayurveda and in modern medicine for their health benefits. High in protein, Omega-3s, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, promotes a healthy gut and the list could go on. 

In Ayurveda, there is the concept of Dhatus where each Dhatu or tissue/organ system nourishes the next and sometimes it’s difficult for us to find foods that nourish the entire body and all of the Dhatus at once. Some foods may only nourish the plasma and others may only work their way up to the muscles. The progression of Dhatu nourishment ranges from the plasma, blood and goes up to the muscles, fat, bones, nervous system, and reproductive tissues where each dhatu is responsible for nourishing the next with the reproductive system being the last. Most foods that we eat today never make it up to the nervous system let alone the reproductive tissue. When you nourish all 7 Dhatus, your Ojas or life energy increases or does not get depleted. That Ojas is needed to sustain life, when it becomes depleted, we cease to exist.

The quality of our food directly affects our Ojas. Some signs of low Ojas include:

• Dry skin
• Cold hands and feet
• Muscle aches
• Joint pain and cracking joints
• Frequent drowsiness or fatigue
• A tendency to get sick frequently and low immunity
• Mental fog, lack of focus
• Anxiety and depression

Dates, milk, figs, almonds, and walnuts are such foods that are able to nourish most of the Dhatus (walnuts up to nervous system and almonds all the way to the reproductive tissue). Getting into a habit of having 5-10 soaked and peeled almonds and 2-3 soaked walnuts daily is a good place to start to build Ojas and nourish the body in the way that it needs.

Until then, hope you try this recipe!

Namaste.