🔴 Sattvic Recipes | Indian Cooking School

Sattvic cooking is based on the Ayurvedic classification of foods as sattva (pure, calming), rajas (stimulating, active), or tamas (heavy, dulling). Onion and garlic are classified as rajasic — they stimulate the mind and body in ways considered undesirable for meditative or spiritual practice. Sattvic cooking eliminates them, using hing (asafoetida) as a substitute, and focuses on whole grains, fresh vegetables, dairy, and mild spicing.

Recipes coming 2026

Individual recipe pages are being built now

Each recipe will include the full method, science commentary on every step, failure prevention notes, and links to the relevant Art of Cooking technique page. The categories below show what's coming.

Recipe categories

What's coming

Sattvic Dal

Moong Dal, Toor Dal without onion/garlic — hing tadka

Clean, clear flavour from hing-based tadka

Browse recipes →

Sattvic Vegetables

All vegetables except the allium family — capsicum, gourd, spinach, peas

Light, clean preparations with minimal spicing

Browse recipes →

Sattvic Rice

Plain rice, cumin rice, rice with vegetables

Rice is central to sattvic eating

Browse recipes →

Sattvic Dairy

Paneer preparations, yogurt dishes, kheer

Dairy is sattvic — used generously

Browse recipes →

Temple Food

Pongal, Prasad-style preparations, festival foods

The sattvic tradition in religious context

Browse recipes →

Connected to

Art of Cooking

Every recipe links to its technique page — learn the skill behind the dish

Science Academy

The science behind every technique used in these recipes

Failure Clinic

When the recipe goes wrong — 185 articles on exactly how to fix it

Food Atlas

Where each dish comes from — the regional story behind the recipe

Common Questions

When will individual recipe pages be ready?

Recipe pages are being built now and will be added progressively through 2026. Each recipe page will include the full method, science commentary, dietary variants, and cross-links to technique and failure clinic pages.

Will all dietary categories have the same recipes?

Most dishes will have variants across multiple dietary categories. Butter chicken will have a vegetarian (paneer makhani) version, a vegan version (cashew cream), and notes on Jain and sattvic adaptations.

How are recipes connected to the Art of Cooking?

Every recipe page links to the technique page that is most central to that dish. A biryani recipe links to the dum cooking technique and the biryani system technique. Butter chicken links to bhuno masala. You can learn the technique first or discover it through the recipe.