Ways to Lower Blood Pressure
Natural Ayurveda Herbs

Ways to lower blood pressure with special Ayurveda curry recipes which include herbs and spices for body, mind and soul

Traditional Indian Ways to Lower Blood Pressure have worked before and we present some here as well. Ayurveda uses herbs and spices in intelligent ways to feed not just the body, but to nourish all the cells and to satisfy the taste buds. 'Ayurvedic curries' is definitely one of the delicious ways to lower blood pressure ! It gives a sense of satisfaction, after a meal, and you will not tend to snack after that.

5 Tastes

An ayurvedic dish would include spices representing all 5 tastes. They are sweet, sour, salt, bitter, astringent. When all five tastes are included in one meal, you are satisfied after the meal. There is no urge then to eat sweets or chocolates, afterwards. Eating right is one of the healthy ways to lower blood pressure !

Sambhar

Here is a great ayurvedic curry called sambhar which can be made with different vegetables and is a combination of lentils, vegetables, and spices.

Sambhar goes well with rice, idli or dosa (savory pancakes ): The spices and herbs in Sambar contain all five tastes to satisfy the eater.

Enjoy delicious ways to lower blood pressure !! These Sambhar recipes are contributed by Anne Mohanraj from Chennai.

Note: The right foods work very well when combined with brisk walking and other exercises.

Eating Sambar curry is one of the healthy ways to lower blood pressure because of its special spices.

Moong dal Sambar

Ingredients:

Moong dal (green gram)1 cup

Big onions 2

Tomatoes 2

Green chillies 2

Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder 1 tsp

Tamarind size of a small lemon

Salt

Oil 2 tbs

Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp

Direction

Cook moong dal with water and turmeric and keep aside.

Finely chop onions and tomatoes.

Add water to tamarind and extract the juice.

Slice green chillies lengthwise.

Heat oil, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter.

Add tomatoes, onions and green chillies. Cook a few minutes.

Add the tamarind juice, chilly powder and salt and mix well.

When it begins to boil, add the cooked dal and stir.

Bring to a boil and let simmer for a few minutes.

For a cooling effect, garnish with fresh coriandar leaves.

This goes well with idli or dosa.

Sambar with vegetables

Ingredients

Dal 1/2 cup

Toor dal 1/4 cup

(split red gram)

Carrots, beans and potato 1 cup

Big onion 1 chopped fine

Green chillies 3 slit lengthwise

Curry leaves 1 sprig

Turmeric powder 1 tsp

Sambar powder 1 tsp

Asafoetida powder 1 tsp

Salt

Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp

Seasoning

Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Urad dal 1 tsp

Cumin seeds 1 tsp

Oil 3 tbs

Directions

Heat oil, add the seasoning. Let them splutter.

Add asafoetida powder, chopped onions, curry leaves and green chillies and saute till they turn soft.

Add tomatoes. Cook.Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir. Add enough water to cover and cook.

Garnish with fresh coriandar leaves.

This goes well with idli, dosa and pongal.

Kerala Sambar Recipe

Ingredients :

Toor dal – 1 cup

Drumstick, ladies finger (okra), brinjal (eggplant), pumpkin – diced – 200g together.

Green chillies – 2 , slit lengthwise

Sambar powder – 1 teaspoon

Chilli powder – ½ teaspoon

Asafoetida – a pinch

Tamarind paste – 1 tablespoon

Salt – as required

Coconut oil – 2 tablespoons

Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds – ¼ teaspoon

Shallots – 5-6, finely chopped

Curry leaves , a few

Coriander leaves – chopped – a small handful.

DIRECTIONS :

Cook the dal with turmeric powder and mash well. In another pan, bring all the vegetables and the green chillies to the boil. Add salt , sambar powder and chilli powder and simmer till the vegetables are done. Add the tamarind paste and cook for a minute. Now blend in the cooked and mashed toor dal and simmer for 2 more minutes and switch off the stove. Heat oil in a pan, splutter the mustard seeds, then add the fenugreek seeds and fry till the seeds turn light brown in colour. Now add curry leaves, sliced shallots and asafetida and fry for 2 minutes. Pour this seasoning over the sambar and finally garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Onion Sambar - From Andhra

Ingredients:

Use of Onions in curry is definitely one of the best old ways to lower blood pressure.

Toor dal – 1 cup

Water – 2 cups

Small onions (pearl) – 15, whole or

Big onions (small size) , 6-7

Green chillies – 4 slit lengthwise

Garlic – 1 pod , separated and peeled

Tomato – 1, chopped

Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon

Sambar powder – ½ teaspoon

Asafoetida – ¼ teaspoon

Tamarind paste – ½ teaspoon

Salt – as required

Coriander leaves/Cilantro – a hand full

FOR SEASONING:

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

Urad dal -1/2 teaspoon

DIRECTIONS

1.Add dal, water, turmeric powder, asafetida and garlic in the pan.

2.Bring to boil. Turn to medium heat and continue to cook.

3.Add the small or big onions (whole), tomato, green chillies, chilli powder and salt and more water .The onions should not be over cooked . It should take just a couple of minutes.

4.Now blend in the tamarind paste and sambar powder and boil for another minute. Take the cooker off the stove and garnish with chopped , fresh coriander leaves.

5.Heat oil in a pan, drop in the mustard seeds and when it begins to splutter add the urud dal. Switch off when the dal changes colour (to a light pink) and pour this seasoning over the sambar.

Goes well with rice, idli or dosai.

Radish Sambar

Ingredients:

Toor dal – 100 g

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Asafoetida powder – ¼ tsp

Sambar powder – 1 tbs

Radish – 100 g

Pearl/small onions – 10

Tomato – 1

Tamarind paste – 1 tsp

Salt – according to taste

Ghee/oil- 1 tbs

Coriander(cilantro) leaves – chopped – a handful

To season:

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Curry leaves – a few

Ghee/oil- 1 tbs

Directions:

Pressure cook the dal with turmeric powder and water for about 10 minutes. Mash while still warm and keep aside.

Scrape and wash the radish and slice into rings.

Heat ghee/oil in a pan. Saute full onion and chopped tomato for a couple of minutes. Add a cup of water and the radish slices and salt and bring this to the boil. Cover the pan and cook until radish is tender - about 5 minutes. Now blend in the sambar powder, asafetida powder and the tamarind paste. Next add the mashed dal and blend well. Add water if the consistency is thick and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Prepare seasoning:

• Heat oil/ghee , drop in the mustard seeds. When they begin to splutter drop in the fenugreek and cumin seeds and when they change colour to a light brown, add the curry leaves and asafoetida powder. Pour this seasoning over the sambar. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Vegetable Sambar with Coconut

Ingredients

• Toor dal – 1 cup (100g)
• Onion – 1 - chopped
• Mixed vegetables of your choice – 200g - diced to about 1 inch (okra, pumpkin, eggplant, potato, carrots, drumstick ,etc)
• Sambar powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Asafoetida powder – ¼ tsp
• Tamarind paste – 1 tbs
• Salt – according to taste
• Channa dal – 1 tsp
• Coriander seeds – 2 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds ½ tsp
• Dry red chillies – 2
• Coconut (grated) 1 cup
• Curry leaves- 10

Seasoning

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – a few

Ghee/oil – 2 tbs

Coriander leaves – chopped – a handful

Directions:

Cook toor dal with some water and turmeric powder.

Saute onion with sambar for a minute and keep aside.

In a pan add the diced vegetables , tamarind paste and enough water, to cover the vegetables. Halfway through ,add sautéed onion and sambar powder. Cook until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile fry channa dal, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves in a teaspoon of oil till golden brown. Powder this in a grinder , then add coconut and a little water and grind everything to a fine paste.

Add this paste along with the mashed dal to the cooked vegetables and bring this to the boil, simmer for about 2 minutes and switch off .

Prepare seasoning : Heat ghee/oil in a pan and drop in the mustard seeds .When it splutters, stir in the curry leaves. Pour this seasoning over the sambar and garnish finally with coriander leaves.

As mentioned earlier ayurvedic foods along with exercise are one of the best ways to lower blood pressure. Ayurvedic curries are healing and soothing.

To make it less spicy, you may remove the seeds from the chillies and use bigger chillies. All the above ingredients are available in Asian grocery shops.

Enjoy !

Anne

'Proper Diet' is definitely one of the healthy ways to lower blood pressure. Ayurvedic diet with its delicious and wholesome curries is one of the great ways to lower blood pressure. This diet has been followed for centuries.An Ayurvedic diet can be even more beneficial if you have high blood pressure, when combined with ayurvedic medicines.

For more healthy ways to lower blood pressure see the links below