Updated: February 2011

Relax! It’s not as complicated as it looks. There are only a few items to avoid. And you don’t have to struggle to locate hard-to-find items from the “recommended” list. Whatever is locally available is fine.

The list is meant to make life easier for cooks by giving a range of choices.

Food for JAS should not be pungent. Prefer sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes. Food should be served hot—that is, the opposite of cold. Vegetable preparations are best when soft or soupy or creamy in texture.

Light food is preferred. Avoid items that are fried or heavy. (Hint: What for other people would be a snack is for JAS a meal.)

If you’re making soup, please keep it light. That is, please don’t make it heavy with cream or coconut milk.

A little ghee, separately, is helpful.

What it all comes down to is this: In the morning some hot applesauce and perhaps some fruit, for lunch a simple meal, ending with a glass of buttermilk, in the late afternoon a little hot drink, and at night a cup of hot milk and maybe again a very light snack.

(The buttermilk can be either chaas or else three parts water and one part cultured buttermilk, with some black salt and roasted cumin. Added to the milk at night should be one teaspoon of ghee — not more — and either milk masala or cardamom.)

North Indian, South Indian, East Indian, West Indian, and non-Indian are all okay, provided the “avoid” items are avoided. Whatever is easy.

STRICTLY:

No hot spices. No chili, cayenne, mustard seed, clove, ajjwan, methi seed, sesame, or garam masala. (Kindly note again: That’s not “less,” it’s NO.)

But the spices from the “recommended” list are good. (For a “hot” spice, black pepper is okay. And ginger, in small amounts.)

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EXTRA ITEM TO BE TAKEN
DAILY IN THE MORNING

Some dates
4 figs
20 black raisins
6 cashews
6 almonds

Soak all the ingredients overnight. Crush the cashews & almonds, mix all the ingredients into a thin paste (using some of the water in which the items were soaked) and add a bit of fennel for better digestion. Serve hot.

Also, separately: Some ginger root, chopped into small pieces, with some lemon juice and salt. A tablespoon of this preparation is enough.

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ESPECIALLY RECOMMENDED: Vegetable preparations that are soupy or creamy. Soup itself also very good—that is, soup made of thickly blended vegetables (not vegetables floating in water).

RECOMMENDED
(any items from the “recommended” list are okay):

Vegetables: Bitter melon, methi sabji, neem, asparagus, green papaya, pumpkin, zucchini, drumstick, okra, celery, artichoke, yam, portal, tender eggplant, green leafy vegetables.

Beans/Dal: Yellow mung dal, thoroughly cooked.

Grains: Basmati rice, barley, wheat bran, wheat.

Tofu is okay, but only the soft kind.

Dairy products: Ghee, buttermilk, etc. Milk is ok with digestives: elaichi, milk masala, etc. Yogurt is ok only if mixed with at least an equal amount of water.

Spices: coriander (dhanya), cumin (jeera), black pepper, hing, ginger (small amounts), turmeric (haldi), fennel (sauf), cinnamon (dal chini), mint (pudina), cardamom (elaichi), saffron, lemon juice. Salt is okay.

Oils: Coconut, olive, sunflower.

Sweeteners: White or semi-refined sugar. Honey in small amounts.

Fruits: Mangos (sweet), pears, apricots, grapes (sweet—usually black), sweet apples (cooked), figs (fresh or cooked or soaked overnight), dates (soaked or cooked), raisins (soaked or cooked), persimmons, coconut, papaya (reddish is better than yellow—small amounts), guavas (small amounts), melons (alone only), chikoo. Amla (amalaki), though sour, is good in any form (fresh, dried, etc.).

Nuts: Only coconut. Seeds: Only pumpkin or sunflower.

 
AVOID:

General: Pungent, sour, and salty tastes. Fried items.

Grains: Millet, corn, buckwheat, rye, white flour.

Beans: Soy beans, brown and red lentils, heavy dals

Vegetables: tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers (capsicum), cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, carrot, radish, hot peppers.

Dairy: Yogurt, unless mixed with at least an equal amount of water.

Sweeteners: Molasses, chocolate.

Spices (apart from hot ones): Tamarind (imli), nutmeg (jaiphal).

Oils: Almond, sesame.

Nuts and Seeds: All nuts except coconut. All seeds except sunflower and pumpkin.

Pickles: All forbidden.

Fruits: Banana, plum, prune, peach, olive, litchi, grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, sour grapes, cranberry, strawberry, all other berries, dried fruits (unless soaked until soft).

Drinks: Sparkling (carbonated) drinks. Drinks that are cold (refrigerated or iced).

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EKADASI

For Ekadasi, only fruit juice, fruits, or items made of fruit (like applesauce). Nothing else. (And in the morning, usually nothing at all.)

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CATURMASYA

First month: No green leafy vegetables.
Second month: No yogurt.
Third month: No milk.
Fourth month: No urad dal.

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