The heart of Indian cooking is the seasoning – the wise use of the spices, herbs, and seasonings. Spices are roots, barks, or seeds, used whole crushed, or powdered. Herbs are fresh leaves or flowers. Seasonings include such natural ingredients as salt, citric juices, nuts, and rose-water.
Spices and herbs, the „jewels of Indian cooking,“ make the meal not only tasty but also more digestible. Most spices have medicinal properties. The most used spices is asafoetida, white cumin seeds, black cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black pepper, black mustard seeds , chillies, ginger, turmeric, fenugreek, cardamom seeds, fennel, cloves, cinnamon, saffron etc.
Both modern textbooks and the ancient Vedas praise milk as a miracle food because it contains all the nutrients needed for good health. The Vedic scriptures add that milk develops the fine cerebral tissues for understanding Krishna consciousness. In the Vedic age, many yogis lived only on milk.