Amrita Sondhi is co-host of The Ayurvedic Way on One: The Body, Mind & Spirit Channel in Canada.

Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old holistic healing tradition from India whose history is linked to the development of yoga, in which physical and spiritual well-being comes from a number of sources, including a healthful diet based on one's individual constitution. Today, it has a growing constituency, including well-known practitioner Dr Deepak Chopra.

Ayurveda is about achieving a physical and spiritual balance through a number of means, including diet. This all-vegetarian cookbook based on Ayurvedic traditions features delectable and nutritious recipes that appeal to particular doshas, which are one's personal constitution based on physical and mental characteristics: air (vata), fire (pitta), and earth (kapha) (the book includes a dosha questionnaire so readers can determine their own). And while the recipes are authentically Ayurvedic, they feature easy-to-find ingredients and modern-day cooking methods appropriate for busy lifestyles.

Recipes are divided into Breakfasts, Appetizers, Salads, Soups, Entrees, Grains & Breads, Sweets & Desserts, and Condiments. The book also includes yoga postures (with photographs), cleansing programs, and information on aromatherapy, colour therapy, and menu plans. There also are suggested meat substitutions for non-vegetarians (Ayurveda is not exclusively vegetarian, although this book is).

Written with both converts and beginners in mind, The Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook is a twenty-first-century approach to an ancient tradition that will restore your health, energy, and sense of well-being.

Amrita Sondhi's second cookbook, The Tastes of Ayurveda, was published in 2012. Partial proceeds from the sale of this book will go to ­support the Pamoja Foundation, www. pamoja. org.

Now in its fourth printing.