Chyawanprash

What it is

Chyawanprash is a lehyam, a thick, dark herbal jam taken by the spoon. It is the best known of all such preparations, and very likely the most widely taken Ayurvedic preparation of any kind. It belongs to the patient, rebuilding side of Ayurveda. It is not a remedy for a single day but something taken steadily over time to feed and strengthen the body.

The jam is named after the sage Chyavana. The old story tells that the twin physician gods, the Ashwini Kumaras, prepared this confection for him in his old age, and that it restored his strength and vigour. That story gives the preparation its name and its standing: it is described in the very first chapter on rasayana, the rejuvenating preparations, in the Charaka Samhita, and the tradition treats it as the model for the whole class.

At the centre of the recipe is amla, the Indian gooseberry, cooked together with a long list of other herbs, with ghee, sesame oil, honey and a sweet base. The result is a smooth, dark, sweet-and-sour jam.

What it is used for

Chyawanprash is a rasayana, a rebuilding preparation. The word names a whole branch of Ayurveda, the part concerned not with treating a single complaint but with feeding the body, holding up its strength, and slowing the wear of the years. The Charaka Samhita opens its rasayana chapter with the promise that one who takes such preparations keeps long life, memory and strength.

Within that family the tradition gives Chyawanprash several characters at once. It is balya, a builder of physical strength and endurance. It is vayasthapana, one of the preparations the texts link to holding back the decline of age. And because amla and the supporting herbs touch all three doshas, it is read as broadly balancing rather than pulling the body in any one direction.

The texts hold it especially suited to the cooler, drier seasons, when the digestive fire is naturally at its strongest and the body takes up a rich, nourishing preparation most easily. It is taken as a daily practice over a stretch of time, in the slow, patient manner of all rasayana.

Its qualities in plain words

Ayurveda reads every preparation by its qualities, and Chyawanprash reads as a rich, balanced, building one. Its taste is complex, carrying several of the classical tastes at once, but the sweet and sour of the amla lead. It is heavy and oily, the qualities of a nourishing food rather than a light, clearing medicine, which is why it feeds and rebuilds rather than reduces.

In its warming or cooling character the tradition places it in the middle, neither strongly heating like a pungent decoction nor strongly cooling. That balance is part of why it is taken so widely and over such long stretches: it nourishes without strongly pushing the body one way or the other.

Key ingredients

Amla, the Indian gooseberry, is the foundation. The classical texts count it among the foremost of the age-supporting herbs, and it gives the jam both its sour note and its character. The pulp of many gooseberries forms the body of the preparation.

Around the amla the recipe gathers a large group of supporting herbs, by tradition some thirty to fifty of them. Among them are the ten roots known together as Dashamoola, valued for steadying the mobile quality of Vata, and strengthening herbs such as Ashwagandha and Shatavari. Pippali, the long pepper, is added in small measure as a herb the tradition holds to carry the action of the others and to keep the digestion lit under so rich a jam.

The herbs are carried in fats and sweeteners that are themselves part of the medicine: ghritham (clarified butter) and sesame oil as the lipid mediums, honey folded in for its carrying quality, and a sweet base of sugar or jaggery that both preserves the jam and adds to its building character.

How it is made

The making follows the classical method for an avaleha, a herbal jam, in unhurried stages.

First the supporting herbs are simmered in water so their strength passes into a concentrated decoction. The amla fruit is cooked until soft, then its pulp is separated from the seeds and fibre and worked smooth. The pulp is roasted gently in ghee and sesame oil, which deepens its character and helps it take up the herbs.

The herbal decoction, the prepared pulp and the sweet base are then cooked slowly together over a low, patient heat, stirred without pause, until the mixture thickens to a jam that holds its shape. The cook judges the finishing point by old signs: the colour darkens, the smell settles, and a cooled drop keeps its form. Only once the jam has cooled are the honey and the fine powders of the most delicate herbs, Pippali among them, folded in, so their quality is not lost to the heat. The finished jam is stored in clean, sealed jars, where it keeps well.

How it is taken

The classic way is the simplest. A spoonful, by tradition one or two teaspoons, is taken in the morning, either licked slowly from the spoon or stirred into a cup of warm milk. Warm milk is the traditional partner, held to carry the nourishing action of the jam, though warm water serves where milk does not suit. For children the texts describe a smaller measure, adjusted by age.

It is taken as a daily course over weeks, in the way of all rasayana preparations, rather than as a single dose for a single day. The amount and the length of the course are best settled with a practitioner, and the sweet, sugar-rich base is a reason for particular care in anyone who has been told to watch their sugar.

Frequently asked

What is Chyawanprash? It is a lehyam, a thick herbal jam built around amla and taken by the spoon. The tradition counts it the foremost of its rasayana, the rebuilding preparations taken over time to feed and strengthen the body.

Why is it taken with warm milk? Because the tradition sees warm milk as carrying the nourishing action of the jam, and as a gentle partner to a preparation meant to feed the body. It is the classical pairing, though warm water is used where milk does not suit.

When is the best time to take it? In the morning, and by tradition especially through the cooler seasons, when the digestive fire is held to be strongest and the body takes up so rich a preparation most easily.

This entry describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of the preparation. It is not medical advice, and anyone with a health condition should speak to a qualified practitioner.