Peppermint

In the tradition

Two mints are grown in India: spearmint (Mentha spicata), the softer, sweeter mint most Indian kitchens call pudina, and peppermint (Mentha × piperita), a cross with a much stronger, cooler menthol bite. The texts' pūtihā is usually read as the first. Our blends use peppermint; spearmint gets a page of its own.

How Ayurveda reads it

Mint is pungent, light, dry and sharp. Its potency is usually given as heating, even though its menthol feels cooling on the tongue and in the throat — a good example of how Ayurveda separates how a herb feels from how it acts. It is described as settling Kapha and Vata; teachers differ on Pitta.

It is classed as dīpana and rocana.

In the Indian kitchen

The kitchen's mint is mostly spearmint, but the uses are shared: pudina chutney with coriander and green chilli; pudina raita; jaljeera and aam panna in summer; and a few leaves pounded into lemonade (shikanji). Dried mint (sukha pudina) is crumbled over raita and chaat.

How we use it

We use cut, dried peppermint leaf in our teas — on its own for a clean, bright cup, and with lemongrass, fennel or tulsi.