YOGIC DIET AND RECIPES
LET FOOD RAISE YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS – MAITREYI
Yoga differentiates food into three main classifications according to the life force inherent as well its influence on the mind.
Sattva is the quality of still alertness and we want foods also to help us be in this state. This promotes clarity of mind as well as a mind free of violence. Everything fresh and filled with life force like fresh fruits and vegetables or cooked sprouted grains with digestive spices falls in this category
Rajas is the quality of agitation, restlessness and over excitement. Have you seen your energy spike and then crash. Kids with ADHD I have worked with have been fed junk food , junk videos and junk emotions that are not conducive for a steady stable safety in being. Rajasic foods are caffeinated teas, coffee, white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, very spicy foods, foods high in garlic etc
Thamas is the quality of dullness, inertia and stagnation. This breeds dis ease. All red meats, fried and preserved foods as well as root vegetables in excess breed thamas.
Food choices are made not only regarding what we eat, but when, how and how much we eat. Also how the food is procured is very important. Have a lot of chemical pesticides been added to it and how has it been processed are questions we need to ask. Do not get obsessive about food yet do not neglect it. A balanced attitude is necessary.
As much as moderation is the key one also learns to get benefits from fasting and feasting. There are various recipes and ayurvedic combination of spices shared in the 500 hr Arkaya self awareness and healing teacher training
TAPIOCA MANGO PUDDING ( SERVES 6)
I usually make this for festivals and sometimes take it to classes. It has always been a big hit because of the sugar being mild and having a sweet as well as slightly tangy taste
450 mg of granulated tapioca
500 ml coconut milk
3 tablespoons palm sugar or coconut sugar
one mango cut into pieces or 2 cups frozen organic mangoes
Cardamom powder 1/4 to 1/2 tsp
Coconut flakes (optional)
Boil the tapioca in the thinner part of the coconut milk. Once it starts getting gooey then add the rest of the ingredients and boil for another 15 minutes. If you like it thinner then add one more can of coconut milk
TOFU SATAY
This recipe was developed by chef Sitaraman of the GRT hotel in Chennai/India in 2003 for the Arkaya program the 3M Magick of Mindfulness
He along with Maitreyi’s initiative, also put together a salad bar which takes the concept of a bartender mixing drinks into this space of salads and have chefs making a mix according to peoples creativity and vision as well as guiding them.
Ingredients for Tofu Satay ( Indian style)
Firm tofu (cut into batons) – 250 gms
Curry powder – 40 gms
Lemon juice 15 ml
Olive oil – 6 tsp
Ginger chopped – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Chilly powder to taste
Brown sugar -1/2 tsp
Water 20 ml
Make a mixture of salt, olive oil, lime juice,sugar,ginger,chilly powder with 2 tsp of olive oil and water. Dip tofu in marinade and soak for half an hour. Heat grill. Add a tsp of olive oil and grill tofu nicely till golden brown. Serve hot with fresh salad.
CORIANDER AND ORANGE TEA
1/4 bunch of coriander
3 oranges juiced
2 cups of water
Boil coriander for 2 mins in boiling water. Remove from fire and after it slightly cools add the orange juice. This tastes great without sugar.
BLACK SESAME MILK
I have restarted having black sesame milk. Thanks to mom who keeps reminding me to have that and black jeera in the winter as both have a warming tattva or quality and good for circulation. Rich in protein, zinc, iron and antioxidants.
Also a great source of calcium. Great for bones, muscle and joints. In ayurveda it pacifies vatha and kapha and slightly increases pitha.
How to make black sesame milk at home:
Dry roast 4 tbs black sesame seeds in a pan (One step my gran and mom did were wash it first and air dry it on thin Indian towels)
Grind in spice grinder
Add 1 to 2 tsp sesame powder to 1 big cup oat milk, boil and add sweetener to taste
I blend 3 to 4 dates to sweeten. I have a Ninja chef which blends and heats and very convenient. Bought it as it has a glass jar
CHAI CHAI RECIPE
& the Tantra of Tea
Chai means tea in Hindi and masala chai means spiced tea. My grandmother never let the kids have chai because tea and coffee according to ayurveda are habit forming. Plus both are said to increase pitha and acidity , which increases grey hairs. No woman wants that!
My grandma said that if I wanted my hair dark till a ripe old age, I should avoid drinking tea or coffee. She would point to those who were greying in their 20's or lost hair and say "too much pittam." That made me avoid drinking it in my teens when I was tempted, before exam nights to cram answers in, last minute. However she let us have masala milk, whose stellar qualities rose to the occasion of relieving every cold, cough and stomach upset I had.
What is originally masala milk or masala tea in India, is called chai tea in the west, which translates to tea tea :). This is how vendors sell it in trains and some streets in India. Chai chai or tea tea in their gutteral vendor melodies will be heard resonating and reminding ones taste buds of this familiar upper. So the western stores and restaurants are not far off.
Masala or spices are an excellent infusion to have in water when one has an upset tummy or in nut milks to boost immunity and heal a range of imbalances from inflammation to depression, as well as being anti ageing. I substitute milk with nut milks and instead of black tea use rooibos if needed.
The curcumin in turmeric is better absorbed when pepper is used or cooked along with it. That's why in ayurvedic recipes you will always find this combination together. The combination of spices further enhances the effectiveness of the herbs. Below the recipe, I will give you some pointers about the spices and if it has peaked your interest then you can always search the net for more on their benefits.
PROCEDURE:
Boil the herbs listed below in 4 cups of water.
Chanting and saying a prayer enhance the qualities of the chai as do all positive sound vibrations. If you are with someone who is very chatty for their own good or nosy then extend the chanting to the whole length of making the chai, leaving absolutely no room for any triggering questions that you may be forced to evade. You may further extend it to doing a ajapa japa or internal chanting while drinking the chai depending
on whom you are with. Add to this a strategic smitha or a smile , with a japa mala in the other hand for effect and you have perfected the art of the yoga of chai :)
1. Ginger - 1 inch, crushed in a mortar and pestle. This is a must in every Indian kitchen. Do not worry if you do not have one, just whack it lovingly with a clean hammer on a cutting board or grate it if you are patient and add to water.
2. Turmeric piece - half an inch , do the same as above. Or use half tsp powder if you do not have the fresh one
3. Peppercorns - a quarter to half tsp crushed. Depending on how spicy you want your chai. The best peppers come from Kerala more specifically a region there called Talicherry
4. Cinnamon - Half to one stick of Ceylon cinnamon. Yes there is a lesser cinnamon and see below for details.
5. Cardamom - 4 to 6 pods- Smells divine and crush it a bit and add to water. These are also native to Kerala and the western ghats in India. And there is a bastard variety here as well. I am not making this up !. Though both varieties are known to have medicinal properties.
6. Cloves - 4 to 6 roughly crushed. They are indigenous to India, Indonesia and some areas in east africa. Its origins are traced back to Mollucas islands in Indonesia
7. Cumin, Fennel and Ajwain - 1tsp to one and half tsp combined.
If you cannot find ajwain, the chai still tastes good. Ajwain in hindi and omam in Tamil and bishop's weed or carrom in English. This omam water on its own was given to babies to release gas
8. Nutmeg - One pinch. Was used as a sedative for babies in small quantities in India
9. Mint - 1 tsp . Called pudhina in both Tamil and Hindi it is used in chutneys, curries and medicinally in Ayurveda
10. Tulsi - 1 tsp - This is lakshmi's plant and more below
11. Rooibos - 1 tsp - Native to South Africa with many benefits
12 Jaggery - small piece. Jaggery is a raw indian cane sugar which is unprocessed and has the minerals and molasses along with the sugars. Rich in iron
13. Rose hips - 2 tbsp - Very high in Vitamin C 14. Organic nut milk of choice- 1 litre
Boil the ingredients for 10 mins in water. Slowly add the nut milk and boil for another 5 to 10 mins.
Chai version 1
Use all listed ingredients
Chai version 2
A tasty and healthy chai with just the first 6 ingredients alone. Add saffron if inspired
The ajwain has a strong flavour and I add saffron into the cup after masala chai is strained, if I do not add the ajwain to the brew.
Chai version 3
If you are a cardamom fan like I am, then double the quantity of cardamom. Add to just turmeric and pepper and nut milk.
Chai version 4
If you like a mint tone to the chai and have a lot of fresh mint in your garden, then make pudhina masala chai with one bunch of mint leaves with ingredients 1 to 3 or 1 to 6
Chai version 5
To the above recipe add orange juice instead of milk. Do not boil with the juice. Or add a little lemon
As you can see, I have made many permutations and combinations of this chai. Feel free to experiment.
BENEFITS
All the above spices clear ama or the undigested matter that can cause stagnation and therefore illness. Each of them has myriads of benefits. You can read about them on the net
SOME SPICE ON THE SPICES
Read when sipping your organic vegan non-caffeinated masala chai
Turmeric is well known for containing curcumin, however it has very many other useful elements like iron, flavonoids, fiber, niacin, potassium, zinc etc
When just the curcumin is extracted and one takes excessive amounts of curcumin alone, then it can interfere with iron absorption. Hence these spices in their whole and natural forms and in small doses are more than enough for maintaining good health. They come in nature in perfect combinations and hence just curcumin extracted and taken as a supplement, does not mean you are getting more of a good thing. However scientists have used curcumin to reduce inflammation and have seen its benefits.
Cinnamon - I am not looking down on Cassia cinnamon because its widely used in the west, but because it creates liver damage, when used in excess. As for Ceylon cinnamon since it's coumarin levels are 0.04% as opposed to the 4 to 8 % found in different kinds of Cassia cinnamon it poses little to no risk . I love the smell of Ceylon cinnamon as well, which is a lot more refined. Coming from south India, that was naturally available to us from both Ceylon or Srilanka and Kerala which had some of the finest spices and herbs. Cassia cinnamon is thicker and sheets of ceylon cinnamon are thinner. True cinnamon or Ceylon cinnamon is native to India, Srilanka and Myanmar and more expensive. Cassia is native to China, cheaper and more widely available. I could not help but smile at the irony when I read about it a while ago.
The British came to India to trade spices. They set up the East India company in the 1600s and by the 1700s had overturned the Dutch in Ceylon to get control of Ceylon cinnamon. We talk about space wars now and that was a time of spice wars as the west was enamoured and wanted control of Indian and Sri Lankan spices which were very expensive.
Even before that spices were highly valued and the stories about how the Arabians gained control over the spice trade from India to other countries is an interesting read. They created a mythical land full of witch craft and dangers to prevent others from breaking their monopoly. They did not reveal the exact location of where they got their spices from. However when Vasco da gama the portugese sailor landed in Kerala in south India in the late 1400s these myths were shattered. Yet some still remained as the Arabs were legendary story tellers. That is why even to this day, though the zero and the decimal system was used in India originally and the Arabs merely adopted it , many still refer to the numeric system we use today as the Arabic numerals. Though invented by Indian mathematicians, the Arab merchants introduced it to the western world many centuries later and briefly got credit for it.
Tulsi or the holy Indian basil was revered in the Islamic culture as a plant that belongs in paradise. It belonged to the group of Rehaan or sweet smelling plants that should not be refused when gifted and thus revered. Whether they picked up this reverence from those they traded with is not know. In india this plant was noted as a
blessed plant over 5000 years ago and even mentioned in the Rig veda , one of the very ancient scriptures. Its sanskrit root means matchless one.
Lakshmi is the goddess who symbolises abundance. Tulsi is considered the earthly manifestation of the goddess. Add a little tulsi to bring in the tatva or quality of abundance into one's life. I am not a religious person, yet I will never forget the associations that tulsi is lakshmi's plant and hence helps evoke her qualities from within us. It is also very useful to build respiratory and gastrointestinal health and creates all around well being. It is an adoptogen. Adaptogens have the unique quality of being able to adapt to the needs of the body, be it physical, chemical or biological. They help the body deal with stress. Other adaptogen herbs are ashwagandha, shatavari, maca, codonopsis, eleuthero, reishi mushrooms, schizandra, gotu kola, licorice, aloe vera, tree of life, ginseng, astragalus, milk thistle, bacopa and rosemary
Tulsi is radio- protective, neuro-protective and cardio-protective. It is antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, anti carcinogenic. It helps in wound healing and preventing free radicals. It kills 99% of the mouth germs and bacteria that cause dental cavities , tartar , plaque and bad breath. It is a detoxifier and diuretic, which means it reduces uric acid levels , and dissolution of kidney stones Basically tulsi will help you survive any apocalypse. And when you read in detail about the benefits of other spices you will feel they can help you in a disaster as well.
You may or may not have wanted all this information, however the recipe for good masala or spice chai is to not forget all the real masala around it. Sip chai chai savouring and slurping the spice of life and mastering the tantra of tea.