Try These Delicious Recipes
Recipes
Dahl with Vegies
Ingredients:
1 cup yellow split mung dahl (washed 3 times)
4 cups water
1-2 tbspn ghee
Spice – 1 tsp Cumin, Grated ginger and a pinch of Hing (asafoetida), Turmeric
quarter cup vegies of choice
1 tsp salt
Yellow split mung dahl cooks the quickest of all lentils and dahl and is the easiest to digest being less likely to disturb Vata, especially with added ghee and spice. The secret of using any dahl is to COOK IT, and cook it. This is an absolute daily must for every vegetarian. Actually this is the open secret of a non-meat diet. Remember to cook your dahl into a cream so the beans have no form.
Mix the dahl, water, salt and turmeric in a pot. Boil for 25 minutes depending on the dahl and squash with a masher. Add more water if required (when the beans are soft add whey.
In a separate pot, on a medium heat, add the ghee, grated ginger root, cumin seed, after a few minutes when the cumin turns very slightly brown add a pinch of hing, immediately add the vegies, fry for three minutes, add a dash of whey or water and pour into the dahl cream. Mildly simmer for eight minutes, be careful not to burn the bottom, stir a little and add more liquid. Serve with a dollop of good quality yoghurt on top.
Eggplant and Chickpea Subji
Ingredients:
1 dried red chilli, deseeded, (optional)
half tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin
10 curry leaves
pinch of pure asafoetida powder
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 medium eggplant, cubed
1 tsp turmeric
450g silverbeet, roughly chopped
whey or water
Saindhava Ayurvedic rock salt
wedge of lemon to serve
2 cups of cooked split chick peas (Channa Dahl)
half flat tsp jaggery / rapidura/brown sugar
2 tbsp ghee
Heat the ghee, cook the whole chilli until it starts to darken in colour. Add the mustard seeds and when they start to pop turn the heat off. Add the fresh ginger, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Stir and add the asafoetida.
Turn the heat back to high and add the eggplant. Stir well to ensure the ghee is taken up as evenly as possible. Eggplant is very porous and would suck up endless amounts of ghee it you let it! So here’s the trick, when all the ghee has been taken up and you feel like you have to add more ghee or it is going to burn, add ½ a tsp of salt to release the water from the eggplant. Continue cooking the eggplant until it is soft and then stir in the Turmeric. Stir in the tomatoes and cook until they start to soften. Add the jaggery, chickpeas and silverbeet and cook for a few more minutes. Add enough whey to create a sauce and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Serve with a lemon wedge. Great with chapatti bread, rice and chutney with a dash of yoghurt with garam masala.
Mung Dhal Soup
Ingredients:
400g mung beans (whole green or split green or yellow)
2 litres water
1 tsp. turmeric powder
2 pinches asafetida
Lime or lemon juice
1 inch of grated or chopped fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. coriander seeds
Rock salt to taste
Fresh coriander leaves for garnish
Method
The following soup recipe is highly nutritious and naturally detoxifies the body. It works by cleansing the liver, gall bladder and vascular system of any ama (undigested toxins).
Perfect for this season to build strength
A highly nutritious recipe which detoxifies, kindles digestive fire and sharpens the mind.
Mung beans come in green or yellow varieties. Green is more detoxifying and the yellow is split so it takes less time to cook. Make up a fresh batch for each day, reheating only as much as you need for each meal so the meal is as full of ‘prana’ (energy) as possible. A food thermos works vwell if you don’t have a kitchen at work.
Mung beans are less gas-producing than other beans, help remove toxins from the body (including heavy metals!) and stimulate the digestive fire. Will balance all three doshas.
Wash the mung beans and soak for at least four hours or overnight. Heat ghee or olive oil in a pan and add teaspoon of turmeric and 2 pinches asafoetida (to prevent gas).
Sauté for a few seconds then add the beans, fresh water and fresh root ginger. Simmer for 30-40 minutes adding more water if necessary, until beans are soft. In a pressure cooker this takes 8 minutes once the vessel has come to pressure. You can then turn off the heat and leave the pot to cool for a further 10 minutes before opening it.
Once the beans are cooked, heat ghee or olive oil in another pan, add 2 cloves chopped garlic (if you wish) and sauté lightly for a minute until soft, add one teaspoon of cumin and coriander seeds plus any other herbs or spices eg: cardamom, black pepper and briefly sauté.
Add these sautéed spices plus some rock salt into the beans and simmer for a further few minutes. Serve soup warm with a squeeze of lime juice and some fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped. You can also add green leafy vegetables, pumpkin, leeks, zucchini, fennel, parsley, mint or basil for variety. You can also add 1 tsp. of an omega 3/6/9 oil.
Omega oils should be added to food after it has cooled down a bit, as these oils are not heat stable and thus also not suitable for cooking.
