Pea Pod Soup

This is the season to relish fresh green peas. But do you throw away the tender pods of green peas? If you manage to get organic green peas, try making this green pea pod soup. You need to steam tender pods for few minutes. You can add a few fresh green peas too. Blend in blender and strain. Now add salt, black pepper, jaggery, 1 table spoon of thick coconut milk ( Optional) and some chopped onions for crunchy taste. Warm only a little. For winter time, this is super. Also, here, we are making use of every good gift of nature.

Peanut and Rice Milk Combo Curd

Peanut and Rice Milk combo curd Click on the link to view the video.
By Dr. Rupa Shah

Happy Vegan Diwali...Shreekhand Recipe

Dairy Free Vegan Shreekhand Recipe: By Dr. Rupa Shah

Ingredients:
1/2 cup almonds soaked for 8 hours
1/2 cup cashews soaked for 8 hours
1/2 cup whole rice soaked for 8 hours
Raw sugar or palm sugar or any other healthy sweetener
Cardamom 1/4 tsp powdered
Kesar strands a few
Method:
Throw away the water that is used for soaking almonds. Peel almonds. Now take 1 cup water and blend almonds in blender and make raw milk.
Repeat the same process with cashews and rice. Make each of these milks separately. Now mix almond and cashew milk and start boiling it on low flam, stirring it often. Slowly add raw rice milk, one big spoonful at a time and stir often. After about 15 minutes, thick milk will be ready. Let it cool for some time till it is just warm. Add vegan yogurt as starter and curd will be ready in 8 hours out of this milk.
This curd is now tied in a muslin cloth for a few hours till all the water gets drained and we get thick pulp for Shreekhand.
To this pulp, add raw sugar as per your taste. Add Elaichi/cardamom powder and Saffron as per your taste.
Will yield just about 1 cup Shreekhand.

How to make tasty vegan curd fro Indian taste buds?

Recipes ( Non Dairy Alternatives)



By Dr. Rupa Shah, Director, Healin’ Temple.



Curd made with Peanuts and rice milk



⅓ cup raw whole rice soak for 8 hours in water.



⅔ cup raw peanuts soak for 8 hours in water



Throw away the water used for soaking. Now take fresh water for each, blend in blender separately. Water quantity can be 4 to 5 times the quantity of the material. If you take less water, it will be thicker milk. You need to strain and blend 3 times to get maximum milk. For rice, you can take less water. Make both the milk separately.



Now boil peanut milk on slow flame. Gradually add rice milk, one spoonful at a time and stir gently each time. Boil this for about 10 minutes. Milk will thicken.



This will make about 1 litre of milk. Let it cool to lukewarm level.Now it is ready for adding the culture. About 1 tablespoon of curd ( initially you can use a ready culture tablet bought from shop, or plain vegan yogurt or 5 to 6 tops of green chilies or rejuvelac) will be enough for this. Leave it outside , covered, for 8 hours. After 8 hours in hot climate and may be 12 to 15 hours in cold climate, you have the curd ready. For next batch, use culture from this curd now. Initial few batches may be a bit watery. But after 4 to 5 times, you get thicker curd from the same culture.



Upto one week, it can be stored in refrigerator.



I usually store about 5 table spoon of curd in my deep fridge for future use, incase I go out of town or my earlier batch goes bad or I ate all and forgot to save for next batch. This comes in handy.



Now you can use this curd in following ways.



1. Curd eaten as it is.



2. Gujarati Kadhi



3. Raita



4. Chaas Add salt, and crushed cumin seeds



5. Sweet Lan make Paneer from this curd by hanging curd in muslin cloth for 3 hours.



6. Make Dahi rice ( Also known as famous south indian Curd rice)



7. Mango lassi or any other fruits



8. Add in veggies like Dahi Bhindi( ladies finger), Aloo ( Potato) , Baigan( brinjal)



9. Mung beans and other sprouts , add .



10. Dahi Chaat ( Curd with onions, tomatoes, potatoes and some indian spices)



11. Dahi vada



12. Make curd dip



13. Fruit yogurt



14. Tadka yogurt



15. Dahi in dholka, Handvo, Muthia, Chila, Upma and thepla

Diwali Delights in Mumbai!

Turmeric and Amba- Turmeric Pickle

I love this pickle.It is made of raw turmeric and raw Amba- Turmeric. In local language it is called Haldi and Amba-Haldi. Haldi is yellow in colour. Amba Haldi is white in colour. Both are underground vegetables. Turmeric is the famous yellow spice that we use a lot in Indian cooking as powder. In winter time, we get fresh, raw haldi and amba-haldi. I wash it thoroughly. Dry for a short time, like an hour. Then , I cut it into round pieces. You can cut into long shreds also.Then I add Lemon or lime juice and some salt. Now, I refrigerate this in a glass bottle. Refrigeration is not a must. After 3 days, the roots are softer and we can eat as pickle. It is very good to take in the beginning of meal. It is good for digestion, improves skin and purifies blood. Good as detox. Use whole winter while it is available fresh. Helpful in diabetes and those who may have higher cholesterol.

Aamla - Gooseberry Juice

Now in winter time, we get lots of Aamla. Also called as Aavala or Indian Gooseberry. It is very sour and very rich in Vitamin C. Botanical name is Phyllanthus emblica (syn. Emblica officinalis). I make juice of one Aamla Daily. It has anti-aging properties according to Ayurveda. Also useful in diabetes. Make use of this fruit optimum in the season. The famous chyavanprash preparation of Ayurveda is also made from Aamla.

Nature's sweetness at its best!

Coconut water Drink

Recently I got lot of coconuts in my city garden. They are all organic. I did give away many. A few I kept for myself. The water was so sweet! I made this very simple drink for myself this morning. It is coconut water plus the soft coconut meat ( also called as malai) . I blended in a mixture. Very very refreshing, naturallay sweet drink ready in just few minutes. No sugar added. No salt. No Permitted class 2 preservatives, addititves and no artificial colour and sweetner. Nature's factory is the best! Friends, pay attention to the mineral rich coconut water and enjoy good health!

Contributed by Dr.Rupa Shah

Diwali Vegan Laddus

Nutritious Vegan Laddus-
Recipe by Dr (Mrs) Mrinal Joshi-Mumbai, mrinalvm@yahoo.co.in
Ingredients (for 8-10 small laddus)- • ½ katori (small bowl) roasted gram dal (dalia) • ½ katori ( small Bowl) roasted sesame seeds (til) • ½ katori ( Small Bowl) roasted ground nut seeds (singdana) • 30-35 deseeded dates , finely chopped • Some cardamom powder, • Some Jaifal ( Nutmeg) powder • Optional-dry figs finely chopped.

Preparation- 1) grind sesame seeds, gram dal and groundnut seeds in to powder. 2)Mix all the above ingredients in a big bowl or plate thoroughly and make a dough .If required add more dates ,prepare small laddus from the above mixture. 3) Decorate with Cashew nut pieces and or grated dry coconut. These laddus can last for 10-15 days. If you want to consume immediately, you can use grated tender coconut as well.

Healthy laddoos ( Balls)

This is a very easy recipe to make laddoos at home. They can be called as 'Adadiya' but all raw vegan. To make this you need 1 part Peanuts, grounded. 1 Part dry coconut powder, 1 Part sesame seeds grounded. Dry prunes, cashews quantity as desired. A pinch of Poppy seeds called as Khus Khus seeds, dry ginger powder called as Sunth, Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamom, jeggary powder, 2 part of date pieces. It is ook if you have one or few ingredients less or more. You can just adjust.
Mix all these ingredients in a mixture/ grinder. Now make laddoos out of this mix. It takes very little time to make these. They are very healthy. I save them in refrigerator. I usually eat one daily. I carry around in a small box with me. When I am hungry, I quickly eat one! Very filling, and satisfying.
Recipe contributed by Rupa Shah

Kalli ni Bhaji

Right now it is monsoon in India. So, it is also season for Kalli Ni Bhaji. I use this bhaji for salads or for green smoothie. You can cook it also just like methi ni Bhaji ( fresh fenugreek leaves). It is nice to eat seasonal and regional food. If you choose to go to the market regularly, you will spot the seasonal variation in all kinds of vegetables and fruits. When they are in season, they are cheaper also. I guess nutrients are also more available. Remember, green fresh leaves are full of 'living energy', which is good for body. They are easy to digest. You can add some lemon, may be tomato to make juice.
Contributed by Rupa Shah

Make soy milk at home!

Here is the video that I have uploaded on the Utube channel about how to make soy milk at home.It is so easy to make at home!

If you want to see more such recipes, click on this link
Contributed by Rupa Shah

Strawberries with cashew cream

I love strawberries.These days, we can buy them cheaper as it is the season. In Mumbai, we get from Mahabaleshwar. I love to eat it with cream. So, I made cream from cashews. Take about 12 cashews ( enough for 12 strawberries). No need to soak them. Just grind them fine, add very little water. You can add raw sugar or dates or any other natural sweetener. Now cut your strawberries and add them to this cashew cream. Guests at my home just love it! And they are so surprised to know that it is non-dairy cream, so tasty! Addictive!

Greens in green smoothie

Mustard Leaves

Bathua leaves( Pigweed)Other greens are Spinach( Palak), Chawli ni bhaji or Tandaljo or Amaranth, Ambadi chi bhaji, Mayalu bhaji (Poi)( basella Rubra), Suva ni bhaji (Dill), Methi ni Bhaji ( Fenugreek), Khatti Bhaji( Green sorrel), Lal Bhaji ( Amaranthus tricolour), Mint, Coriander,
Basil or Tulsi leaves, Drumstick leaves ( Shenga chi bhaji) etc. use all these different varieties as available in season. Methi is bitter and ambadi is sour so also dill so use less quantity.

Green 'Red' Smoothie

Pomegranate
Red Amaranthus or also called as Lal Bhaji.
Everything in Mixture

Green smoothie but in red colour. Nice taste. For a change, we got red colour drink instead of the usual green colour! Enjoy!

Rupa Shah.

Ground nut yogurt

I am able to make very nice, thick ground nut milk yogurt at home. For this we need to soak ground nuts for about 8 hours in water. After this, throw away the water used for soaking. Now take fresh water. For a fist full of ground nuts, about a glass of water (300ml) is sufficient. Now, use the electric mixture to make milk. Strain it. Boil this milk while stirring often for about 5 to 6 minutes. Cool almost. Use the yogurt starter. Thick yogurt will be ready in 6 to 12 hours depending on the climatic conditions.
This yogurt can be used for making tasty curd rice, buttermilk, curry ( Kadhi) or raita or salad dressing. I also use it for fermentation of Dhokla or Handvo. You can also use it in making dough for Parathas or Naan for softer outcome.
Recipe by Dr. Rupa Shah

Red Rice Poha Salad

Red Rice Poha Salad
Wash the red rice poha. Add small chopped vegetables of your choice – I used tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, capsicum, purple cabbage, finely chopped corriander, grated fresh coconut.Flavour with salt (or black salt), lemon juice, grated ginger, minced chillies.If desired temper with mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing (asafoetida)Mix, taste and adjust the ingredients and serve.
Recipe by Dr. Nandita Shah

Tofu made at home!

Here is the picture of Tofu I made at home from Soy Milk. I wanted to see, how easy it is to make at home. First I made soy milk as usual at home. I boiled it for 20 minutes. Towards the end, I added 1 cup of Soy Yogurt to the milk, and let it continue to boil. Soon, in just two minutes, Tofu separated from the milk. I strained it. Only clear water was left behind. To this strained Tofu, I put weight on the top for 30 minutes. Now it is a bit firm and ready to make pieces. I can refrigerate the pieces like any other Tofu that we get in the market. or I can make Tofu Paratha or may be Tofu cutlet! Tofu is a very good replacement for Paneer made from dairy.
Contributed by Rupa Shah

Peanut-Dates balls ( laddus)

Here is a very simple recipe of Laddus.

Ingredients: Peanuts, lightly roasted. Dates ( remove seeds). Proportion of peanuts to dates is 1:2.

Method: In a dry grinder jar of mixture / food processor, first crush peanuts. Do not crust very fine. Leave it coarse. Now add dates, once again mix in the the jar. The mixture will look like, as shown in the picture. Now make balls with hand. You laddus are ready to eat. Not need to refrigerate.. Eat anytime you have sweet craving. This is sugar free.

Recipe by Rupa Shah

Green Smoothies - My daily dose!

I love to drink at least one green smoothy every day. Here is what I made today for myself.

I had one frozen banana, few pieces of frozen papaya and five leaves of Chinese cabbage. You can see all these in the picture here. At the bottom - banana pieces, then papaya, and finally leaves chopped. I made the smoothy out of this. It tastes so good, particularly in the summer time when it is so hot outside. Very easy to make, takes just few minutes, looks great, tastes divine and is very healthy food! The proportion of fruit to green leaves is 60:40 for best results. Keep combination simple. Take just one type of green leaves and one or two fruits. Everyone loves this, particularly children just freak out on this.Enjoy.

Written by Rupa Shah