Potakhe de Potiron: Chana Dal and Squash Soup

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Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cup chana dal or yellow split peas

  • Vegetable broth as needed.

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • 2 Tb olive oil

  • 1 tsp cinnamon

  • ¼ tsp fresh (preferably) or ground ginger

  • ¼ tsp saffron

  • 4lb butternut squash or kabocha squash

  • 3 Tbs finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Method

  1. Cook the chana dal or split peas in a pressure cooker for one hour with water.

  2. Add vegetable broth as needed, salt and pepper to taste, the oil, cinnamon, ginger, saffron, and put in the squash.

  3. Simmer until the squash falls apart.

  4. Sprinkle with flatleaf parsley and offer khefir or yogurt at the table for people to add as desired.

Source: Adapted from: Mendosa and The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden (Alfred A. Knopf, 1996), page 319.

Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.

Enliven your holistic health! Visit Alakananda Ma in Alandi Ashram’s ayurvedic clinic to support the overall rejuvenation of your body, mind, and spirit. In-person and virtual appointments available. Book now!

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Tridoshic 'Yam' Kitchari

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Ingredients

1 cup split hulled mung beans
1 cup basmati rice
3 tbsp ghee (Learn how to make ghee)
1 and half inches minced fresh ginger
2 tbsp shredded coconut
1 tsp turmeric

1 handful cilantro leaves
8 green cardamom pods
8 whole cloves
11 black peppercorns
3 inch piece cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves Salt to taste
1 large yam, cubed (actually a golden sweet potato)
 

Method

  • Rinse mung beans well with cold water and soak for a few hours

  • Rinse rice well and soak while beans are cooking

  • Put ginger, coconut, turmeric, cilantro and some water in a blender or food processor and blend. Use enough water to blend well.

  • In a large pot, melt ghee over medium heat and sauté cardamom pods (split open first), cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and bay leaves for a few minutes. Then add the blended spices and sauté for a few more minutes until lightly cooked

  • Next add beans and yams; cook for a couple more minutes. Add enough water to cover the beans with at least 3 inches of water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to simmer. Cook for about 45 minutes or until the beans are completely broken down. Then add the rice and cook until the rice is broken apart. Add more water as needed Salt to taste and enjoy!

Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.

Enliven your holistic health! Visit Alakananda Ma in Alandi Ashram’s ayurvedic clinic to support the overall rejuvenation of your body, mind, and spirit. In-person and virtual appointments available. Book now!

Vegetarian Khoresht-E Bademjan

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There's nothing like a nice warm casserole on a cold day. And when snow and ice prevented us travelling on Thanksgiving Day, I was left to my own devices to create a meal from what we had on hand. That included four small eggplants from our garden (two purple and two white, to be precise), and six San Mazarno tomatoes we harvested at Munson Family Farms, a few miles away. We had shallots from Munson's as well. Of course, this dish is supremely vata soothing and ideal for a chilly day in fall. It could also be quite pitta provoking; but the chickpeas, lime peel and turmeric do help to modify the dish. As a pitta, I found it acceptable on a vata day in context of a menu of pitta soothing dishes, as noted below.

This dish is typically served over plain rice; we made ours a little drier and served it on the side with Persian Rice with Chard and Persian Winter Squash Soup. And the dish usually includes meat in the sauce, but our veggie version was delicious!

The original recipe says to peel the eggplants; we didn't peel ours as a lot of the blood sugar balancing phytonutrients are in the peel Another option is to stripe them with a peeler, leaving stripes of peel on while removing some.

Source: Based on Shelbyville Multimedia

Ingredients

  • 2 medium-sized or four small eggplants, sliced

  • 1 shallot, peeled and sliced

  • 5 tablespoons of olive oil

  • 6 large plum tomatoes

  • Peel of half a lime, cut into small strips.

  • A few squeezes of the limejuice

  • ½ can of garbanzo beans, coarsely mashed.

  • ½ teaspoon turmeric

  • 2 cloves of garlic- chopped

  • Salt and pepper to taste

Serves 3 people

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with olive oil and place them on sheet. Cook for 20-30 minutes.

  2. In a medium-size saucepan sauté shallot and garlic in the olive oil until golden brown.

  3. Add ½ cup of water, the tomatoes, lime peel, mashed garbanzos, salt, pepper, and turmeric to saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until the tomatoes are soft and you have a nice saucy texture.

  4. Place eggplants in a deep baking dish, top with tomato sauce. Cover and cook for 45 minutes in preheated oven.

Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.

Enliven your holistic health! Visit Alakananda Ma in Alandi Ashram’s ayurvedic clinic to support the overall rejuvenation of your body, mind, and spirit. In-person and virtual appointments available. Book now!

Persian Rice with Chard

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Thanksgiving was a snowy and icy day. Remembering how we were stuck on a bus for four hours last Christmas Day, we decided to cancel going to visit Sadananda's sister for a family gathering, much as we were looking forward to it. As a result, I had to improvise a Thanksgiving meal for two--using what we happened to have. We had a basket of chard we harvested before the freeze, leading me to make this delicious recipe, vegetarian and gluten free. Serve with Persian Winter Squash Soup. Ideally, serve tourshi along with Persian food.

For a low carb version, simply use mashed cauliflower instead of rice. And you can easily make it vegan by omitting the feta cheese.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 cup basmati rice

  • 2 cups water

  • 1 pinch saffron

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 1 garlic clove, crushed

  • 1 Serrano pepper, de-seeded and chopped finely

  • 4 Tbsp. dried cranberries or raisins

  • ¼ teaspoon cumin

  • 1 bunch Swiss chard

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • 4 tablespoons toasted pistachio kernels

  • Salt and pepper to taste.

  • ½ cup mint leaves or dill, washed and chopped

  • 4 oz. feta cheese, cubed

In Iran dried barberries would be used instead of cranberries.

Method

  1. Soak the saffron in a couple of tablespoons boiling water

  2. Wash the rice and cook in 2 cups water, adding the saffron and saffron water as well.

  3. Wash and slice the chard.

  4. Toast the pistachio kernels and chop them.

  5. Pour the olive oil into a large skillet and put it over medium heat. Crush the garlic straight into the skillet. Add Serrano pepper, cumin and raisins or berries and sauté for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Don't let the garlic and berries scorch - lower the heat if necessary.

  6. Add the chard into the skillet and continue to cook for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the pistachios, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and toss. Remove from the heat.

  7. Add the rice into the skillet and toss.

  8. Now gently stir in the feta cheese and sprinkle dill and/or mint on top.

Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.

Enliven your holistic health! Visit Alakananda Ma in Alandi Ashram’s ayurvedic clinic to support the overall rejuvenation of your body, mind, and spirit. In-person and virtual appointments available. Book now!