Vegetarianism & Beyond

Sacred Vegetarian Recipes - Prasadam

World Vegetarian Day 1st October each year

World Vegetarian Awareness Month - October

http://www.hknet.org.nz/VegeWVD.html

see what's already happened last year http://www.hknet.org.nz/VegeWVD2004.html

see what we hear is to be happening this year

See our previous World Vegetarian Day issue of the newsletter for a wide range of Vegetarian issues
2005 World Vegetarian Day newsletter
Shaligram Tirtha Pradarshini newsletter October 2005 - Theme Prasadam

Vege update:
Social scientists and law enforcement officials have identified animal abuse as a symptom of emotional illness and a precursor to violent crimes against human beings. To allow individuals guilty of perpetrating such cruel acts to go unpunished or not sufficiently punished would be to sanction these horrific crimes and would permit them to go on to possibly commit violent crimes against humans.

The Animal Spirit Newsletter - Issue #2 -  4/21/03-4/27/03

This list is about vegetarian kitchen crafts. This list is created for postings regarding back to basics vegetarian kitchen crafts. When we say vegetarian we mean no meat, fish or eggs. When we say back to basics, we mean tips on making yeast, bread, gluten, tofu, sprouts and so forth. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vkcrafts   Post a Message: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vkcrafts/post

Sambar Spicey Dahl Soup

This is JTCd's secret recipe for sambar, otherwise known as the most universal dish of South Indian standard dish found in near every brahmin restaurant, or half decent restaurant. Sambar should be substantial, and have a spicy, somewhat sour flavour, with sour outweighing any sweet or salty flavour. If the receipe is followed one will achieve the goal - although as we are all individual, one can adjust to one's own taste along with the standard by adjusting the amount of tamarind or adding fresh lime juice, or by the vegetables one uses in the sambar. It MUST be spicey and flavourful, that is Sambar. Have fun.

Ingredients:
3 cups mung beans soaked overnight (or you can use yellow lentils or toor dahl)
2 litres of water in a good pot with thick bottom
1 kg fresh tomatoes or 3 cans chopped pealed tomatoes
50 - 75 grms fresh seedless tamarind pulp (size of a small orange) or 1 tsp tamarind concentrate
1 cup raw sugar or gur
vegetables are optional - a few veges are nice, but its not kitri eh
 I sometimes use diced carrots, sometimes pumpkin, or potatoe, slices of fried coconut, green runner beans.
1 cup grated coconut (or desecated coconut)
50 grams butter
2 table spoons Madras Sambhar powder (see that recipe below) (or you can buy)
 Madras is the temperature of "hot" ie Bombay, Madras, Vindaloo (ouchie - vindaloo is for masochists)
handful of whole green chillis
small handfull of curry leaves
some corriander leaves to garnish
1 tsp salt  (if you put the salt in early the dahl will not break up, so put in at the end)
(optional: half a can of coconut cream can be added at the end too)

Method:
Soak mung beans over night and rinse. Bring to a rolling boil for two to three hours until soft and breaking up.  Reduce heat and simmer until the dal is soft and can be stirred into a creamy consistency. Add water while cooking if needed so as not to scorch. (Green Mung will need 2-3 hours of good cooking. Yellow lentils will take an hour or more, while pink lentils will take about 20 minutes.)
Add tomatoes, tamarind pulp or concentrate, add sugar and any vegetables and coconut. Add salt, sambar powder and butter last. Keep on boil, keep stiring the bottom to keep from burning. As you cook the dahl the level will cook down an inch or so.
Make it thin or thick.
If its wet and thin, remove the lid and cook down for a while, keep stiring it.

Serve hot with rice or idlis.

Madras Sambar Powder  (Huli pudi)

Ingredients
1 cup (about 15-20 chillies) Red chillies
1.5 (1 and half) cups - Corriander seeds
1/4 cup - Channa dahl
1/4 cup - Thuvar (Toor) dahl
1 t.spoon - Methi (fenugreek seeds)
1 t.spoon - Mustard seeds
1/4 cup - Curry leaves
1/2 t.spoon - Turmeric

Method
Dry roast every ingredient seperately without oil till the flavour comes out.  Fry methi until it turns dark brown.
Grind the above with curry leaves, and turmeric into a nice powder.

ALOO BONDA

Ingredients:
500 Gms (3 cups) Potatoes, boiled, peeled and cubed
2 Tea spoons (30 Gms) Oil
1 Tea spoon Ajwain (Thymol seeds)
1 Sprig Kadhi Patta (curry leaves)
2 Tea Spoons Sendha namak (rock salt)
2 Green chillies, chopped fine
2 Tea spoons Hara dhania (green conrainder), chopped
1 Tea spoon Lemon juice

For the batter
1 cup (120 Gms) Singhare ka atta (Waterchestnut flour) or use Chapatti flour
2 Tea spoons (Rock salt)
Ghee or Oil for deep frying

Heat 2 tea spoon oil, add ajwain and kadhi patta (curry leaves), saute over high flame till they darken a bit.

Add potatoes and turn around till well mixed. REmove pan from flame, add salt, chillies, hara dhania and lemon juice.

When cool enough to handle, shape mixture into walnut sized balls.

For the batter, mix atta (Waterchestnut flour or chapatti flour) and salt together, add enough water to make a batter of pouring consistency.

Heat the oil/ghee, to point when a drop of batter comes up at once. Dip potato balls into batter, and drop into the hot oil. Fry to a light brown, remove from ghee/oil and drain on absorbent paper.

When ready to serve, fry once again in hot oil, over high flame to a golden brown and serve with green chutney.

Green Coriander Chutney

Ingredients:
1 cup - Green coriander leaves
A few mint leaves also enhance the flavour.
add 1/4 tsp of sugar.
2 green chillis
1/4 inch - Ginger
2 tbsp. - Lemon juice
Salt to taste

Method:
 
1. Grind coriander leaves, ginger and green chilli together - put into an electric blender.
2. If the paste is too thick, add little water.
3. Then add lemon juice and salt. Mix well.

Dahi vada - Bombay style
 
Ingredients
 
For the batter for the vadai:

1 1/2 cup udad dal (split black gram),
4 cups sweet curd or plain yogurt,
3-4 green chilies,
1 piece ginger,
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves,
ghee or oil for frying,
salt,
1/2 cup sugar,
chili powder and pepper powder

For tempering :
4 teaspoon ghee,
2 teaspoon cumin seeds,
5-6 curry leaves,
asafoetida.

Method

1. Soak Udad dal for 4-5 hours.

2. Drain it and grind with a little amount of salt and water.

3. Beat the batter with spatula and make small round balls.

4. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the balls until golden brown.

5. Transfer vadas immediately into the water for a minute.

6. Squeeze them to remove excess oil and water.

7. Now grind green chilies and ginger into a paste.

8. Beat yogurt and add salt, sugar, chili and ginger paste to it.

9. Heat some ghee in a small pan. Gradually add cumin seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves.

10. Pour this tempering into prepared yogurt mixture.

11. Serve vadas with yogurt, chili powder and pepper powder on the top.

12 This one is optional - one can serve with a tamarind sauce.

13. Garnish with coriander leaves.

CHAAWAL KA DHOKLA

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup (90 Gms) Samwat ke chawal, Rice dry roasted lightly, cooked
1 cup (200 Gms)Dahi (Sour Yoghurt)
1 Tea spoon Green chillies
1 tsp - To Taste Sendha namak (rock salt)
1 Tea Spoon (15 Gms) Oil

For the tempering - spicing
2 Sabut lal mirch (dry red peppers, whole)
6-7 Kadhi patta (curry leaves)
1/2 Tea Spoon Zeera (cumin seeds)
1 Tea Spoon (15 Gms) Oil
Grind together the ginger and green chillies to a smooth paste.

Method:
Mix rice and dahi into a smooth, thickish batter, add the ground paste, salt and oil and leave to ferment for 4-6 hours (depending on the weather) in warm place. Should become a bit spongy.
Grease a round tin (20 cm/8"), just before pouring it, beat the batter and transfer into greased tin.

Place tin into a steamer or in a larger vessel with lid which will accomodate the tin, let cook for 20 minutes. Test doneness with a skewer and if it comes out clean, remove from flame and let cool.

Prepare tempering and pour over the dhokla. Cut into desired size pieces and serve garnished with hara dhania (coriander leaves) and grated coconut. Can be accompanied by Coconut/Green chutney.

Chakli (Bhajanichi)
http://www.mumbai-masala.com/otherdelights/chakli.html

Ingredients
4 cups rice,
2 cups bengal gram, split (Chana dal),
1 cup black gram, split (Udad dal),
1/2 cup coriander seeds,
1/4 cup cumin seeds,
1/4 cup white sesame seeds,
1 teaspoon ajwain,
red chili powder,
turmeric powder,
asafoetida,
salt,
1/2 cup ghee
 
Method

1) Roast rice, bengal gram and black gram (each item separately) till the grains are crisp. Do not use oil for roasting.

2) Also roast coriander seeds and cumin seeds.

3) Grind together all these items into a very fine powder. This flour is called 'Bhajani'. The grinding can be done in a good grinder or flour mill.

4) Now heat some ghee in a pan. Pour it over the bhajani and mix.

5) Also add sesame seeds, ajwain, salt, turmeric powder, chili powder, and approx. 1 cup boiling water into the bhajani.

6) Knead Bhajani well to make a soft pliable dough. Put some of this dough in the chakli mold (This is available in Indian grocery stores)

7) Press the piston of chakli mold and make chaklis of desired size.

8) Heat oil in a pan. When oil is sufficiently hot, turn the flame to medium and fry chaklis over medium to low heat. Avoid overfrying. Chakli is done is when it stops bubbling in the oil and oil becomes steady.

Let them cool and store in an airtight container.

Tip: The ghee which is used for making the dough is known as 'Mohan' which gives crispness to chaklis or any such fried items. However, excessive use of ghee may break chaklis while frying or very little use of it may cause chaklis to become hard. Also fry chaklis in batches of 2 to 3. Some people use oil instead of ghee.

Chakli: Important Tips
 
Here are a few tips for good chaklis.

1. Bhajani should be ground to a very fine powder. Use of any Asian grinder is recommended for nice fine grinding of pulses.

2. Excessive ghee / oil (mohan as described in the recipe) causes chaklis to break while frying.

3. Periodically replace the oil after frying several chakalis in batches, this prevents chaklis from breaking in the hot oil.

4. If chaklis turn out to be very hard. This might be because the amount of ghee / oil used as 'mohan' is not enough.

5. Do not fry chaklis in extremely hot oil. They get overfried, turn black and taste bitter.

6. Good chaklis retain their crispness once cooled. To make such crisp chaklis, avoid putting lots of chaklis in the oil at a time, rather fry them in batches of 2 to 3.

Creamy, Saffron-infused Condensed Yogurt Dessert (Shrikhand)
http://www.kurma.net/essays/e16.html

This popular dessert from India’s Maharastra state is simple to prepare. Yogurt is hung in a cloth to remove excess liquid. The solid residue, called yogurt cheese, or dehin, is sweetened, flavored with saffron, nuts, cardamom, and rosewater, beaten until silky smooth, and served ice-cold in little cups.

As an alternative, replace the saffron, nuts, cardamom, and rosewater with ¼ cup fresh, vine-ripened chopped raspberries, strawberries, or blackberries.

Shrikhand is ideal for preparing in large quantities. Remember the simple sugar-to-yogurt ratio: good quality yogurt should yield 50% liquid (whey) when hung. Add sugar to the yogurt cheese in the ratio of one to four; in other words, the sugar content of Shrikhand is one-eighth part the original quantity of yogurt.

Shrikhand is much-loved when served with slices of fragrant fresh mango and puffed plain flour pooris sprinkled with sugar.

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes
YOGURT DRAINING TIME: at least 12-16 hours, better after 1-2 days
YIELD: enough for 8-12 persons

Ingredients:
1 kg whole-milk yogurt
¼ teaspoon ground saffron threads
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon rosewater
2 tablespoons blanched raw slivered pistachio nuts
½ cup powdered sugar

Drape a triple thickness of cheesecloth in a colander.

Spoon in the yogurt, gather up the corners of the cloth, tie it into a bundle, and hang it, either in the refrigerator or in a cool spot for at least 12 to 16 hours. Catch the drips in a bowl. After the required hanging time, the residue of yogurt cheese should have reduced to half the original quantity.

Combine the ground saffron threads with the rosewater for 5 or 10 minutes to allow the saffron to steep and release it’s flavour and colour.

Transfer the cheese to a bowl, add the ground saffron and rosewater infusion, ground cardamom seeds, pistachio nuts and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, and serve in small bowls.

Alternatively, do not add the nuts to the mixture, pipe out the dessert from a piping bag with a fairly large nozzle, and sprinkle the pistachio nuts on top.

 

The book "Living a Good Life" normally selling at $21.95 is now going at the $14.95 price, .http://vegsoc.wellington.net.nz/livingGd.htm

The Animal Spirit Newsletter - Issue #2 -  4/21/03-4/27/03

"The beef industry has contributed to more deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of 'real food for real people', you'd better live real close to a good hospital."

- Neal D. Barnard, M.D., President, Physicians Comittee for Responsible Medicine, Washington, D.C.