Curry Mangala!

For our bodies to work properly and efficiently we need the right fuel, like a car needs good petrol to power it, we need good and high quality food to fuel our bodies.  Without the proper diet the body will become diseased, without the proper diet the mind also becomes diseased; if the body is unwell also the mind is unwell.  Our diets should enable the body to grow according to its age, replace waste and rejuvenate cells.  For prevention of diseases and for a happy life the diet should provide us with sufficient energy in terms of calories so as the body can have enough power to renew the dead cells and tissues, enable growth, give all the necessary ingredients for various glands and organs to function properly and produce hormones and secretions and also have the right power to set right any defects that are brought on by life.  A diet full of processed, frozen and unclean foods full of fats and sugars is not going to make a happy body and mind.  You may think that the chocolate bar, a visit to the bakery and cup of coffee brings you happiness, but that happiness is not real, it is fleeting and impermanent and only brings problems for our health.  Food is life and strength of the body, but if it degenerates to pander to the tongue, diseases and eventually death will come.

Our daily diets should contain proteins, starch, fats, vitamins and minerals, all of which can be provided in a fully vegetarian diet.  Your proteins can be found in rice, wheat, cereals, millets, pulses, nuts and milk.  Starch in rice, wheat and cereals.  Fats in butter, ghee, milk, oils and coconut.  Vitamins in cereals, millets, pulses, bran, vegetables fresh leafy vegetables, milk and sprouted grains.  Minerals in fresh green leafy vegetables, fruits, milk and some pulses. 

Some tips: eat unpolished rice, organic brown rice and take a little of the water it is cooked in with it.  Use all fresh and organic ingredients.  Drink cows milk that is organic and the cows have been fed organically also.  Use oils such as extra virgin olive oil.  Things that are said to be low fat etc are made up of synthetic ingredients and are not natural, keep to as a natural diet as you can, just have a little less of those things with more fats.  For those of you with sweet teeth, keep a little jaggary, which is natural sugar, and take a little when the desire can’t be contained! 

Here is my wholesome vegetable curry recipe, enjoy!

1-tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.

2 big tomatoes

1” chunk of fresh ginger

1-teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon fennu greek powder

2 teaspoon of black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1 teaspoon of ginger powder

1 teaspoon of mix masala

1 teaspoon of cardamom

3 small potatoes

½ cup of chickpeas that have been soaked, (don’t use the tinned variety)

½ cup of fresh peas

½ small cauliflower

Bunch of chopped spinach

2 small bananas

1 litre water

Heat the oil in the pan and add the tomatoes and all the spices and fresh ginger chopped, fry until the tomatoes goes squishy and then mash it down into a paste.  Add half of the water, the potatoes, chickpeas, peas, and cauliflower and bring to the boil, simmer for 20 mins or so on low heat.  Add water when needed to prevent drying out.  Add the spinach and bananas and cook for a further 5 mins.

Serve with brown organic rice or with flat bread.

You can also add organic natural yoghurt, raisins, grated coconut and black pepper toward the end of cooking.  Experiment a bit!

Yum now I’m hungry!

Om Namah Sivaya

mangala / nicky