Ingredients: 2 Cups Organic unsalted butter (Organic Valley Cultured Unsalted butter) Instructions: Put the butter in a heavy, medium-sized pan. Turn the heat on to medium until the butter melts. Turn down the heat until the butter just boils and continue to cook at this heat. Do not cover the pot. The butter will foam and sputter while it cooks. Whitish curds will begin to form on the bottom of the pot. The butter will begin to smell like popcorn after a while and turn a lovely golden color. Keep a close watch on the ghee, as it can easily burn. After a while it will become a clear, golden color. You will have to take a clean, dry spoon to move away some of the foam on top in order to see if the ghee is clear all the way through to the bottom. When it is clear and has stopped sputtering and making noise, then it needs to be taken off the heat. Let it cool until just warm. Pour it through a fine sieve or layers of cheesecloth into a clean, dry glass container with a tight lid. Discard the curds at the bottom of the saucepan. The ghee is burned if it has a nutty smell and is slightly brown. 1 pound of butter takes about 15 minutes of cooking time. The more butter you are using, the more time it will take. Ghee can be kept on the kitchen shelf, covered. It does not need refrigeration. The medicinal properties are said to improve with age. Don’t ladle out the ghee with a wet spoon or allow any water to get into the container, as this will create conditions for bacteria to grow and spoil the ghee.
Ingredients: 2 Pears 1 cup Fresh cilantro 1/4 tsp Salt Juice of 1-2 Lemons or limes
Instructions: Peel and core pears. Put in food processor with fresh cilantro. Add lemon (or lime juice), salt and sugar according to taste.
Raisin Date Chutney
Ingredients: 1 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds 1 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds 3 tsp Coriander, ground 1 1/2 cup Raisins 3/4 cup Dates, pitted, chopped 3/8 cup Orange juice 2 Tbl Fresh ginger root, minced 1/4 tsp Nutmeg 3/8 tsp Salt Instructions: Combine in food processor and pulse until coarsely ground. (May dry roast spices ahead of time. May soak raisins and dates ahead of time if they are particularly dry.)
Pasta
Ingredients: 8 oz. Angel hair pasta (or capellini) 3 cups Water 6-8oz Small curd cottage cheese (2% or low-fat) 1 stalk Broccoli 2 tsp Basil 2 tsp Ghee ¼ tsp Ground coriander ¼ tsp Salt
Instructions: Put broccoli (cut into small pieces) in small covered frying pan with a little water. Bring to boil and let steam for approximately 5 min. Drain any remaining water and ghee in pan to sauté broccoli lightly for a few seconds, adding coriander. Bring 3 cups water for noodles to boil. Add pasta stirring initially to avoid any clumping. After 5 minutes drain pasta in colander. Place back into pot and stir in cottage cheese and basil. Top with sautéed broccoli and salt. Makes a meal for two.
6 cups Okra halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces 1 tsp Turmeric Salt
1/3 Cup grated coconut, fresh or dried Chopped gresh cilantro
Instructions: Heat the ghee or oil in a pot. Add the hing, ginger, cumin seeds and mustard seeds and saute over low heat until the mustard seeds 'dance.' Add the okra, turmeric, and a sprinkling of saute and saute over low heat, stirring frequently, until the okra is tender. Add the coconut and saute, stirring constantly, for a minute until lightly browned. Adjust the salt. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.
Ingredients: 1/2 gallon Whole milk 1 cup yogurt or lemon juice
Instructions: Bring the milk to a full boil. Gently stir in the yogurt or lemon juice. Do not stir for more than a few seconds. After a few more seconds, the curds and whey will separate. Separation is complete when white curds are floating in yellowish whey. If the liquid remains milky, stir in the more yogurt or lemon juice and wait another few seconds.
For soft or medium panir: Pour the entire contents of the pot through a sieve or a colander. Scrape off any remaining panir in the bottom of the pot. Allow to drain just until the whey is gone, but for no more than 1 hour.
For hard panir: Continue to simmer the coagulated panir for 10 minutes. Remove that pot from the heat, cover, and allow to stand for not less than 10 minutes. Line a sieve or colander with cheesecloth or unbleached muslin, allowing the edges to drape over the sides. Very gently ladle the curds into it without breaking them up and scape off the panir at the bottom of the pot. Bring up the edges of the cloth over the cheese. Cover with something flat, like a pie pan. Place a weight on it, such as a brick or a jar of beans. Allow to drain for several hours or overnight. Ideally, serve panir the day you prepare it or at lunch following an overnight draining. It will, however, last 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator if well wrapped.
Ingredients: 2 Apples of a sweet variety (such as Golden Delicious, Gala, or Fuji) 1/3 cup Water 2 Cloves 2 pods of Cardamom 1 tablespoon Maple Syrup (optional) Instructions: Peel and core the apples. Slice them into large pieces. Place apple slices into a small saucepan and add the water, cloves, cardamom pods, and maple syrup (if using). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Cook for about 6-7 minutes, until the apples are soft. Remove from the heat and enjoy!
Ingredients: 1/2 cup basmati rice 1/2 cup white quinoa 1 cup mung dal (split yellow) 6 cups (approx.) water 1 tsp ginger root, chopped or grated 1 tsp mineral salt 2 Tablespoons ghee 1 1/2 tsp. coriander powder 1/2 tsp. cumin powder 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds 1/2 tsp. fennel powder 1/4 tsp. black mustard seeds 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder 1 pinch asafoetida (hing) Handful of fresh cilantro leaves 1 and 1/2 cups assorted vegetables asparagus, carrots, kale or any of your choice (optional) Instructions: Soak the mung beans overnight or at least four hours. Carefully pick over rice and dal to remove any stones. Wash each separately in at least 2 changes of water. Add the 6 cups of water to the rice and dal and cook covered until it becomes soft, about 20 minutes. While that is cooking, prepare any vegetables that suit your constitution. Cut them into smallish pieces. Add the vegetables to the cooked rice and dal mixture and cook 10 minutes longer.
In a separate saucepan, sauté the seeds in the ghee until they pop. Then add the other spices. Stir together to release the flavors. Stir the sautéed spices into the cooked dal, rice, and vegetable mixture. Add the mineral salt and chopped fresh cilantro and serve.
Ingredients: Equal parts of Cumin, Coriander and Fennel
Instructions: Boil water. Add loose seeds in a tea bag and let it steep in hot water for 10 minutes.
Turmeric Milk
Ingredients: 1 cup of Whole organic milk 1 tsp Turmeric powder A sprinkle of black pepper A dab of ghee Honey or organic sugar to taste
Instructions: Place milk in a saucepan over low/medium heat. Bring to low boil. Add all ingredients except the honey or sugar. Let the mixture simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat, and allow the mixture to cool to a warm drinkable temperature. When the mixture has cooled, add honey or sugar to taste. Serve warm.
It is important that the honey not be added to the hot milk, as heated honey is considered toxic (very hard to digest and changes form) in ayurveda. Recipe from Maharishi Ayurveda