Martins Ate's 108 Pure Vegetarian Food
Before getting to the recipes and pans, I wanted to give a brief introduction on what this book is about and why I made it.
Briefly - because of the munchies I get after a fat spliff is the reason I care for tasty food! As from Europe, the very first time I had an experience with Indian style food was in Vedic cooking classes in Belgium. While living in Brussels, as a vegetarian, I gathered many same minded people for Vedic culinary classes. The teacher of all that was from local Hare Krishna Radhadesh community and her amazing knowledge on how she was explaining all fruit, seed, vegetable qualities, mixing them up together with herbs and spices in the pan gave the mouth most maximum taste. She gave me inspiration for my restaurant business I continued later as McHalumi and the reason for this book to appear - to pass the knowledge gathered from ayurvedic cooking classes.
I became a vegetarian back in 2005. Before that I didn't have much experience with vegetables - I guess it is hard for all people who have got used to eating meat as the main diet to become a vegetarian I guess. For me the problem was in the usage of vegetables as some side-dish - I never thought of mixing them up with spices as for the main dish. I never knew how to make anything out of vegetables except some salad. That's for sure not enough for a daily dish - a proper, tasty meal which satisfies your mind and body. In a morning I'm drinking usually yogurt blended with nuts and fruits. At noon I eat something proper and heavy like pizza, rice, chick peace, daal, bread, etc., but in the afternoon usually, my wives cooks some mixed vegetables. In the evenings we drink warm milk with spices. It increases good sleep quality and made properly with ghee makes rich ayurvedic spices to influence our mind and body during our sleep. Today all my family and kids are vegetarian.
The #spices described in this #book are also strictly beneficiary accordingly to ayurvedic traditions. And blended in the dish are not so spicy even if it is crowded with spicy #herbs. Few examples can be told like Cardamom - it's a natural antibacterial thing which helps us clean our bodies. Turmeric - there are dozens of books regarding the use of #turmeric in #blood cleansing. The same for #Ginger which is like the main ingredient. #Cumin seeds help our digestive system and #anise seeds help to digest the food.
Many people nowadays are worried about where to get #protein. However the top 3 protein sources in the world is rice, peace and beans. It's balanced. All in one dish. So at least one of your meals per day can be balanced and proper. In my cooking, I'm trying to avoid canned food preparing all from fresh and local ingredients. I know the farms I'm buying milk from. I make my own yogurt and cottage cheese called #Paneer and #Halloumi. So everything is "local", made with Love and with devotion to Love. In most of the cases even Ghee I make myself.
I do not use cooking oil. I use a product called Ghee because its resistance capacity to the high temperatures is much higher so giving the ability to cook higher quality dishes. Ghee is a product of cows. It is made from fresh milk after it is cleared from cream, then blended into butter then purified by boiling it and dividing the existent butter into 2 parts - fats and shiny golden oil - Ghee. So due to this procedure Ghee has been always a valuable product in any house and in Vedic times families richness was even counted by the quantity of #Ghee in their households. So that's the basic ingredient for any cooked meal I normally would use for dishes I would eat myself and give to my guests.
It's very simple to accept why this food is healthy: it's cooked on ingredients which are collected to balance your nerves and immune system as it stabilizes your all main energy sources further spreading also to the body wellness. Different tastes of our Indian food might probably stress you out if you have not used for a gravy spiced dishes, however once you overcome that feeling you will start to see the benefit of it week by week. in #ayurveda There is a saying: if you do not consume the food as a medicine, the medicine will become your food. So it makes our food to be not only beneficiary in terms of proteins but it is also less cholesterol and fat-free. Did you know that the world famous boxer Mike #Tyson is a Vegetarian?
I would like to conclude my preface with a most important message in any cooking - if the importance of the Ghee is at the beginning of the cooking, then most important ingredient after finishing you dish - as important as ghee for a healthy body - is offering it to God. The food like this is called Prasadam. In other words - Blessed food - not just healthy and freshly prepared food, not just something to fully balance your daily bodies/minds/spirits needs but that all together and even more mixed in one. #Food consumed with grace towards God for providing it and in mind letting Him try a bit from it lowers our Ego and makes our days and at the end even the lives - filled with joy and happiness. Additionally - knowing that we are preparing a food suitable for consumption of #God - makes us fill it with #love during the preparation process.
I hope you find this book of my 108 Gems of Pure Vegetarian Food Recipes to suit you well for balancing not only your daily diet and bodies but also mind and spirit to be happy, healthy and wealthy!
