Chana Masala!!!

Chana Masala

Ingredients (serves 4-6 persons)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon asafetida

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced

1 medium sized cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon chana masala

1 teaspoon chat masala/amchoor

1 cup crushed tomatoes/tomato paste

4 cups boiled garbanzo/chick peas

Salt to taste

2/3 cup water

Fresh Cilantro (for garnishing, optional)

1. Heat oil in a large skillet.

2. Add asafetida, bay leaves, ginger, chili & cinnamon and sauté over a medium heat until browned (3-5 minutes).Turn heat to medium-low.

3. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric and chana masala. Stir for a few seconds.

4. Add the tomato paste/crushed tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes until browned lightly.

5. Add chickpeas and a cup of water and stir.

6. Add the amchoor, salt and lemon juice.

7. Cook covered for 10 minutes.

8. Remove the cover and garnish with cilantro.

You can be that servant.

Near Death Experiences!?!?!

In our first meeting for the Spring Semester (with plenty of fresh snow and ice still on the ground :-)), we returned back to the first essential teaching of the Bhagavad-Gita: that we are more than just this temporary body, and that to go deeper, we must understand that we are the soul within. How do we understand this beyond the theoretical or the seemingly mystical or mythological? The realm of experience is where we can understand spiritual knowledge beyond the doubting and misunderstanding nature of our mind, and we framed our first discussion of the semester around one such extraordinary experience: the near-death experience (NDE).

A lot of us are familiar with this phenomenon, which has come from the outskirts of the paranormal to something that is now being seriously accepted and studied by mainstream science, simply because of the compelling nature of the experience and the millions upon millions of people who have experienced an NDE. Check out this video below that we watched during our discussions, which comes from the Discovery Channel, on one of the most well-documented NDE cases, of Pam Reynolds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu1ErDeQ0Zw

How was Pam able to see, hear, and experience her operation even though her body was clinically dead? Who is that seer? As we explored some potential answers to these questions, we considered that the wisdom of the Gita is clearly trying to tell us that this is our spirit, our soul, our actual self, and that we remain and exist and can perceive beyond our earthly body. The near-death experience is one such practical and serious example of this manifest deeper reality, and its evidence can compel us to understand and contemplate our deeper self and our deeper nature as we go through our daily life.

Spinach Filos

Spinach Filo Triangles (Spanakopita)

Spinach Filo Triangles feature the salty white Greek sheep's cheese called feta and wafer-thin continental filo pastry (both available at delicatessens and large stores). If you are not partial to the rather strong taste of feta, substitute ricotta cheese or home-made curd cheese (panir) or a combination of both. Include the optional cheddar cheese if you're using a substitute for feta. I have omitted salt from the recipe because feta cheese and spinach are both naturally salty. Add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt if you are not using feta. These crisp, savoury, baked pastries are great for party catering.

• PREPARATION TIME: 1 - 1 1/2 hours

• BAKING TIME: 15 to 20 minutes

• YIELD: About 24 triangles

• 2 large bunches spinach, washed and coarsely chopped 5 tablespoons (100 ml) butter

• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) yellow asafoetida powder

• 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) nutmeg

• 2 tablespoons (40 ml) plain flour

• 3/4 cup (185 ml) milk

• 250 g (9 ounces) chopped feta cheese

(or ricotta or curd cheese plus 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) tasty cheddar cheese, grated)

• 375 g (13 ounces) filo pastry

• 2 tablespoons (40 ml) bread crumbs (optional)

• 1 cup (250 ml) melted butter (for brushing on the pastry layers)

1. Place the spinach in a large, heavy saucepan over moderately high heat with 3 tablespoons (60 ml) of butter, salt, and pepper. Bring the spinach to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook uncovered until the spinach is tender and the liquid has evaporated.

2. Melt another 2 tablespoons (40 ml) butter in a separate pan, add asafoetida, and saute for a few moments. Add the nutmeg and flour and saute for about 1 minute. Add the milk and stir carefully until the sauce boils and thickens. Remove from the heat. Combine the spinach, cheese, and sauce. Place the mixture in a bowl and allow to cool. If the mixture is too moist, add the optional bread crumbs.

3. Cut all the pastry sheets into long, 9 cm (4-inch) wide strips. Using a pastry brush, brush 2 strips with melted butter. Layer one buttered strip on top of another.

4. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of filling on the end of each double pastry strip and fold over to form a triangle, covering the filling. Lifting the triangle up and over to form a second triangle, continue folding until you reach the end of the pastry strip. Adhere the last edge of the pastry with butter.

5. Fill all the triangles in this manner, brush the tops with butter, and bake on unbuttered baking sheets in a preheated oven 180°C/355°F for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Drum Major Instinct

Sweet and Sour

Sweet and Sour Subji

6 oz (175 g) tamarind
2 tablespoon ghee
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 green chillies, sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
1 1/4 cups (275 ml) whey
2/3 cup (100 g) brown sugar
1 pineapple, trimmed and cubed
3 carrots, sliced
2 teaspoon mango powder
2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoon ground coriander
10 oz (275 g) pressed paneer, cubed –OR- TVP
3 zucchinis, cubed
4 tomatoes, quartered
3 stalks celery, diced
3 teaspoon salt
3 green plantains, sliced

Heat the ghee in a large saucepan and fry the cumin seeds, then the grated ginger and green chillies. Next toss in the ground pepper and the asafoetida and fry for a few seconds more. Then pour the whey into the masala and simmer for a moment. Add the tamarind juice, brown sugar, pineapple chunks, sliced carrots, mango powder, paprika, and ground coriander. Allow to boil and thicken, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Meanwhile, deep-fry the paneer cubes until light brown and set them aside.
Add the zucchini and celery to the masala, cover the pan, and cook until barely tender. Then add the fried paneer cubes, tomatoes, and salt. Stir well. If you are using sliced green plantains, add them at this point. If you are using fried potatoes, add them after the paneer cubes have soaked up some of the sauce and become juicy. Cover the pan, and cook until all the ingredients are tender.

Exploring the Origins of Life

The paradigm of the Vedic culture presented in the Bhagavad-Gita sheds a lot of new and interesting light on the question of the nature of time and of our history, and this week we explored the extraordinary and compelling cosmology of the universe that the Gita sets forth. We are accustomed to a linear view of our time and our history here, as taught and supposed to us through the Western cultural paradigm, but the cosmology of the Gita offers something different. We discussed the cyclical nature of time, of periods of history known as yugas which constantly repeat over and over again, and we discussed how the science of the Vedas predates and hold true many of the great “discoveries” of our modern times, such as the theory of relativity, the health benefits of yoga and meditation, and the multiple universe theories of quantum physics. Ultimately the Gita calls for us to transcend these material cosmological elements to understand the nature of spiritual reality, but in our discussion we came away with a lot of thought-provoking ideas that showed us that what we know to be time and space and our own history could be much more than what we have been told or taught before.