- Kirti Tarang Pande
The reason is simple. In Yogic Philosophy our gross body is referred to as 'Annamayakosa'. This means that this gross body is a sheath made of matter. This matter is the Panch Maha Bhoota (Five basic Elements) that we consume via food. In one sentence it would be: The food that we eat, makes us who we are.
In fact, if you're hosting a Yogi, the first thing the sadhak'll do upon entering your house is to takeover your kitchen. We have many rules regarding food. Sankhya Darshan (Philosophy from which Yoga & Ayurveda originates) discuss food before touching Ayurveda or Yoga. In food, before touching what to eat, it has a treatise on when & how to eat!
So, now you know how passionate we Yogis' are about our food.
In my personal practice, the rules that I found challenging in the beginning were:
1. Ahimsak/ non violent food- This meant no diary & honey
2. Only fresh food
3. No white sugar. Only natural sweeteners- jaggery, maple syrup.
4. Nothing cooked in a microwave.
The challenge came from my sweet tooth. I love to have some dessert at lunch. Can you think of a dessert that fits the above four criteria?
Initially even I couldn't. Then my mother suggested 'Murmure ke laddoo'. This opened a window of creativity & recipes began pouring in.
As I spoke with more & more vegan people, I realized that they too struggle with gratifying their sweet cravings. This gave birth to #7Days7DessertsChallenge on my instagram. Today, being Day 1, I have picked up is different recipe.
It's different from other recipes because it takes 45 minutes to make it & requires efforts. Others are 15 minutes quicikies. You're going to meet them tomorrow onwards.
Today, let me introduce you to:
Moong Dal Halwa
Ingredients:
- Moong Dal, yellow & split- 1 cup
- Grated/ Powdered Jaggery- 1 cup
- Rose Water- 2 tsp
- Cardamon- 4
- Water- 2 cups
- Coconut milk- 1 cup
- Golden raisins- 1tbsp
- Cashew nut- 1tbsp
- Grated cocunut/ Rose syrup (optional)
- Coconut oil: 1 tsp (in non-stick), 1 tbsp (in iron pan)
Method:
1. Overnight soak one cup moong dal in enough water.
2. Without using water, grind the dal into a smooth or coarse paste. Coarse adds texture & you can move to Step 3 quicker. Smooth is easy to cook. I prefer smooth.
3. Heat coconut oil in deep, heavy bottom pan. Amateurs must use non-stick, because the paste is sticky. Pros can try iron pan. Sankhya Darshan advocates for iron & frowns upon non-sticks.
Side step:
As the oil is being heated, on a different flame boil coconut milk with water & jaggery. Once it's boiled, lower the flame & let it simmer.
Back to main cooking:
4. Now this the part that requires efforts & patience- roast the most dal paste. There will be three stages-
a. The mixture will be all sticky- use low flame & keep scratching it off with a wooden ladder.
b. Lumps formation- work your way through lumps
c. Lumps will disintegrate- can use medium/high flame- keep stirring till the mixture is powdery
For 1 cup of all dal this step takes 25 minutes.
5. Add the coconut milk mixture, cardamon, raisins & almonds. On high flame allow the water to evaporate & the mixture to get the powdery consistency back. Towards the end, add rose water, here the mixture will require attention, stirring & low flame.
6. Take it off the flame. Garnish with raisins & almonds. My mother would use grated coconut too but husband doesn't like it, so I add rose syrup.
7. Have it hot.
How is it different:
Traditionally, 1 cup of mood dal will require 9/10 tbsp of ghee to get the right flavor. Also, instead of coconut milk, full fat milk is used. Rose water has no place in the recipe.
So obviously, this version has less calories. This however, comes at the cost of sacrificing the richness that comes from ghee. Moreover, frying dal in ghee brings out its irresistible aroma. That's the reason why I use rose water & rose syrup. It's nothing like the nose of moong dal but it blends well with coconut milk & the halwa still gets an aroma. A yogi can't get too greedy after all :)
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