My adventure with the Indian cuisine started one nice day in Brussels. I had eaten only solid food for a few days and I was just dying for a soup. Then someone said they had this marvelous soup in the Indian restaurant nearby and suggested we tried it. And off we went!
They only had spinach and carrot soup I think, but the chap over there was very eager to please customers. Thus, when I asked for vegetables soup, he said they had just that (after all, spinach and carrot are vegetables, aren't they?!) and offered to bring it ASAP.
Everyone who tasted my vegetables soup knows that by that I meant a minestrone, and everyone knows what minestrone looks and tastes like. Now imagine my shock when they brought a thick, creamy, green... thing! There I was, looking all around, wondering how to react to it. Who had seen green soup before? (Guys don't bloody laugh, I was born in a small place where the only extravagant cuisines were Italian, Greek and little Turkish, but that only because we had considerable communities of Italians, Greeks and Turks in town! Green soup was literally.... alien to me!)
So I discreetly called the waiter and asked what kind of soup that was. In a semi-annoyed, semi-surprised, semi-frustrated voice the man told me that it was "totally vegetable soup". Then I asked in a sweet voice what vegetables had gone into my soup, and the man told me in an overly courteous way he was not sure because he was not the one who was making the soup, he was just serving it. So I wondered whether it would help me in any way if I slapped the guy. A pacifist by nature, I gave him an unnatural smile and let him go. He gave off a sigh.
The first few bites must have felt for me just like realizing that the land he had just discovered was not India for Columbus: a mix of disappointment and joy. As my taste-buds got used to the new wonder I really got over my initial reticence and had one more serving. I thought I thus had my revenge on the waiter, but I noticed the proud victorious grin on his face when he brought the bill. Who won? Both of us, I guess :)
Now after an undisclosed number of years I am more than familiar with Indian food. It's part of my life just as much - and occasionally even more than - my native Romanian cooking not only because my husband Rakesh is an Indian, but also because I got to love it myself. Sometimes you won't believe the blunders I make though, so there's definitely room for improvement!
Among my recent attempts at improving my Indian cooking skills I have to quote the most successful. My friend Maddie, a chef in UK, had the kindness to share with me a link to the site of an amazing Indian cook (Thanks a million Maddie!!!). Her name is Manjula and she is a magician in the kitchen, making all the impossibly complicated dishes absolutely accessible to everyonye. Watch a few of her videos and you'll see what I mean!
So whenever you're in the mood for an amazing Indian dish, just go to www.manjulaskitchen.com and select one of the many delicious recipes. Watch the video and then get yourself going! In the end, you'll surely discover India with your taste buds! Again and again!
This being said, I'm off to try Gajar ka Halwa. Enjoy your culinary trip to India! Cheers!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
My Favourite Winter Salad Recipe
Winters are challenging times for people who made a habit out of eating raw foods. Especially if temperatures go well below zero, those wonders of health suddenly don't look friendly anymore - considering none of us has the time to take them out of the fridge hours before eating them so they reach room temperature.
Not to worry! Here's the solution to it: combine it with a serving of piping hot nutritious grains. You can choose from a wide variety including brown rice (the white one is devoid of nutrients through the process of polishing), barley, quinoa. Besides giving a "hot" touch to the salad, these will bring their own nutritional benefits.
In case you don't have a salad recipe that you think might go with this suggestion, try this:
1-2 cups rice or grain (brown/basmati rice, barley, millet, quinoa or buckwheat)
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 teaspoons healthy oils (flax seed, olive, coconut)
salt to taste
1 avocado, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 green / red / yellow capsicum finely cut
1-2 sprigs green onion (optional)
1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped (optional)
roasted almonds, whole or chopped (optional)
your choice of fresh or dried herbs (cilantro, basil, oregano)
pepper to taste
This is a recipe I got from Dr. Robert O Young's newsletter. He is a Ph.D who researched the importance of food in developing dis-ease free lifestyles, and his findings are simply amazing!
To access more of his hugely informative newsletters please visit http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com or sign up at www.phmiracleliving.com
Be good, stay healthy, have a great weekend and...
Bon appetit!
Not to worry! Here's the solution to it: combine it with a serving of piping hot nutritious grains. You can choose from a wide variety including brown rice (the white one is devoid of nutrients through the process of polishing), barley, quinoa. Besides giving a "hot" touch to the salad, these will bring their own nutritional benefits.
In case you don't have a salad recipe that you think might go with this suggestion, try this:
1-2 cups rice or grain (brown/basmati rice, barley, millet, quinoa or buckwheat)
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 teaspoons healthy oils (flax seed, olive, coconut)
salt to taste
1 avocado, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 green / red / yellow capsicum finely cut
1-2 sprigs green onion (optional)
1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped (optional)
roasted almonds, whole or chopped (optional)
your choice of fresh or dried herbs (cilantro, basil, oregano)
pepper to taste
This is a recipe I got from Dr. Robert O Young's newsletter. He is a Ph.D who researched the importance of food in developing dis-ease free lifestyles, and his findings are simply amazing!
To access more of his hugely informative newsletters please visit http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com or sign up at www.phmiracleliving.com
Be good, stay healthy, have a great weekend and...
Bon appetit!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Save the Polar Bears!!!!
While watching TV on a beautiful Sunday, I came across a moving ad - a very convincing lady was talking about polar bears and how they were close to extinction due to global warming. In the end of the ad, the lady kindly advised viewers to stop this by donating just 18 dollars for this noble cause.
This might not be the only ad of the sort, because, as we all know, there are numerous endangered species. As an animal lover I am equally shattered to think of the polar bears as all the other endangered species.
Everything makes sense in context and when I turned my gaze towards the window, in sorrow... I had to see the majestic building of a well renowned bank all lit up. This is a place where all lights are on 24/7 and the escalators are working throughout the night!
Now let me see if I get the context right: we have a global economy in trouble, the environment is also badly affected, in spite of the fact that we do have a lot of technology backup and we are quite intelligent creatures!
In this case, why doesn't the bank make some money by replacing the regular escalator and lighting system inside with sensor-activated escalator and lighting system respectively?! I bet with the electrical bill savings from the first few months they can pay off the investment! Therefore in the next months not only do they cut costs so that they could increase their profitability, but also they end up saving loads of electricity. In this way they protect the environment too, and reduce the chances for the polar bears to be extinct!
The bank is just an example. There are many others, from reusing plastic bags to using phone / email instead of paper for communication, whenever possible.
To cut a long story short, it's not the 18 dollars that will save the polar bears. It's us, what we do, how we approach our issues as a whole, how we go to the root of the problem, how we take responsibility for the way we influence the world around us.
So I say: by all means, let's contribute 18 dollars to save the bears! Yet let's not forget the small things one can do that won't cost a dime, and which would help save not only the polar bears but also the planet, some of the many other endangered species and ultimately... ourselves!
This might not be the only ad of the sort, because, as we all know, there are numerous endangered species. As an animal lover I am equally shattered to think of the polar bears as all the other endangered species.
Everything makes sense in context and when I turned my gaze towards the window, in sorrow... I had to see the majestic building of a well renowned bank all lit up. This is a place where all lights are on 24/7 and the escalators are working throughout the night!
Now let me see if I get the context right: we have a global economy in trouble, the environment is also badly affected, in spite of the fact that we do have a lot of technology backup and we are quite intelligent creatures!
In this case, why doesn't the bank make some money by replacing the regular escalator and lighting system inside with sensor-activated escalator and lighting system respectively?! I bet with the electrical bill savings from the first few months they can pay off the investment! Therefore in the next months not only do they cut costs so that they could increase their profitability, but also they end up saving loads of electricity. In this way they protect the environment too, and reduce the chances for the polar bears to be extinct!
The bank is just an example. There are many others, from reusing plastic bags to using phone / email instead of paper for communication, whenever possible.
To cut a long story short, it's not the 18 dollars that will save the polar bears. It's us, what we do, how we approach our issues as a whole, how we go to the root of the problem, how we take responsibility for the way we influence the world around us.
So I say: by all means, let's contribute 18 dollars to save the bears! Yet let's not forget the small things one can do that won't cost a dime, and which would help save not only the polar bears but also the planet, some of the many other endangered species and ultimately... ourselves!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Unfairly Neglected
Like any poor mortal in pursuit of happiness, I sometimes sit and wonder about what gives quality to our lives. And boy, is that list incredibly long! No wonder we're never quite satisfied! :D
The first item in the long list that always comes to my mind is good health for ourselves and our family and friends. That's a good one, and I strongly believe that it's an important factor to all of us. Plus, it's completely out of our hands! Or is it???!!
Well, it turns out it's not as independent from our choices as we'd like to believe. According to a ton of books and articles I've been reading lately, your health is, as they say, in your hands. Surprised?
Here's how it goes: the body is like a machine. Should you take care of it (oil it nicely, feed it good fuel, service it occasionally, treat it according to its own limitations), it will last you a long time without major complaints! Do the opposite, and it will break down. I don't know about you, but it sounds logical enough to me!
So this is how they came to the conclusion that happiness goes through the stomach! Because otherwise, how many of you jolly fellows would have put food on your list of most important things to help you achieve a good quality of life? After all, we live in the day and age of fast food, of skipping meals and of dieting to lose weight. Ahem!
All right, if food is so important, some disbelieving Thomas will ask, which is that food that grants us salvation from the hell of obesity and numerous health problems? "Simple, my dear Watson", I say. Alkaline food, rich in nutrients and a blessing to your body! And since many eyebrows are getting raised already, let me detail it a tiny bit: superbly looking, colorful and cheerful veggies and dark leaf greens tossed together with magnificent oils (olive, flax seed, grape seed, coconut, sesame, safflower, borage and fish oils are best) flavored with naturally harvested and unprocessed salt (sea salt) and complimented with zesty lemon and your favorite spices! Yummmmyyyyy!
Oh yes, you guessed it right, the secret IS in the salad (but not only) as long as salad is made of fresh vegetables without any processed stuff like mayo, processed dressings, any type of fermented stuff (like vinegar) or meat! Moreover, nutritious grains like millet and quinoa make a delicious addition to such a salad - as long as there's 20% grains and 80% raw salad. That my friends is alkaline food. Doesn't sound like your kind of stuff? How do you know? I bet you haven't tried it! If this is your dinner every day, give it one month for the weighing machine to smile a broad smile to you! Hmmmm or was it the other way round?!
Okay, food is third place in the championship of unfairly ignored vital things that make us happy (if you don't believe me, go to a place where you have no access to your favorite food for a while :D)
Number two, my friends, is water. Here the rule is: the more, the better! I drink 4-5 liters per day, but my weight is 50 kilograms. If you weigh more, you might want to drink more. Please note that the amount of water the body needs is not the same thing with the amount of FLUIDS you consume. Soups, juices, tea, coffee are NOT included in the minimum 4 liters per day.
Now if you don't believe me water brings you happiness... well, I won't even bother to tell you "try doing without"! You know you can't, right? So there goes the vicechampion of unfairly neglected sources of happiness!
"What can be more important and under-rated than this?" you might ask yourself. I think the simplicity of the answer comes as no surprise! Ladies and gentlement, our champion is... the breath! Did you know that in this world of constant pressure, hurry and multitasking, we forgot how to breathe properly? Our breath is shallow and hurried - which is why stress became the ailment of the century.
Fear not, my friends, what is done can be undone. The way we work out our body, we can also work out our breath by means of specific types of breathing exercise. These are generically called Pranayama, and they're a part of yoga. With only half an hour of breathing exercises per day, we emerge calmer, with a clearer mind and a healthier body.
I'll get into further details about each of our stars in later posts. In the meantime, I'd appreciate your inputs, additions, or criticism.
Stay happy, healthy and hydrated! Have an amazing day!
The first item in the long list that always comes to my mind is good health for ourselves and our family and friends. That's a good one, and I strongly believe that it's an important factor to all of us. Plus, it's completely out of our hands! Or is it???!!
Well, it turns out it's not as independent from our choices as we'd like to believe. According to a ton of books and articles I've been reading lately, your health is, as they say, in your hands. Surprised?
Here's how it goes: the body is like a machine. Should you take care of it (oil it nicely, feed it good fuel, service it occasionally, treat it according to its own limitations), it will last you a long time without major complaints! Do the opposite, and it will break down. I don't know about you, but it sounds logical enough to me!
So this is how they came to the conclusion that happiness goes through the stomach! Because otherwise, how many of you jolly fellows would have put food on your list of most important things to help you achieve a good quality of life? After all, we live in the day and age of fast food, of skipping meals and of dieting to lose weight. Ahem!
All right, if food is so important, some disbelieving Thomas will ask, which is that food that grants us salvation from the hell of obesity and numerous health problems? "Simple, my dear Watson", I say. Alkaline food, rich in nutrients and a blessing to your body! And since many eyebrows are getting raised already, let me detail it a tiny bit: superbly looking, colorful and cheerful veggies and dark leaf greens tossed together with magnificent oils (olive, flax seed, grape seed, coconut, sesame, safflower, borage and fish oils are best) flavored with naturally harvested and unprocessed salt (sea salt) and complimented with zesty lemon and your favorite spices! Yummmmyyyyy!
Oh yes, you guessed it right, the secret IS in the salad (but not only) as long as salad is made of fresh vegetables without any processed stuff like mayo, processed dressings, any type of fermented stuff (like vinegar) or meat! Moreover, nutritious grains like millet and quinoa make a delicious addition to such a salad - as long as there's 20% grains and 80% raw salad. That my friends is alkaline food. Doesn't sound like your kind of stuff? How do you know? I bet you haven't tried it! If this is your dinner every day, give it one month for the weighing machine to smile a broad smile to you! Hmmmm or was it the other way round?!
Okay, food is third place in the championship of unfairly ignored vital things that make us happy (if you don't believe me, go to a place where you have no access to your favorite food for a while :D)
Number two, my friends, is water. Here the rule is: the more, the better! I drink 4-5 liters per day, but my weight is 50 kilograms. If you weigh more, you might want to drink more. Please note that the amount of water the body needs is not the same thing with the amount of FLUIDS you consume. Soups, juices, tea, coffee are NOT included in the minimum 4 liters per day.
Now if you don't believe me water brings you happiness... well, I won't even bother to tell you "try doing without"! You know you can't, right? So there goes the vicechampion of unfairly neglected sources of happiness!
"What can be more important and under-rated than this?" you might ask yourself. I think the simplicity of the answer comes as no surprise! Ladies and gentlement, our champion is... the breath! Did you know that in this world of constant pressure, hurry and multitasking, we forgot how to breathe properly? Our breath is shallow and hurried - which is why stress became the ailment of the century.
Fear not, my friends, what is done can be undone. The way we work out our body, we can also work out our breath by means of specific types of breathing exercise. These are generically called Pranayama, and they're a part of yoga. With only half an hour of breathing exercises per day, we emerge calmer, with a clearer mind and a healthier body.
I'll get into further details about each of our stars in later posts. In the meantime, I'd appreciate your inputs, additions, or criticism.
Stay happy, healthy and hydrated! Have an amazing day!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Education through... Laughter!
Education and laughter seem to be mere oxymorons. That's because we all associate education with schooling. Isn't School as an institution our only hope for discipline, seriousness, sense of duty etc to be instilled into the new generation?
Well, I hate to be the messenger whom some will perhaps want to shoot, but the answer is NO! That's HOME, preferably the first 7 years, when the parents (yes, that's correct, the parents) negotiate with the child the limits and boundaries they'll follow through their entire life. That's the time when things are put into perspective: what is good and what is harmful to self, to others, responsibilities, curiosities, basic values, cultural influences and the sought-after privileges and rewards! Only then does the schooling system (which could be improved pretty much everywhere, I am sure we'll all agree here) come to take this dough, add the spices of knowledge, put it into molds and bake it on slow fire. If your dough is not well kneaded, ladies and gentlemen, don't expect the cookie to come out great!
But I digress... I am not really interested in the conventional and much too serious (to be read as sad) understanding of education many a school have - it's simply not my style. I am not interested in the light approach either : we do what we wish and we wish to do nothing! How much fun! Huh??!! No, my focus is laughter as a means of education.
To detail this point of view, I'll return to sweet childhood times when days would be marked, noted and remembered by the naughty stuff I could be relied upon to pull through! Surely, this added quite a bit of spice to my mother's life. There are funny memories - such as the detailed research into the origin of the cartoons by scientifically banging the TV to the floor (age 5) to climbing the table so as to escape the monsters that might have crept into the house after dark (throughout childhood) to writing on the walls (doesn't everyone?!) - and dire consequences they inevitably entailed.
Needless to say that poor mom tried her best to make nice, civilised beings out of a couple of small monsters. Since the child's rights were not applicable in our time and age, but were instead replaced by a long tradition of wise sayings like "where mom hits it will grow" or "beating is descended from heaven" (originating from the wonderful times when angelic fathers (priests) were educating our youth :D) the repercusions of our acts of demonic creativity were bountifully rewarded. And this to such an extent that at a certain point in time any type of forceful reinforcement of discipline and reason was utterly ineffective and would inevitably end in "I'm not hurting... tralalalalala..." and some tongue made visible to spite the agressor.
Therefore mom soon understood that strategy needed to be changed. After a phase of emotional blackmail called "talking to the child as if they were an adult" which worked only if employed sparingly, mom turned to the ultimate weapon: laughter.
Here she discovered gold. From then onwards, everything was sorted out with funny or ironic comments that would always bring about laughter. We were practically taught the core values by studying our behavious and being made aware in a funny manner whenever something was wrong. In addition to that, no experience was spared its educational character. For instance, when a neighbour child would not say hello to someone they knew, the fellon was a "queen"/ "king" and "her/his Majesty's" nose was "up in the clouds"! How uncool! Who would want to be referred to in such derisive terms? Of course my sister and I might have been fellons in the past too! But we would never be fellons again in the future - and that's what's important.
A more recent memory refers to my experience as an educator, in my first year of teaching. One of the highschool groups I was teaching was part of a football (soccer) team and it was a boys-only class: 15 tenns strength, full of testosteron and brimming with peer pressure. Among them, the teacher was an enemy by default. To demonstrate their "cool" attitudes and my helplessness in dealing with them, they would have this ritual of getting up with a big bang of wooden revolving-chairs and rush out of the class before me whenever the class would come to an end. I never said anything until one day when I performed an ironic courtsey and said loud and clear, with a broad smile on my face: "But of course, ladies first!" and left room for them to pass. Not only did they let me go through first, but no one ever came out of that class before me again - not before asking for permission!
Frankly, I must admit that there are two sides of every coin, and I must bring forth an observation that would round my viewpoint. While ironical statements and sarcasm could be used to pinpoint aspects that could be corrected, it often happens that they are employed to undermine the child's self-esteem. That's not education through laughter, that's a crime! No sensible person wants to belittle anyone, and an educator (teacher or parent alike) should make no confusion here!
What's laughter but a wave of positivity? And who is "too positive" or "positive enough" nowadays?! Hence I maintain that it can make a powerful tool as long as we know how to use it sensibly to solve (not create!) behavior problems with our beloved yet rebellious children - and especially teens!
Well, I hate to be the messenger whom some will perhaps want to shoot, but the answer is NO! That's HOME, preferably the first 7 years, when the parents (yes, that's correct, the parents) negotiate with the child the limits and boundaries they'll follow through their entire life. That's the time when things are put into perspective: what is good and what is harmful to self, to others, responsibilities, curiosities, basic values, cultural influences and the sought-after privileges and rewards! Only then does the schooling system (which could be improved pretty much everywhere, I am sure we'll all agree here) come to take this dough, add the spices of knowledge, put it into molds and bake it on slow fire. If your dough is not well kneaded, ladies and gentlemen, don't expect the cookie to come out great!
But I digress... I am not really interested in the conventional and much too serious (to be read as sad) understanding of education many a school have - it's simply not my style. I am not interested in the light approach either : we do what we wish and we wish to do nothing! How much fun! Huh??!! No, my focus is laughter as a means of education.
To detail this point of view, I'll return to sweet childhood times when days would be marked, noted and remembered by the naughty stuff I could be relied upon to pull through! Surely, this added quite a bit of spice to my mother's life. There are funny memories - such as the detailed research into the origin of the cartoons by scientifically banging the TV to the floor (age 5) to climbing the table so as to escape the monsters that might have crept into the house after dark (throughout childhood) to writing on the walls (doesn't everyone?!) - and dire consequences they inevitably entailed.
Needless to say that poor mom tried her best to make nice, civilised beings out of a couple of small monsters. Since the child's rights were not applicable in our time and age, but were instead replaced by a long tradition of wise sayings like "where mom hits it will grow" or "beating is descended from heaven" (originating from the wonderful times when angelic fathers (priests) were educating our youth :D) the repercusions of our acts of demonic creativity were bountifully rewarded. And this to such an extent that at a certain point in time any type of forceful reinforcement of discipline and reason was utterly ineffective and would inevitably end in "I'm not hurting... tralalalalala..." and some tongue made visible to spite the agressor.
Therefore mom soon understood that strategy needed to be changed. After a phase of emotional blackmail called "talking to the child as if they were an adult" which worked only if employed sparingly, mom turned to the ultimate weapon: laughter.
Here she discovered gold. From then onwards, everything was sorted out with funny or ironic comments that would always bring about laughter. We were practically taught the core values by studying our behavious and being made aware in a funny manner whenever something was wrong. In addition to that, no experience was spared its educational character. For instance, when a neighbour child would not say hello to someone they knew, the fellon was a "queen"/ "king" and "her/his Majesty's" nose was "up in the clouds"! How uncool! Who would want to be referred to in such derisive terms? Of course my sister and I might have been fellons in the past too! But we would never be fellons again in the future - and that's what's important.
A more recent memory refers to my experience as an educator, in my first year of teaching. One of the highschool groups I was teaching was part of a football (soccer) team and it was a boys-only class: 15 tenns strength, full of testosteron and brimming with peer pressure. Among them, the teacher was an enemy by default. To demonstrate their "cool" attitudes and my helplessness in dealing with them, they would have this ritual of getting up with a big bang of wooden revolving-chairs and rush out of the class before me whenever the class would come to an end. I never said anything until one day when I performed an ironic courtsey and said loud and clear, with a broad smile on my face: "But of course, ladies first!" and left room for them to pass. Not only did they let me go through first, but no one ever came out of that class before me again - not before asking for permission!
Frankly, I must admit that there are two sides of every coin, and I must bring forth an observation that would round my viewpoint. While ironical statements and sarcasm could be used to pinpoint aspects that could be corrected, it often happens that they are employed to undermine the child's self-esteem. That's not education through laughter, that's a crime! No sensible person wants to belittle anyone, and an educator (teacher or parent alike) should make no confusion here!
What's laughter but a wave of positivity? And who is "too positive" or "positive enough" nowadays?! Hence I maintain that it can make a powerful tool as long as we know how to use it sensibly to solve (not create!) behavior problems with our beloved yet rebellious children - and especially teens!
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