Bok Choy, Spinach, Broad beans & Piquant paneer

Cruciferous vegetables – like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, collard greens, kale and radish – are one of the dominant food crops worldwide. Today they are perhaps more popular than ever: not so much because people crave for vitamin A or C, soluble fiber and phytochemicals, but because modern scientific research shows that Brassica vegetable consumption correlates with lower cancer rates. There isn’t another food group that would match for nourishment across the variety of nutritional categories.

Although I’ve always eaten my “cole crops” with gusto, I became interested in their anti-estrogenic properties after battling with hormone imbalance for years. Estrogen is a fat-making hormone that, in excess, blocks fat-burning hormones needed for a healthy metabolism. As a result, every morsel of food (whether a carbohydrate, sugar, fat or protein) turns into a layer of lard around the belly, hips and tights to protect the organs underneath, especially the ovaries. The liver is a powerhouse through which all hormones are processed, and cruciferous vegetables – especially when eaten raw – help the liver to break down the chemicals, and to detoxify. Sulfur, which is ample in all cabbage family, plays a major role in this process.

Bok Choy or Chinese cabbage’s medicinal value was known to the Ming Dynasty naturalist Li Shizhen (1518 – 1593) who popularized it outside the Yangtze River Delta region, making it a Manchurian staple long before it spread to Japan and around the world.

Unlike regular cabbage, broccoli, mustard greens or rutabaga, bok choy has a very mild scent and flavor. It cooks in a couple of minutes which makes it an attractive alternative for those who can’t afford spending much time in the kitchen. If you make the paneer and clean the beans beforehand, my today’s recipe takes less than ten minutes to assemble.

Before you jump to the recipe, let me say that soy sauce (that I’ve used to boost the paneer) is high sodium food. Many brands that manufacture soy sauce or tamari in a non-traditional way enhance their product with table salt (NaCl) and monosodium glutamate (MSG) – two culprits that cause water retention and joint pain when consumed. Studies have shown that MSG triples the output of insulin, and we all know what effect table salt has for blood pressure and cardiovascular health table salt has no nutritional value. Most boxed and canned foods, gravies, TV dinners and condiments are laced with them because they give that extra punch and make a meal taste just a little bit too good to be true. People who eat them regularly loose appetite for natural flavors found in whole foods.

I don’t generally promote any soy-derived products because they are too processed and heavy for my yogic lifestyle, but occasionally I use Bragg Amino Acids for the flavor. It is a seasoning made from non-GMO soy beans and purified water and is without added MSG, preservatives, coloring, alcohol, gluten or salt. If you would like to substitute it with soy sauce, you will have to adjust (probably lessen) the amount in the recipe.

On the side I’ve served beetroot yogurt: A little bit grated beets, yogurt, black pepper and Himalayan salt.

Bok Choy, spinach, broad beans and piquant paneer (serves 2 - 4)

Ingredients

For the broad beans:

125 ml (1/2 cup) fresh broad beans (removed from the pods)

Boiling water for parboiling

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For the tomato sauce:

2 tomatoes

1 red chili pepper (fresh), seeded

½ tsp jeera seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

2 Tbsp Bragg liquid aminos

(Extra whey if needed)

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For the paneer:

450 g/16 oz shortly pressed and diced paneer (from 3 liters/12 cups milk + 1 lemon)

2 Tbsp ghee, butter or oil

¼ tsp hing powder

(The tomato sauce from above)

½ tsp kala namak powder

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For the greens:

1 large bok choy (coarsely chopped)

500 ml (2 cups) baby spinach

1 Tbsp ghee, butter or oil

A good pinch of hing powder

1 Tbsp finely grated ginger

1 green chili, slit

½ tsp Himalayan salt

Method:

Prepare the beans first by parboiling them for a minute to loosen the exterior coating. Then drain and rinse them under cold water, and cut a slit on the outer layer and slip the bean out with your fingers. Discard the skins. Set the beans aside.

Make the tomato sauce by peeling the tomatoes and removing their stems. Combine the tomatoes with the chili and spices in an electric spice mill or food processor to make fine paste. Add the soy sauce and set aside.

Heat up the ghee, butter or oil in a non-stick skillet over a medium heat and add the hing powder. Toss it once or twice with a spatula, and add the paneer dices. Fry them, tossing and turning, until they are golden brown on all sides. Then pour in the tomato sauce. Let the paneer cook in the sauce until the sauce becomes very thick and dry, sticking to the paneer. If you want more sauce, add a little bit whey from cheese making to achieve the desired consistency. Finally, add the kala namak powder and turn off the heat.

While the paneer is cooking in the sauce, heat up 1 Tbsp ghee, butter or oil in another pan or pot. Add the hing powder, grated ginger and chili. Toss the mixture for 20 to 30 seconds with a spatula then add the chopped bok choy stems. Sauté them for a minute or two then add the chopped leaves and the spinach. Sauté the greens for a minute or two, and then add the broad beans and salt. Mix well, and then fold carefully in the tomato sauce infused paneer. Turn off the heat.

Thank you.

Saffron Paneer

Say cheese!

Nutritionally, cheese is concentrated milk with a longer shelf-life and many uses. Despite that it may smell like old shoes, people – especially Europeans – have cultivated an acquired taste for it since prehistoric times.

The fermenting process was likely accidentally discovered by storing milk in containers made from animal stomach, in which it naturally curdled as a reaction to rennet. Gradually it led to using the inner mucosa of the fourth stomach chamber of slaughtered, unweaned calves as the main coagulation agent necessary for making hard, ripened cheese.

By Roman times, pressing curds, and salting and aging them, was already an established art. Today, Europeans are still the world’s top cheesemongers and consumers, closely followed by Americans who started to produce their cheddars in an assembly-line as early as in 1851. Although at the dawn of 1900s scientists developed microbial starters to replace the more laborious and expensive animal rennet, there are some cheeses – like Parmesan – that solely rely on traditional ingredients and methods.

For those who follow dietary cultures of Hinduism, Judaism or Islam, or even the ethical codes of vegetarianism, eating cheese that requires slaughtering is out of question. From the point of view of sattvic (pure) lifestyle, the process of ripening itself is questionable because it is actually nothing else than controlling spoilage: many of the odor and flavor molecules in an aged cheese are same as those found in rotten foods.

In India, acid-set soft cheese known as chhena could be perhaps called "the mother-cheese" that predates recorded history. It is prepared by adding lemon juice (or some other sour-agent: yogurt, buttermilk or citric acid) to boiling milk to separate the curds from the whey. It is the simplest kind of fresh cheese widely used both in savory and sweet preparations.

When you wrap these curds in cloth and press them under a weight until they turn into a solid mass, which you can dice and use in curries or salads, you get paneer. It is probably the best known Asian cheese in the West, and you have likely bumped into it when dining in an Indian restaurant. Does palak paneer, kadai paneer, matar paneer, paneer butter masala, paneer tikka, paneer korma or shahi paneer ring a bell?

It’s no secret I love paneer and usually make it once or twice a week. For me, it personifies the generosity and kindness of cows. It is luscious and comforting. These are my tips for making light and fluffy paneer:

1. Use only organic full-fat milk
2. Cook it in a heavy bottom pan over a moderate heat
3. As soon as it reaches the boiling point, turn off the heat and add gradually as little lemon juice as it takes to curdle the milk (about 1 lemon per 3 liters / 12 cups milk)
4. Stir the milk very gently (not vigorously)
5. Drain and wrap the curds in cloth, and press the bundle under a weight (a pot filled with water, for example) only for 5 to 10 minutes: paneer will remain moist but you are still able to cut it into cubes

Although this dish is all about paneer, it’s also about aromatics and texture to which paneer lends a plump body. There are countless spice combinations you could opt for, but I have used a simple and subtle one today to highlight the unique hay-like fragrance and vivid pigment of saffron.

There is a lot of inconsistency in the potency of saffron. Look for deep crimson stigmas and don’t compromise the price!

Just because I found a coconut loitering in the kitchen this morning, I utilized it, but I’ve made the recipe succesfully with cream or even with homemade yogurt instead of coconut milk. If you go for the yogurt, add it after the cashew paste has properly thickened and simmer it over a low heat to prevent it from curdling.

SAFFRON PANEER

Ingredients:

Paneer from 3 liters / 12 cups organic full fat milk

2-3 tomatoes

1 long red, seeded chili (mild), or to taste

A thumb-size piece of peeled ginger root

A little bit of water to paste the chili and ginger

125 ml (½ cup) cashew nuts

125 ml (½ cup) whey (or water)

A half of fresh coconut

500 ml (2 cups) whey (or water) to make coconut milk

2 Tbsp ghee (or butter or oil)

2 tsp freshly ground coriander powder

1 tsp freshly ground jeera powder

125 – 250 ml (½ - 1 cup) additional whey (or water) for attaining desired consistency

2 generous pinches of freshly powdered saffron

1 generous pinch of freshly powdered cardamom

2 tsp Himalayan salt or to taste

Cooking method:

Make the paneer as instructed in the text above. Press it for less than 10 minutes. Preserve the whey.

Wash and peel the tomatoes, and remove the stems. Purée the tomatoes in an electric spice mill or food processor. Set the purée aside.

Make a paste from the chili, ginger and as much water as needed. This amount of chili gives only mild heat. Use more, if you want a stronger taste. Set the paste aside.

Make a paste from the cashew nuts and whey (or water). Set it aside.

Cut the coconut half into smaller chunks and blitz the pieces with whey (or water) in an electric spice mill or food processor. Place thin cheesecloth in a sieve and place the sieve over a bowl. Now pour the coconut paste onto the cloth, make a bundle and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Set the milk aside and use the coconut meat for chutney or other cooking.

Heat up the ghee (or butter or oil) in a pot or pan over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add the coriander and jeera powder, mix once with a spatula and immediately pour in the chili-ginger paste. Cook it for about 10 minutes until the ghee (or butter or oil) separates from it. You may want to mix it a couple of times to prevent it from scalding. Always grind the spices as needed because they quickly lose the aroma.

Pour in the tomato paste and cook it for another 10 or 15 minutes until the ghee (or butter or oil) separates from it.

Add the cashew paste. Mix it well and then add the coconut milk. Lower the temperature and simmer until the sauce thickens. You may add some more whey (or water) to achieve a desired consistency.

Finally add the saffron, cardamom and salt. Mix well. Then add the paneer dices. Let the flavors infuse for a couple of minutes before serving.

Thank you.

Baked Avocados

Looking for a new way to serve avocados? Stuff and bake them. It’s also an excellent way to get rid of leftovers while cleaning the refrigerator and pantry!

For the stuffing, use your favorite ingredients. I made mine from paneer, cooked black beans, roasted pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, fried eggplant cubes, basil, cayenne pepper, black pepper, hing powder, kala namak powder and Himalayan salt. Then my little helper, Heikki (age 8), grated parmesan-type hard cheese suitable for vegetarians on the top, and I baked the avocados in 220 C (428 F) until the cheese melted and looked nice.

Although he was eager to assist in the kitchen, it turned out Heikki disliked avocados. When the table was set, he announced he would prefer his own snacks instead! While we ate, I learnt *all* about football.

Thank you.

Nettle, mint & paneer

I will keep it short today because it isn’t wise to write a food post on Nirjala Ekadasi, during which we fast, ideally, even from water. Unfortunately, I broke my vow already in the morning because I couldn’t move due to a lower back pain. It’s an ailment that has bothered me for some time, but which I've kept at bay by drinking two cups of warm water upon waking up. I suspect kidney stones but will hear a professional opinion later this week. Despite the drawback, I’m still determined to refrain from food until tomorrow and use the opportunity for increased yoga practice. In the afternoon I will be fortunate to hear sadhu or a saintly person speak on devotional identity, field, purpose and activity.

This nettle, mint and cheese recipe is a version of classic palak paneer. I’ve prepared it once a week since the first wild herbs appeared this spring. It turns out differently each time according to the cooking method and ingredients. Although I wasn’t hundred per cent satisfied with the result, I haven’t had time to redo this particular combination of strong mint and sweet nettle in order to test and improve the recipe. Therefore, please don’t take it literarily but as an inspiration for your own adaptation. Remember, freshly harvested mint is such a dominating flavoring agent that if you omit it, you will have to adjust the spices accordingly. Instead of nettle, you may use any other wild vegetable. For a richer dish, fry paneer.

Nettles sting: use gloves when picking and handling them! They are best eaten before they blossom; after that they tend to become bitter. You can cut the plant several times and it will grow back again. When young, the stems are tender and usable in the kitchen, too.

If you substitute spinach with nettles, take into consideration that they don’t release as much water as spinach leaves.

Nettles are one of the nature’s most valuable sources of iron. They also contain calcium, folic acid, potassium, manganese, carotenoids and vitamin C. Because of concentrated amounts of nitrates, they should be shortly blanched. Use the water in which you boil the nettles to fertilize your houseplants or garden. Fermented nettle-water increases the pH-value of the soil and, thus, improves the health of plants. To make a fertilizer, fill a bucket with nettles and add enough water to cover them; then, let the mixture stand for two weeks, sieve out the water and compost the plants. The dilution ratio of the fertilizer is 1:10.

Pumpkin & Rosemary Soup

When we moved to Finland with my husband, it was May 2000. Patches of snow still lined a few shadow corners of Helsinki but winter was well underway towards the south of equator. However, a country of which one third rests above the Arctic Circle never really wakes up from the polar night. Even in the summer the northern wind is just snoozing, as if recharging. The presence of the Arctic Ocean is coded in every breeze. At any time, it may descend as an avalanche of icicles piercing the layers of clothes, skin, fat and bones. Nothing escapes from such coldness. The day we moved here it showed the last breath of power in the face of summer and around October, every year, it claims back the authority. Today it arrived with a message of winter. It won’t be long there is snow.

Soup is a weapon against chill and darkness. There isn’t a better ammunition than pumpkin, the offspring of autumnal colours, combined with rosemary that has an aroma of burning wood.

The appetite will be satisfied by paneer that extracts the humour of each ingredient in the soup causing the goodness of milk to burst in the mouth like a soft fountain of flavours. To add texture, garnish with a handful of oven roasted parsnip chips.

Thank you.

An Ode To The Mother Earth

The mother’s day arrived and left a week ago. I missed the opportunity to post a tribute to my favourite mothers in time. The emblem of motherhood is personified in the mother who gives birth to us, the wife of a teacher, the wife of a holy person or a priest, queen, cow, nurse and earth. In a civilized society they are always respected and protected. Unfortunately we have reduced the list to barely include the person who parents us.

In Bhagavata Purana, spoken by the sages in the Naimisha forest thousands of years ago, there is a narration of the mother earth at the dawn of the current cycle of time, Kali-yuga. She describes how the pillars of human culture – austerity, purity, compassion and truthfulness – are being trampled by the increase of pride, lust, violence and falsehood.

We have conveniently distanced ourselves from and impersonalized the mother earth in order to pursue our desire to gain her abundance without responsibility. In any other relationship such cold-blooded abuse would be regretted. Nature is not dead matter. It is living energy. The consciousness of a plant or an animal may not be as developed as ours, but it doesn’t justify our tyranny. To have more tools means – to an intelligent person – to use them for a greater benefit. By mistreating the mother earth we don’t only cause pain but break the hand that feeds us. Despite of our financial prosperity and keen abilities of technology, we won’t be able to replicate her when she loses immunity to our drilling of oil, cutting down forests, polluting water resources, pumping the soil with chemicals and slaughtering animals. To lose a mother for greed and ignorance is embarrassing.

Any improvement begins with a change of consciousness. We can upgrade our situation, plans, skills and endeavours unlimitedly, but without the change of attitude or focus it won’t lead to a desired result. In order to regain respect and love for nature, we must understand who we are ourselves, what everything else is and what our relationships are. What is sustaining everything? A harmonic relationship with environment begins with willingness to reconsider our false supremacy over it.

The recipe of the sandwich cake is an ode to the mother earth. Thank you for showing me the trees are the hairs, the rivers are the veins and the air is the breath of the universal form. You dress by unwrapping the darkness of night into the mist of morning. You are an advocate of peacefulness, tolerance and humility. You manifest the qualities of higher intelligence behind the creation, maintenance and destruction. I am your servant.

Goat weed, wild chervil, nettle, dandelion and wood sorrel are among the favourite edible gifts of green from the wild garden and forest. They can be used as such in a salad, smoothie and pesto. Another way of serving them is like spinach.

Thank you.