Indian tips for the perfect chai

Once upon a time I visited a tailor in India, he was to make me the most beautiful pants for the most incredible price, but his services did not end at that, he actually gave me a bigger present when he shared with me how his wife made chai, here is what he told me:

Get together the usual ingredients:
Cinnamon sticks
Ginger (better if fresh)
Pepper corns
Cardamon (better if you can find the whole seeds rather than the powder)
Bay leaves
Black tea (Darjeleen works very well)
and Cloves.

Put some water and all the ingredients and let them boil, just forget about them for 20 or 30 minutes so that the full flavor of all the spices is released.

Let them boil boil boil...

Then after the 20/30 minutes of that, bring milk in a separate container, to a boil.







Then, and here is the nice tip, do this number (see video), where you mix them together and pass them from one container to another.



Add more suggar than you could possibly want and ENJOY!

You may have difficulty sleeping if you drink this after 5 PM, or so I have found.

Sandwiches de Miga Argentinean Style

The picture (left) comes from an amazing Argentinean blog of a woman that started cooking for family and friends, got some compliments, and now shares her culinary art through a blog.

Depicted you can see an Argentinean delicacy, they are called sandwiches de miga, which means sandwiches made out of the white of the bread (no borders).

They are so delicious (and expensive), that they belong in every argentinean party that prides itself in food delights.

I decided to try a more "yogic" approach and use bread from the farmers market in Cold Spring.  HB found this seven grain that called his attention and we tried it.

The thing with Sandwichitos is that they are moist, even though the bread is dry, and the trick relies in getting the balance between moisture and dryness just right.

So I cut away the borders and then chopped fresh ingredients for the inside:
Tomatoes
Eggs
a little mayo
fresh oregano
fresh dill
a touch of garlic

Then I put olive oil on the pieces of bread.  I am lucky to have brought some Argentinean olive oil in my last trip, but any good quality one will do.

I made sure to dry the mix before i placed it on the bread.  I actually put a paper towel around the mix.

If I would do them again (which I will) I think I would put a little more olive oil.  I would say about two soup spoonfuls per slice.  At least for this type of bread which is much thicker than the Argentinean style.

These are the first two that came out.  I know, I must put them under more light for next time, but let me tell you, they are delicious!

Enjoy!

Raw Falafel

After trying recipes from two books I can say that this is definitely the best recipe, it tastes like the real thing and it only takes 4 hours to dehydrate instead of overnight, so right there there is a plus.

I also like that this recipe includes veggies and not just nuts and spices.  It is delicious and very nutritious.

I served it with my favorite salad which includes pieces of oranges (now that they are a plenty), tomatoes and cucumbers.

Based on Sarma's book, with my own measurements


Falafel:
1/2 cup pistachios, almonds, sunflower seeds, raw.
1 portobelo mushroom cap, cut in squares
2 carrots shredded
2 lemons
1 bunch of parsley (big bunch)
salt and pepper
olive oil
1/2 cup sesame seeds raw
1/2 cup flax seeds

Place the carrots and mushrooms in a bowl and poor olive oil on them, then dehydrate for one hour.

Separately place all the nuts in a blender and blend till smooth.  Set aside

Blend the carrots and mushrooms with the juice of one lemon, all the parsley and 1/4 cup of olive oil, add salt and pepper.

Then mix the blended vegetables with the nuts, and shape them into falafel balls.

Grind the sesame and flax seeds in a coffee grinder.  Roll the falafel on the grinded seeds to cover them up.

Dehydrate for 3 hours, and serve with raw tahini and salad.

Enjoy!

Raw meatloaf with bbq sauce

This one is for Tony who was in search of some raw "meat" :-)

You see the bite taken out of the meatloaf? well I could not wait! I based the recipe on ideas from the Juliano's book, but I also added my own spices

Meatloaf:
1/3 cup sesame seeds/walnuts/sprouted lentils
1/3 cup olive oil
1 red pepper
1 carrot grated
little garlic and onion
fresh oregano, rosemary and dill to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
one or two big spoons of agave syrup

Blend and dehydrate basically forever... OK, maybe for like a day or two, I let it dry for 26 hours, within a cake container, that is why it came so roundy and pretty.

BBQ sauce
2 tomatoes
1/2  cup sun dried tomatoes
1 head of garlic
1/2 onion
1/2 cup nori sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil

Blend it and once the meatloaf is ready, on the day you are to eat it, put the sauce on top and dehydrate for a good 3 hours.  It will be slightly warm by serving

Compliment with a salad

Enjoy!

Raw Pasta with tomato and basil sauce - and Nori Sushi

I won't lie to you, it takes patience to make that but it is so worth it!.

The recipes come straight from Sarma and Rod's books respectively.

Delicious raw oregano crackers

The picture shows the crackers as they are going into the dehydrator.  They turned out delicious.  The thinner you make them the more crispy and interesting.

I found that the oregano is what made them really tasty, so make sure to put a bunch of it.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of lentils, sprouted (soak for 6 hours then let them rest for 2 days, washing them twice a day)

1/2 cup wheat (soaked and sprouted)

1/2 cup  almonds 

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

salt

pepper

1/4 cup of flax seeds

1/4 cup of sesame seeds

one bunch of fresh oregano cut thinly

a little rosemary

half a small shallot peeled and cut

half a garlic head peeled and sliced

a touch of agave nectar

Blend the lentils, almonds and wheat adding a little water to get a dough going.  Put in a separate bowl

Grind the sesame seeds and flax seeds, then add all the other ingredients and add to the bowl with the dough. Mix well.

Spread thinly on dehydrator sheets as one sheet or cut into shapes (rounds or squares), and put on the dehydrator.  Turn them around after about 4 hours, and let it continue drying for about 12 more hours (overnight).  

Raw Beet Ravioli

Inspired by the beet ravioli from the Living Raw Foods book today, I tried my own version, and they came out looking pretty.

I had some preconceptions about them, for example, I thought the beets could potentially be hard to digest, but nothing like that happened.  Actually because they are marinated and thinly cut, they were almost unrecognizable.  And even though they are still much crunchier than a ravioli pasta shell, they were manageable and blended well with the filling.

The filling was a pine nut cheese raw attempt.  And the sauce was the same paste, only I added some basil for taste.

I felt very satisfied and enjoyed it very much.  Not sure it is an every day recipe, more for a flashy occasion I would say.

The Shells (beets)

1 large beet (or two if you are serving more than two people)

1 lemon

1/2 cup olive oil

sea salt

use a mandoline to cut the beets very VERY thinly.  Then marinate for 1/2 to 1 hour in the oil with the lemon and salt.

The filling

1 cup of pine nuts soaked for one hour

zest of lemon

1/2 cup olive oil

a quarter of an onion

1/4 cup lemon juice

sea salt

ground pepper

Mix everything, that is your cheese.

The sauce

Separate half the filling and add basil to it, and blend.

To serve

Put four think beet slices on a plate, add a spoon full of the filling and cover with another beet shell.

Serve with a little of the basil sauce on the side.

Tasty.