Beetroot salad

Today, I feel like sharing the recipe of beetroot salad. My mum used to cook the beetroot, and then simply used to give Tadka and add grated coconut. It tastes awesome, but I was really delighted when I ate the raw beet salad while attending the Isha yoga classes. The Volunteers have really prepared a sumptuous lunch. t is really delicious and healthy.

Ingredients
Beetroot- 1 number
Cucumber- 1/2
Iceberg lettuce- 1/4
Roasted peanuts- 1 fistful
Lime juice- as needed
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Grated Coconut -1/2 cup (optional)

For tadka
Mustard seeds, cumin seeds- 1 tsp each
Curry leaves- 6-7 number

Tadka: Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan, sputter mustard and cumin seeds. Add curry leaves and turn off the heat.

Grate the beetroot ,cucumber. Finely chop the lettuce. Add all the veggies in a bowl, add salt and lime juice, mix well , let it stand for a while.. Now add chopped cilantro, roasted peanuts and tadka. To enhance the taste, add the grated coconut to the salad.

Indian Raita

Ingredient
Cucumber - 1/2 cup (grated)
Tomatoes - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Plain low fat yogurt (curd)- 1 cup (beaten)
Grated Carrot - 1/4 cup (Optional)
Green Chillies - 2 to 3 (chopped)

For seasoning
Roasted Cumin power - 1 tablespoon
Salt / sea salt (as per your requirement)
Coriander leaves - for garnish

1. Mix cucumber, tomatoes, green chillies & carrot.
2. Mix all the vegetables for 1 mins with a spoon.
3. Add the curd(yoghurt) into the vegetable mix.
4. Add Dry Cumin power into the mixed curd.
5. Add salt as per requirement.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve chill.

Raita Ready !!

Pranic Food

On the fifth day, of 'Inner Engineering' program, our teacher showed us one of Sathguru's video discourse. The discourse was mainly on Food, after watching it, I understood that Human body does NOT see food as Fat, Protein or Carbohydrates. Primarily, the human body sees food as 'that which sustains the life-force', because a strong life-force keeps the immune system strong. The life force is known as 'Prana'. Prana is the universal energy, sheer life force, the layer of love that covers our planet.This energy is what makes our bodies and minds balanced.

Whatever food we eat/drink, it is either positive pranic (food that gives u energy), negative pranic (food that takes away your energy) or zero-pranic food (food that neither takes away or gives back energy). In order to know what kind of food we are consuming, rudraksha mala can be used.

The rudraksha mala has a special property by which when held over positive pranic food ,it rotates clock-wise, when held over negative pranic food,it rotates anti-clock-wise and when held over neutral pranic it oscillates like a pendulum.
We conducted a test with lemon, potato and garlic, and it was confirmed that Lemon is a +ve pranic food, garlic as -ve pranic food and potato as zero pranic food. He gave as some example of Negative-pranic food, which we should avoid, example onion, garlic, brinjal etc.

A good meal should have a balanced proportion of Cereals, Carbohydrates, Fruits, Vegetables. Raw food seems to attract more prana to the cells while cooked food seems to repel it. As fruits can be consumed raw, it should be maintained in our diet plan. All kinds of legumes, cereals & pulses are positive pranic food. Later in another blog, I will post the list of positive/negative and zero pranic food.

Foods and Pranic Energy

Every food has certain inherent qualities:

Almonds & honey	Affect self-control
Avacado	Memory
Bananas	Impart calmness, humbleness
Beets	Martial courage
Berries	Aid in calmness of thought
Cereal	Strength of character
Cherries	Vibrate joy
Dates	Tenderness & sweetness
Eggs & milk	Enthusiasm, fresh energy
Figs	Softens strict sense of discipline
Grapes	Vibrate divine love
Lettuce	Calmness
Maple syrup	Mental freshness
Oranges, lemons	Banish melancholia & are a brain stimulant
Peaches	Unselfishness, thinking of the good of others
Pears	Peacefulness
Pineapple	Self-assurance, good for inferiority complex
Raspberry	Kindheartedness
Spinach	Simplicity
Sweet corn, tomatoes	Mental strength
Unpolished rice	Mildness
Wheat	Obstinate in principles, fine when principles are good

Ash Gourd with Curd

Ingredients:

Ash gourd (White Pumpkin)	a big o ne
Curd	Four litres
Flat rice thick	¼ kg
Coriander leaves	One cup, finely chopped
Capsicum	100 gms, chopped
Pepper and salt	To taste

You may also add a small quantity of seedless grapes and pomegranate, and mango ginger during season.

Grate the ash gourd, squeeze out the water and keep the pulp. Add curd and mix. Soak flat rice for half an hour and mix with this. Add chopped capsicum and coriander leaves and mix thoroughly. Add pepper and salt to taste. !!!! Enjoy !!!!

HEALTHY JUICES

Carrot + Ginger + Apple - Boost and cleanse our system.








Apple + Cucumber + Celery - Prevent cancer, reduce cholesterol, and improve stomach upset and headache.




Tomato + Carrot + Apple - Improve skin complexion and bad breath.





Bitter gourd + Apple + Milk - Avoid bad breath and reduce internal body heat.



Orange + Ginger + Cucumber - Improve Skin texture and moisture and reduce body heat.




Pineapple + Apple + Watermelon - To dispel excess salts, nourishes the bladder and kidney.




Apple + Cucumber + Kiwi - To improve skin complexion.



Pear & Banana - regulates sugar content.



Carrot + Apple + Pear + Mango - Clear body heat, counteracts toxicity, decreased blood pressure and fight oxidization .



Honeydew + Grape + Watermelon + Milk - Rich in vitamin C + Vitamin B2 that increase cell activity and strengthen body immunity.



Papaya + Pineapple + Milk
- Rich in vitamin C, E, Iron. Improve skin complexion and metabolism.



Banana + Pineapple + Milk - Rich in vitamin with nutritious and prevent constipation.

Food ..Food...Food

Generally, animals enjoy good health because they consume nutritious food in the uncooked form. We, too, can enjoy perfect physical and mental health provided we include raw food in our diet. Appetite control precedes and enables mental and emotional control.

Naturopaths have found through research that raw food is the panacea for many human ailments. Raw food diet ensures retention of all nutrients and vitamins, which promote good health.

Food is classified into four categories:

• Positive Pranic or energy giving food.
• Negative Pranic or energy draining food.
• Zero Pranic food.
• Food that should be avoided for a short period by those who suffer from respiratory problems such as sinusitis, wheezing, and asthma.

Raw food helps in producing less acidity and more alkalinity in the blood and helps to calm the mind, thus lessening the impact of stress. Cooking or preserving destroys the natural energy present in the food in the fresh raw state. A raw food diet utilises the subtle energies of living plants and plant enzymes to ensure good health.

Doctors are waking up to the benefits of a high fibre diet in preventing a range of disorders from heart disease to bowel cancer.

The theme of a raw food diet comprising 75 percent raw food can not only reverse the bodily degeneration which accompanies long-term illness but can also retard the rate at which you age, bring you apparently boundless energy and even make you feel better emotionally.

Scientists have found that a variety of chemicals, between 50,000 and 100,000, go into making and running the human body. They interact with each other in ways so complex that even the world's most advanced computer can be of little help to doctors in deciphering the various interactions.

Raw food provide nutrients that favorably influence the immune system. Zinc, Vitamins E, C and A, and many from the B-Complex Group present in the raw food strengthen the immune system and prevent premature aging.

As cooked food damages proteins, we are obliged to eat more of it to get the amino acids we need. High protein consumption causes early aging and the development of certain degenerative diseases. Thus, its maintenance mechanism impaired, the body loses its resistance to stress, fatigue and illness.

Naturopaths have found that uncooked food can successfully cure resistant illnesses such as heart diseases, hypertension, kidney and blood diseases, alcoholism and arthritis because they raise micro-electric potentials throughout the body. Increased electrical potential in the tissues is a direct measure of the "liveliness" or how alive the cell really is. Thus metabolic functions heighten - congestion and swelling in tissues decrease, cell respiration and oxygenation increase, the body's overall resistance to illness improves and the healing process gets accelerated.