namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

Lauren from Port Macquarie New South Wales, wrote:

"Dear Kurma, thanks for your website. It is very good reading. I was wondering about whether coconut oil would be a good item to add to my kitchen cupboard. I have heard good and bad things about it, and I am confused. What do you think?"

My reply:

"Hello Lauren, here's some interesting information about the coconut and it's products. I think you will find it enlightening".

Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid, which is known for being anti-viral, antibacterial and anti-fungal. Coconut oil is also being used by thyroid sufferers to increase body metabolism, and to lose weight. Virgin coconut oil is also used for making natural soaps and other health products, as it is one of the healthiest things one can put on their skin.

At one time coconut oil received negative press because of its high level of saturated fat. However, modern research has shown that not all saturated fats are alike and that the fatty acids in coconut oil, the medium chain triglycerides, do not raise serum cholesterol or contribute to heart disease, but are in fact very healthy.

Also, some negative studies done on coconut oil in the past was done on hydrogenated coconut oil, which has been altered from its original form. Other studies have clearly shown that traditional Asian cultures that eat significant amounts of coconut in their diet do not suffer from modern diseases seen in western cultures that promote a low-fat diet.

Longitudinal section through a coconut (left) and plan view of stone (right): 1- thin, yellow-brown, watertight outer skin (exocarp) 2 - thick, fibrous middle layer (coconut fiber, coir, mesocarp) 3 - hard inner layer, the stone (endocarp) 4 - white, oily copra layer, 1 - 2 cm thick (solid endosperm) 5 - cavity filled with coconut milk (liquid endosperm) 6 - embryo, 7 - "eyes" (3 germ pores set in pits)

Much research on the nutritional and medicinal benefits on coconut oil has surfaced in recent years. Much of that research has been done by Dr. Mary Enig. Dr. Enig has classified coconuts as a "functional food," which provides health benefits over and beyond the basic nutrients. She has specifically identified lauric acid as a key ingredient in coconut products:

"Approximately 50% of the fatty acids in coconut fat are lauric acid. Lauric acid is a medium chain fatty acid, which has the additional beneficial function of being formed into monolaurin in the human or animal body.

Monolaurin is the anti-viral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride used by the human or animal to destroy lipid coated viruses such as HIV, herpes, cytomegalovirus, influenza, various pathogenic bacteria including listeria monocytogenes and heliobacter pylori, and protozoa such as giardia lamblia. Some studies have also shown some antimicrobial effects of the free lauric acid."

As a "functional food," coconut oil is now being recognized by the medical community as a powerful tool against immune diseases. Several studies have been done on its effectiveness, and much research is currently being done on the incredible nutritional value of pure coconut oil.

More information...

Packing my bags, and then it's 'on the road again!'

I fly to Melbourne and then I'm commuting to the Bendigo Campus of La Trobe University, for a private cookery class to be held this coming Saturday.

Bringing my trusty camera and laptop, so I can share the good times. Let's hope for a few 'Kodak Moments".

Hundreds of cancer researchers took part in a five-year project spanning more than 7,000 clinical studies and designed to document the links between diet and cancer. Their conclusion, published in the World Cancer Research Fund's report, Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective (2007), has rocked the health world with a declaration that all people should immediately stop buying and eating processed meat products and that all processed meat should be avoided for life.

Processed meats, the report explains, are simply too dangerous for human consumption. And why? Because they contain chemical additives that are known to greatly increase the risk of various cancers, including colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia, brain tumors, pancreatic cancer and many more.

What are processed meats?

• Bacon • Sausage • Pepperoni • Beef jerky • Deli slices • Hot dogs • Sandwich meat (including those served at restaurants) • Ham • Meat 'gift' products like Christmas sausages • Meat used in canned soups • Meat used in frozen pizza • Meat used in kid's lunch products • Meat used in ravioli, spaghetti or Italian pasta products ... and many more meat products.

read more...

Who, me? I've been to Wauchope, up Northern Central Coastal New South Wales sort of way. And back. By train (groaaaan).

No, the travel wasn't too bad, and I got to hear many hours of music and discourse from my 20 gigabytes Mp3 collection via some pretty nifty Bose headphones.

The weekend of cookery fun at the well-appointed Company Farm in Wauchope went wonderfully well. Here's our teams from day #1 and day #2, taken before and after the classes.

I chose not to photograph our teams after dinner, since they would have looked a little, er, stuffed. And as far as photos of the students in action in the kitchen, well I just plain forgot to take them.

Lyn Withers, my gracious host and facilitator for the weekend did take some, so maybe I'll post them later in the week.

Not my train to Wauchope

Today I'll be catching a train to Wauchope (pronounced war-hope). It's a seven-hour train journey from Sydney, due North.

The tourist blurb says:

"On the Hastings River about 19km due west of Port Macquarie on NSW’s central coastline, Wauchope is surrounded by Australia’s most extensive stands of blackbutt forest and is best known for the nearby Timbertown theme park.

Designed around the timber industry which first put Wauchope on the map, Timbertown demonstrates wood-cutting and milling and has a working bullock team, smithy and steam train, along with a big exhibition hall.

Close by are the Broken Bago and Bellangry State Forests, the latter renowned for its abundance of hardwood trees."

I won't be doing any thing vaguely tourist-like, as you've guessed. I'm on a cooking mission. Our menu, repeated on both days this weekend for 2 full classes:

"The Global Vegetarian II"

Marathi Quick-and-Easy Coconut Cream-infused Spinach Soup (Palak Saar)
Iranian Saffron-scented Spicy Rice with Saffron (Pollou)
Malaysian Vegetable-stuffed Flaky Curry Puffs
Succulent & Spicy Eggplant Pickles
Seared Chili Panir Steaks with Sweet Potato Mash & Rocket Salad
Lemon-infused Dubai-style Salad of Fresh Dates, Toasted Turkish Bread, Almonds, Bitter Greens, Fresh Herbs & Feta
Juicy Milk Fudge Balls in Cardamom, Star Anise, Cassia & Rose-scented Syrup (Gulab Jamuns)

"Pass, therefore, not today in vain,
For it will never come again"
(Omar Khayyám)

"What is the value of a prolonged life which is wasted, inexperienced by years in this world? Better a moment of full consciousness, because that gives one a start in searching after his supreme interest."
(Sukadeva Gosvami, Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto II, "The Cosmic Manifestation")

The Vedas enjoin that all living beings are pleasure-seekers. That is our natural constitution. The actual aphorism of Vedanta Sutra is 'anandamayo 'byasat'. The sanskrit word 'ananda' means 'pleasure'.

I've never forgotten that one of the active ingredients in chocolate is called Anandamide. This always brings me back to thoughts of Vedanta Sutra.

"...active Anandamide, like other neurotransmitters, is broken down quickly after it's produced. Piomelli and his team found other chemicals in chocolate which may inhibit the natural breakdown of anadamide. This means that natural anandamide (or introduced anandamide) may stick around longer, making us feel good longer, when we eat chocolate."

"One of the most pleasant effects of eating chocolate is the "good feeling" that many people experience after indulging. Chocolate contains more than 300 known chemicals. Scientists have been working on isolating specific chemicals and chemical combinations which may explain some of the pleasurable effects of consuming chocolate..."

Read lots more....

Scrolling through Kripamoya's great blog, I read with pleasure the report on the wonderful Rathayatra Festival held in London last weekend.

I attended it three years back. Such an exciting event! {scroll down when you get there.}

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath.

It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;"

spoken by Portia, from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare

My son Caitanya returns to Perth today after a week staying with me and my father here in Sydney. We ate heavily last night and I tossed and turned; so I got up and updated my website Travel Diary section.

Interestingly, my first letter of the day was from a fellow blogger professing an attraction to Turkey and asking 'do you have a link to posts from your Turkey travels?"

Well I had just completed the Slovenia, Turkey & Croatia, July-August 2006 section of my Travel Diary, so now you can read all about it. (scroll down when you get there).

Margaret from Ulladulla, New South Wales. Australia writes:

Kurma, hello! Your blog is so interesting. I was meaning to ask you about raw foods. What is your perspective on this diet?

My Reply:

Hello Margaret! Someone asked me this very same question a while back, so here's what I had to say:

Chris from (sorry can't remember where) sent this letter:

'It seems that the next significant milestone in dietary evolutionary is 'raw'. What is your take on a strictly raw food diet, wouldn't it be even more in the mode of goodness?'

My answer: Hello Chris. I am not a firm follower of so-called dietary evolution. My philosphy is that very scientific dietary laws have already been conceived thousands of years ago in the Ayurveda, and modern science is occasionally catching up, usually deviating, and always speculating.

If raw food works for you, fine. Different body types need more or less raw food. Actually for some, raw food is HARDER to digest than cooked foods.

So it is a decision based on knowledge of ones bodily constitution, his body-type according to the science of Vata, Kapha and Pitta and his personal needs and taste. No one rule for all, it is highly personal.

Raw foods and juices can be cleansing and energizing. Sprouts are especially wonderful because they contain large amounts of enzymes and nourishment which help with digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Some of the spicier sprouts help to destroy and eliminate toxins in the system (known as ama in Ayurveda).

But in general, raw food is very cold and hard to digest in the sense that it releases its Prana, or nourishing life giving energy, in the upper portion of the body between the mouth and the stomach. This gives quick, short-term energy, but not long-term tissue building nourishment. This is good for pittas, and some raw foods are good for kaphas, but this is not very good for vatas.

According to Ayurveda, the main advantage of well cooked grains, beans, and vegetables is that they release their Prana in the colon. This provides long-term tissue building energy. However, these energies cannot be released from complex carbohydrates without the assistance of enzymes. A clean intestinal tract is also essential for proper absorption.

This coincides with two of the modern holistic health theories of colon cleansing and enzyme consumption. But the Ayurvedic approach again is practical and individualized.

This is my perspective. Hope it helps.

I was asked yesterday whether I preferred wooden or plastic cutting boards. I blogged this topic last year. Here it is again - an oldie but goldie:

Tony Ng from Melbourne sent me a letter:

"My chef friends and I have been arguing over what is safer to use - wooden or plastic cutting boards. What do you use Kurma?"

My reply: Hello Tony! I always use wooden cutting boards. I detest plastic. I searched my old files and found a news item from 10 years ago. Then I looked up the topic on the internet. It seems that there has been a debate for quite a while over this, but the plastic lobby seems to have won.

10 years ago research leaned towards wood. In essence, it was found that over 99% of bacteria died on wooden cutting boards, whereas the bacteria actually multiplied on the plastic boards.

For the tests, researchers purposely contaminated wood and plastic boards with common bacteria that cause food poisoning - salmonella, listeria, and escherichia coli.

They tested boards made from seven types of wood and four types of plastic, and at different temperatures and humidity levels.

Although their premise had always been that plastic was safer, to their astonishment they discovered that over 99% of all the bacteria on the wooden boards disappeared after only 3 minutes. In the same time, none of the bacteria on the plastic boards disappeared.

Over the years of teaching and cooking in professional kitchens around the world I have noticed that now - almost exclusively - only plastic boards are used. Many powerful chemical cleaning products are on tap, and I can't help wondering if the plastic and chemical companies have finally been successful in convincing the kitchen managements in their favour.

These days, if you look this topic up on the internet, off-the-record personal opinions still seem to quietly favour wood, but big 'movers and shakers' like the US Food and Drug Administration have wooed many around the world back to plastic. But I am not convinced, and will never use plastic as my board of choice.

Here's some dialogue on the subject...

Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with those expensive double-pane energy-efficient kind.

Yesterday, I got a call from the contractor who installed them. He was complaining that the windows had been installed a whole year ago and I hadn't paid for them yet.

Now just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid. So I told him just exactly what his fast-talking sales guy had told me last year, namely, that in just one year these windows would pay for themselves!

"Helllooooo!!!" I told him, "It's been a year!"

There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally just hung up, and he hasn't called back. He was probably too embarrassed about forgetting the guarantee they made me.

Bet he won't under-estimate my intelligence again!

P from Glendale, Arizona USA writes:

Dear Chef Kurma Dasa,

I came across your Web site (www.kurma.net) and must say I'm impressed by you openly sharing your recipes with visitors. I'm equally impressed with the recipes themselves and your caring and willingness to educate your readers on the background of the different dishes.

I'm an avid cook and can pretty much tell if a recipe will be successful just by reading its ingredients and cooking techniques/methods. This is the reason I've always purchased recipe books from local stores for the past 34 years.

The information on your Web site goes far more into depths than reading a recipe book at a book store. My hat's off to you.

I can now say I made my first on-line purchase of a recipe book, the "Cooking with Kurma." I can't wait to receive it from Amazon.com

Many thanks for sharing your cooking delights and knowledge with us. Sincerely, P.

Firstly I bow at the feet of the Queen of Tarts, Deva Mirel, of Sabjimata fame. Since she's 'jammin' away in the US of A', I can safely make and blog about my jars of fruity delights here in Sydney without encroaching on her sticky territory. It's a big world.

So big in fact that while I even placed an order to pursue plentiful pots of her pectin-laced peccadillos, postage costs made that a sugar-induced reverie only - alas!

When I opened the fridge this morning to survey the left-overs from Day of the Relos, I espied a lonesome punnet of strawberries. When I see fruit, I see jam. Can't help it. You know what I mean, Deva dd?

Slice the berries

Splash of water + cook a little

Raw sugar is added

Cook over full heat

Remove when 'just right'

Ready for storage

On Saturday I successfully observed the fasting day known as Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi.

Ekadasi is a fasting day that falls approximately every two weeks on the Hare Krishna Calendar. But Nirjala Ekadasi (nirjala means no water) falls only once a year. On this day one is recommended to fast even from water.

It was a bit hard since while fasting I spent 13 hours in the kitchen preparing the feast for my family get-together. But I made it through without a hitch, and with tons of energy.

When I read the blog posting below from Iraq, I realised my paltry austerities were nothing much at all:

"Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi, by Partha Sarathi

After much debate, I decided this year to again follow Pandava Nirjal Ekadasi. Nirjala is already difficult and an austerity but to follow in Iraq, is added intensity. I make some goals for this, I wanted to chant 64 rounds, offer 5 verses to my Deities and also increase my reading. But this is all with also pulling 12-14 hours of combat missions.

So this was going to be a hard day. So up at 12 am, and chanted, and worshipped my Deities, offered Them some new verses, and then off to work at 7am. While on missions was difficult, driving the wrong way down the Iraqi streets at 60 mph, the IED’s and kicking in the occasional door; and lets not forget the heat, which was over 125F in the vehicle.

I was wondering if following this so strictly was worth it, but when doubts entered my mind I would take Sri Ugra Narsimha that sits in a pouch on my body armor and feel better about the situation. By his grace we ended missions early on 11 hours out - great - more time to chant and read. This morning when I broke fast I was thinking, 'this Lord of ours is so kind, He sees we are trying, He sees we are making some endeavor and He is pleased and removes all our anxieties'."

Yes, you heard right, a Hare Krishna fighting in Iraq. It's a fascinating story. Check out Partha Sarathi's blog...

I get quite a few of these:

D from Long Beach, California.

Hello! What is the organ type meat that is located inside of the chicken back? Julia Child had a French name for it, but I cannot find any web-site that can give me an answer. Hope you can help.

My reply:

Hello D. Thanks for your letter. Sorry but I can't help you with this one. You may not have noticed but I'm a vegetarian. In my opinion, the best chicken is the one that's still running. Best wishes, Kurma.

Attention all vegetarians: Don't panic!

The photo above is from 'Cooking with Kurma', my second cookbook. The 'steak' is made from fresh panir cheese.

S from Malaysia wrote and suggested I shouldn't call them 'steaks', but rather 'patties'. I guess the name 'steak' conjured negative emotions for him. Sorry S, but 'patties' just doesn't 'cut the mustard' with me. You're not going to convince a meat-eating bloke to 'have a pattie'.

Why convince a meat-eating bloke at all, you say?

In fact my Spiritual Master, Srila Prabhupada instructed us in Melbourne of 1974 during an impromptu cookery class, that fried panir cheese is ideal for converting the meat-eaters. He suggested that a dish made with fried panir cheese would be 'a meat eater's delight'.

Subsequently fried panir chunks and fried potatoes in a spicy whey-based gravy became a classic Australian Hare Krishna Temple Sunday Feast item, and became lovingly known as 'Meat Eaters Delight' or MED.

So I will continue to call them 'Panir Steaks' with a clear conscience.

And here's the recipe for the photo above.

Panir Cheese Steaks with Chips and Salad

Curd cheese, or panir, is rich in protein and extremely versatile. It can be deep-fried and used in vegetable dishes, crumbled into salads, made into sweets, stuffed inside breads and pastries, and creamed into dips.

Curd cheese is the simplest kind of unripened cheese and is made by adding an acid or other curdling agent to hot milk. The solid milk protein coagulates to form the soft curd cheese, the liquid whey is separated, and the cheese is drained, pressed, and then used as required. Because curd cheese is not commonly available in shops, and the home-made product is vastly superior, I have included the simple recipe for making your own.

The quality and freshness of the milk will determine the quality of the curd cheese. The higher the fat-content of the milk, the richer the curd cheese. Different curdling agents will produce different types of curd. The most common curdling agents are strained, fresh lemon juice, citric acid crystals dissolved in water, yogurt, cultured buttermilk, or sour whey from a previous batch of curd cheese.

5 litres fresh milk
3-4 cups yogurt or 6-8 tablespoons lemon juice
oil for pan-frying
½ teaspoon yellow asafetida powder
tamari or soy sauce
sweet chili sauce
crusty bread, salad greens and chips for serving

Heat the milk to boiling point in a heavy-based saucepan.

Stir in three-quarters of the yogurt or lemon juice. The milk should separate into chunky curds, leaving a greenish liquid residue called whey. If not completely separated, add a little more yogurt or lemon juice. Drape a double thickness of cheesecloth over a colander sitting in the sink.

Scoop out the curds with a slotted spoon and place them in the cheesecloth. Pour the whey and whatever curds that remain in the saucepan into the cheesecloth. Gather the ends of the cloth together and hold the bag of curd cheese under cold running water for 30 seconds. Twist the bag tightly to squeeze out extra whey, return it to the colander.

Press under a heavy weight for 10-15 minutes. Carefully remove the curd cheese from the cloth. Your panir is ready. Slice the panir into steaks.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan placed over fairly high heat. Sprinkle in the yellow asafetida powder and saute momentarily.

Carefully transfer the panir cheese into the hot pan and cook on both sides, turning when required with a fork or tongs, until golden brown and crusty.

Splash on the tamari or soy sauce, toss the pan or turn the panir, then pour on the sweet chili sauce and repeat until the sauces combine to a thick glaze.

Quickly remove the panir and serve immediately with hot chips and salad.

I also present panir cheese on a bed of sweet potato mash with tangy dressed rocket leaves like so:

In Govinda's restaurant in Dublin, the most popular dish on the menu is bowlfuls of fried panir cheese fried to golden brown and simmered in a rich tomato gravy. Two thousand litres of the local creamy fresh farm milk is made into panir cheese every week.

You can also simmer fried chunks of panir cheese with peas and spicy tomato sauce for the classic Indian dish 'matar panir'

Subliminal advertising session is over. You will now immediately go to the kitchen and make panir. Go on, off you go...

G'day! I got on the blower a few weeks ago and arranged a day with the Relos. This arvo, my daughter Joelene and her hubby dropped by, along with their billy lids and assorted other dinkum family members. My son Caitanya has also flown over from Perth for the week.

Kurma and Toby

It was pissin' down outside, but we were snug as bugs in rugs. I served a slap-up feed. Everyone had a Captain Cook and were pretty impressed. "Geez, have a gander at this! There's more dishes here than you can poke a stick at. We could eat a horse, and chase the jockey."

The ankle biters, Toby and Sebastian.

We had a great wing-ding. After double serves of saffron, pistachio and cherry halava, we were all as full as a fairy's phone book. It was a deadset ace day, but I'm nackered, so I'll be doing bugger all for the rest of the evening.

My daughter Joelene with a plate of the beaut tucker.

Need a translation? Try this on for size mate...

The Veronicas, Australia's ARIA Award-winning music group led by identical twin sisters Jessica Louise Origliasso and Lisa Marie Origliasso, dropped by the Dallas Hare Krishna Restaurant, Kalachandji's, while on tour in Texas this week.

Pictured above: (roughly left to right) Chandravali (video documentary maker for the band), Jessica's boyfriend Azaria, Nityananda Chandra, and the Twins.

Apparently, they are no strangers to Hare Krishna Food (prasadam) and culture. And there's even a Kurma connection (sort of).

Have a read of the whole story...