Vegan Kabocha Squash Soup for Autumn

Vegan Afro-Indian Kabocha Squash Soup for Autumn

This is a wonderful pureed vegetable or pureed veggie soup, depending on how you serve it, that is based on an African ground nut (pea nut) and squash soup I tasted way back in 1984 at The Prophet restaurant in Encinitas, California.

Nuts

In Africa this soup would be made with boiled raw peanut and squash ground to a paste with African palm oil and herbs. I don't prefer peanuts, so I make it with either boiled raw almond or toasted almond butter or tahini. Tahini gives a creamier texture than almond butter, but it is a little bitter and not sweet like almond butter. Roasted almond butter has such a nice fragrance.

Once I made this with cashew butter, which was delicious--sweeter than almond, it gives a lighter color to the soup. You don't have to buy a whole bottle of cashew butter. Just boil a few tablespoons raw cashews with the squash and puree it. Very creamy and sweet.

Spices

I like to use Indian curry powder, or ground cumin, coriander and turmeric to increase the warming properties of this dish. Fenugreek is also excellent, but just a tiny bit, very bitter.

Onion

But one could make it very simple, with just onions, especially if having as a side dish with something else spicy.

Depending on my mood I may choose a spicy red onion or a sweet brown onion. But sauteeing the onion in oil brings out its sweetness, so I usually like the red onion, since the squash itself is already sweet.


Squash

You can also use other hard squashes. Kabocha is a dark and dense hard squash with the strong flavor to measure up to curry powder and almond. You can make a very mild version of this with just butternut squash, which has a more subtle delicate flavor, and sauteed white onion. There is an excellent giant squash you see at the Cuban market on Morena Blvd, and sometimes at the Indian market, almost silver on the outside and bright orange flesh. Banana squash is also very good.

You can also make this kind of dish with root vegetables: sweet potato, yam, carrot, parsnip, turnip all work very well. Sometimes i like to use a little turnip with the other veggies which are all sweet, to spice it up a bit. Or if i want it sweeter, like for kids, i add a sweet potato with the kabocha.


Occasionally I will add a little coconut milk to this dish, especially if my hand got heavy with the curry powder....Ghee is also a possibility. I never use cream or half and half, why would you need to? I have used soy milk, which is ok, but not as delicious as using nuts or coconut milk.

The basic principle is boil squash, saute onions with spices, add nut or seed paste, and voila. The secret to success is balancing the correct amounts of the ingredients.

Ingredients

Three cups of chopped Kabocha squash
One large red or sweet onion
2-3 cloves garlic, optional
2-3 slices raw ginger root
2 tsp curry powder, to taste
2 tbsp your favorite nut or seed or nut butter, as above
Sesame or any nut oil to saute onions. Palm oil gives a more Afrikan taste
Salt and white pepper to taste

Method

Steam the squash, saving the steam water.
Cool and place squash in blender.
Saute onions with ginger till brown, lower the flame, add curry powder, and brown on very low for 3-5 minutes, taking care not to burn the spices.
Place all the ingredients in the blender or food processor and puree until smooth, adding the steam water if necessary to thin.

Enjoy as a soup (thinner), or as a vegetable side dish with wehani red rice, or any rice or cous-cous.

Ayurveda

Perfect for Vata. Warming, sweet, unctuous. Leave out the pepper if unbalanced. Use a mild curry powder.
Good for Pitta if not too hot. Use raw, not roasted nuts. Coconut milk good.
Ok for Kapha if you leave out the nut butter. Make it spicy.






Copyright Eyton J. Shalom, M.S., L.Ac. San Diego, CA All Rights Reserved, Use With Permission
Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Indoor Air Pollution

From the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, from the School of Public Health, June 2000


"For the average person, where does air pollution pose the worst risk?

a) on the freeway?
b) near a power plant?
c) in their own home?

You guessed it, kids! The answer, according to UC Berkeley, is "in your own home."

Here is the red meat:

"By measuring exposures in people, scientists have found, surprisingly (eyton shalom adds, this should be NOT surprisingly) that personal exposure to pollutants in most homes exceeds exposure to outdoor pollutants in both rural and industrial areas.

...culprits: exhaust from improperly vented or unvented kitchen stoves, space heaters, furnaces, fireplaces, room deodorizers and so-called air fresheners."

To which should be added formaldehyde and other carcinogens found in synthetic carpeting, in plywood and sheetrock used in construction of new homes, and all the various toxins in synthetic fragrances used in body care and cleaning products.

Again, from UCB, "The best ways to reduce home pollution, along with your health risks, are ample ventilation, good maintenance of heating equipment...and don't use air fresheners and room deodorizers, which actually pollute the air. "

Now this is from the year 2000. By now I am sure the UCB list would far longer, as the point made about air fresheners and deodorizers applies exactly to all the other carcinogens in the cleaning and body care aisles of the supermarket.

Another very big problem is burning parrafin candles (use soy or beeswax), especially scented ones. Even natural essential oils like lavender are toxic when heated, but what most folk get are cheapo parrafin (comes from petroleum, guys) with lead wicks and synthetic fragrance. Really toxic.

If you want to use essential oils to make the house smell good, you need to use a diffusor, which now you buy on Amazon.com. Nothing smells so good as a clean, well aired out house, though. I like to use cleaning products that smell good, of citrus, parsley, pine.

Key point: OPEN THE WINDOWS AND LET FRESH AIR IN. IF YOU HAVE ALLERGIES TO POLLEN, USE A FILTER WITH A FAN.



Copyright Eyton J. Shalom, M.S., L.Ac. San Diego, CA All Rights Reserved, Use With Permission Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Can't figure out where your allergies, fatigue, nausea, or headaches come from?

During the course of an "average" day in urbanized industrialized societies, people come into contact with thousands of synthetic compounds. Walking thru the supermarket, esp in the cleaning fluids aisles, you are breathing them in. Also when you put on perfume, you are breathing it in and subjecting other people to the same synthetic compounds that disrupt endocrine function.

These compounds are in fake smelling fruity chewing gum, hair gel, deoderant, dishwashing, laundry, and all the other kinds of cleaners.

Buy unscented or scented with essential oil products. If you want to chew gum, chew Xylitol come with natural flavoring, not some synthetic gum full of chemicals you can't pronounce.


Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diegohttp://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Lassi: Indian Summer Yogurt Drink: Several Recipes

Lassi is an Indian drink based on yogurt and water, especially drunk in hot dry weather (some people in India do not eat Yogurt much at all during rainy season, as it is considered heavy and building to Kapha, which builds climactic ally during the monsoon. This is controversial, as there are other authorities that say Yogurt is the one dairy product that does not aggravate Kapha. I am in the middle; Yogurt is heavy, but easily digested, so I believe it is fine for well balanced Kapha, but should be avoided, with the rest of dairy, by unbalanced Kapha (excessive fluids like watery eyes runny nose in hay fever season, tendency to bronchitis and phlegm in lungs in winter...these people need drying, or improved fluid processing/strengthened Agni, not moistening or foods that are tougher on Agni. I personally have strong Agni, but still don't eat nearly as much Yogurt in Winter or otherwise cold or rainy weather. And then, I do not eat it at night).

There are many ways to make Lassi. The most basic recipe is just Yogurt, salt and water. Some authorities in Ayurveda believe Yogurt should always be diluted w/water, for the above reasons.

To this mixture may be added any one of a number of spices. Most common is cumin. Another is fennel. Cilantro is often used in Tamil Nadu, as is roasted curry leaf. Mustard seeds can be popped in sesame oil, to which a little fresh ginger root, cumin, hing, and curry leaf are then added (after the mustard has popped) and further roasted. This is called Mohr, translated as buttermilk, and it is pretty fantastic at the end of a midday meal or as a drink on its own.

In Parangipettai, near Chidambaram, where I also lived, a man used to sell it out of a large clay pot kept in the shade. I remember watching him preparing the spices, the sound of the cilantro as he tossed it in the scalding oil at the very end, before adding to the yogurt water. In fact, the tool used to mix the beverage up is nearly identical to the wooden implement that Mexicans use to make hot chocolate!

Salt Lassi

Ingredients

Yogurt or Kefir 1 cup
Salt A dash. More in hot weather if you are out sweating.
Water 1-2 cups, to taste.
If your yogurt is not sour enough, add a dash lemon or lime.

Method

Dilute a little yogurt with water, add salt, stir real well, add rest of water, keep stirring. Or blend it all in a blender.

Add ons

Cumin 1 tsp. Crush in hand, or dry roast a bit and crush in hand or mortar/pestle
Fennel Less than the cumin, 1/4 tsp is good. More if you like. Crush, as above
Cilantro A couple of pinches, straight, or scalded as in above description
Curry Leaf Fresh curry leaves, 4-5 are great crushed a little or torn and put in plain. But if popping mustard, you can scald them for greater intensty of flavor.

Tamil Style Salt Lassi (Mohru or Buttermilk)

Sesame Oil 2 tsp
Black Mustard Seed 3/4tsp
Cumin Seed 1/2 tsp or more
Fresh Ginger Root 2-3 small slices
Asofoetida 1-2 pinches
Curry Leaf a few pinches
Coriander Leaf a few pinches

Heat 2 tsp sesame oil with the mustard seeds in. As the oil scalds the seeds will pop. Let them all pop, as the popping slows down, remove from fire, add the other ingredients, except the corainder, and return to a medium high heat, stirring so nothing burns. This is an art. You want a high enough fire so the curry leaf crispens, but does not burn. Experience is needed here. When done, toss in the coriander leaf, scald a few seconds, and add to the previously mixed yogurt, water, and salt. Stir. Let sit in a cool place for an hour before serving. That way the taste of the spices permeates the whole drink. Store in frig. Even better the next day to some people.

Middle Eastern "Lassi"

Yogurt/Kefir
Salt
Water
Dried Mint

Sweet Lassi

Then there are the sweet Lassis. Most basic is just to add sugar, ice, and blend. Personally, I prefer it with honey, which is not typical. All the Indian restaurants have Mango Lassi, which is usually made from sweetened canned Kesar Mango pulp and yogurt. I also like a sweet Lassi with saffron and cardomom.

Indian yogurt has a very particular bacterial/flavor profile, and the restaurant Lassis are made with whole milk yogurt, so what you are getting is nearly a milkshake; though less fat than actual ice cream, not less sugar. Now you can get Indian style yogurt, even low fat, at the Indian market and North Park produce. It says Indian style yogurt on the container.

Gujaratis have some fabulous Lassi with salt, sugar, and spices, including green chili--very hot and very delicious. Do not know the recipe, but there is a packaged mix at the Indian market called Jal Jeera, or Jeera Jal i forget. You can mix that in to yogurt and water and its pretty good.

I have my own original sweet Lassi I make if I am starving, have no time, and am thirsty, too, but don't want a big meal. I use date syrup, which you can get at any Arab or Iranian market. I use plain Tahini, from the bottle, not the one at Trader Joes to which has been added garlic, salt and lemon; that's to use with falafel or hummus.

Eyton Shalom Original Made-up Middle Eastern Sweet Lassi Emergency Food Beverage

Yogurt/Kefir about 1 cup
Plain Tahini Paste (no salt, garlic, etc) 2 tsp
Date Syrup to taste 1-2 tsp.

Sometimes i might add a little water. But the nice thing about this is you can just stir it up w/a spoon. No blender needed.

Sometimes instead of Tahini I use walnuts, which require the blender.. Now its what the Mexicanos call a Liquado.

Cucumber Lassi

Since I have been experimenting with Mexican Acqua Fresca, today, being quite hot late in the day, I made cucumber acqua fresca, with salt and a little agave syrup.
But I decided to try it with cumin and a little fennel

I used:

1 organic cucumber, seeded and partially peeled
12 oz H20 or more
salt to taste, about 1/2 tsp
agave, about 1 tsp.
cumin powder, 1/4 tsp
fennel seed , a pinch
lemon, a squeeze.

This was quite refreshing and cooling. It was so good, i wanted to try it with some yogurt. I had some homemade Kefir on hand I had made from unhomogenized milk (Trader Joes) using the Trader Joe's brand kefir (which tastes like Russian style) as starter. I just took 1 cup of my Agua Fresca and added 1/2 cup of the Kefir, and re-blended. Call that a Cucumber Lassi.

Afghanis, Persians, Lebanese, all have yogurt salt drinks. In fact they exist from the Balkans all the way to Bangladesh. The Lebanese, Afghani and Persian varieties have mint in them, which is also very fine. Most Persian and Afghani restaurants will serve some version. I do believe I have had it with cucumber and mint somewhere, maybe at the original Khyber Pass on Convoy St., which, once upon a time, was quite good.

Persians also make a cucumber yogurt soup in Summer. Cuke, yogurt, salt, raisins, walnuts, ice, drunk out of a bowl! Yum!



Copyright Eyton J. Shalom, M.S., L.Ac. San Diego, CA Aug 2011 All Rights Reserved, Use With Permission
Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego
http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com