Vegetarian Cuisine
Vegetable coconut curry
This delicious curry is mild and sweet in flavour. It involves a little preparation the night before but is quick to make on the day.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
150g (5 ½ oz) unsweetened organic desiccated coconut
125g (4 ½ oz) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in 5oo ml (16 fl oz) water
3 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
3 cardamom pods, seeds only
½ tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
½ tsp ground ginger
25g (1 oz) fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and roughly chopped
200g (7 oz) butternut squash, cut into cubes, or 1 large sweet potato, cut into cubes
2 carrots, roughly chopped
100g (3 ½ oz) fresh spinach, stalks removed, roughly chopped.
squeeze of fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 tbsp maple syrup
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Preparation:
1. To make the coconut milk, place the desiccated coconut into a bowl and pour 20 fl oz (600 ml) boiling, filtered water over it. Stir to combine and leave to soak for 10 minutes, then whizz in a blender on high for 1 minute. Leave for a further 10 minutes and then pass through a sieve into a bowl, using the back of a spoon to squeeze out all the excess moisture. Discard the coconut remaining in the sieve.
2. Drain the soaked chickpeas and rinse under cold running water. Tip them into a medium-sized saucepan, cover with 360 ml (12 fl oz) cold water and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 1 ½- 2 hours or until tender and then drain.
3. In a large pan, dry fry the cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds over a medium heat for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Tip into a mortar and pestle and grind to a powder with the rest of the spices. Heat the ghee in the pan, add the fround spices and grated ginger, and fry over a gentle heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stir well, and cook for another minute.
4. Add the prepared coconut milk to the tomato and spice mix and simmer over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly.
5. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, steam the butternut squash or sweet potato cubes and carrots for 6-8 minutes or until just tender. Add the steamed vegetables to the tomato, coconut and spice mix, then add the spinach, cooked chickpeas, lime juice, and maple syrup. Season well to taste, then simmer for 2-3 minutes. Loosen with a little water if the sauce is too thick, stir in the chopped coriander, and serve. Brown basmati rice, sweet sesame carrots and chapatis make excellent accompaniments.
Through the practice of yoga, you can overcome all difficulties and eradicate all weaknesses. – Sri Swami Sivananda
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Spiritual Calendar
| NOVEMBER 2023 03 Ekadasi 09 Ekadasi 09 Swamiji Mahasamadhi 11 Swamiji Jalasamadhi 12 Divali (Deepavali) 13 New Moon 23 Ekadasi 27 Full Moon DECEMBER 2023 Sadhana is catching hold of one ideal and sticking to it at all costs, even at the risk of life. – Sri Swami Sivananda |
Glossary
Deepavali (Divali)
DEEPAVALI or Diwali means “a row of lights”. It falls on the last two days of the dark half of Kartik (October-November). There are various alleged origins attributed to this festival. Some hold that they celebrate the marriage of Lakshmi with Lord Vishnu. In Bengal the festival is dedicated to the worship of Kali. It also commemorates that blessed day on which the triumphant Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana. On this day also Sri Krishna killed the demon Narakasura.
In South India people take an oil bath in the morning and wear new clothes. They partake of sweetmeats. They light fireworks which are regarded as the effigies of Narakasura who was killed on this day. They greet one another, asking, “Have you had your Ganges bath?” which actually refers to the oil bath that morning as it is regarded as purifying as a bath in the holy Ganges. Everyone forgets and forgives the wrongs done by others. There is an air of freedom, festivity and friendliness everywhere. This festival brings about unity. It instils charity in the hearts of people. Everyone buys new clothes for the family. Employers, too, purchase new clothes for their employees.
Waking up during the Brahmamuhurta (at 4a.m.) is a great blessing from the standpoint of health, ethical discipline, efficiency in work and spiritual advancement. It is on Deepavali that everyone wakes up early in the morning. The sages who instituted this custom must have cherished the hope that their descendants would realise its benefits and make it a regular habit in their lives.
In a happy mood of great rejoicing village folk move about freely, mixing with one another without any reserve, all enmity being forgotten. People embrace one another with love. Deepavali is a great unifying force. Those with keen inner spiritual ears will clearly hear the voice of the sages, “O Children of God! unite, and love all”. The vibrations produced by the greetings of love which fill the atmosphere are powerful enough to bring about a change of heart in every man and woman in the world. Alas! That heart has considerably hardened, and only a continuous celebration of Deepavali in our homes can rekindle in us the urgent need of turning away from the ruinous path of hatred.
On this day Hindu merchants in North India open their new account books and pray for success and prosperity during the coming year. The homes are cleaned and decorated by day and illuminated by night with earthen oil-lamps. The best and finest illuminations are to be seen in Bombay and Amritsar. The famous Golden Temple at Amritsar is lit in the evening with thousands of lamps placed all over the steps of the big tank. Vaishnavites celebrate the Govardhan Puja and feed the poor on a large scale.
O Ram! The light of lights, the self-luminous inner light of the Self is ever shining steadily in the chamber of your heart. Sit quietly. Close your eyes. Withdraw the senses. Fix the mind on this supreme light and enjoy the real Deepavali, by attaining illumination of the soul. He who Himself sees all but whom no one beholds, who illumines the intellect, the sun, the moon and the stars and the whole universe but whom they cannot illumine, He indeed is Brahman, He is the inner Self. Celebrate the real Deepavali by living in Brahman, and enjoy the eternal bliss of the soul. The sun does not shine there, nor do the moon and the stars, nor do lightnings shine and much less fire. All the lights of the world cannot be compared even to a ray of the inner light of the Self. Merge yourself in this light of lights and enjoy the supreme Deepavali.
Many Deepavali festivals have come and gone. Yet the hearts of the vast majority are as dark as the night of the new moon. The house is lit with lamps, but the heart is full of the darkness of ignorance. O man! wake up from the slumber of ignorance. Realise the constant and eternal light of the Soul which neither rises nor sets, through meditation and deep enquiry. May you all attain full inner illumination! May the supreme light of lights enlighten your understanding! May you all attain the inexhaustible spiritual wealth of the Self! May you all prosper gloriously on the material as well as spiritual planes!
From Hindu Fasts and Festivals by Swami Sivananda