Annadatta Sukhi Bhava

I hope that one day when I look back to this post, it will kindle some joy, just to see the resilience of the human spirit. I am writing this after observing roughly 4 days of silence. The decision to take some time out came after many days of being in constant uncertainty and fear about the state of the world due to the coronavirus. The news of the virus appearing in so many countries across the world was really devastating at first and became even more so when the first few cases were reported in South Africa. For me, it was only when our President announced a lockdown, that it really hit home as to how much life was about to change.

Last week, with our best interests at heart, our President announced a further two-week lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus in our country. During the lockdown, only essential services such as food and healthcare would be operational. The weekend that passed was the Easter weekend – a time most South Africans look forward to, usually to spend time with loved ones across an extended weekend. Under the present circumstances, this was not possible, and for me, personally, the best opportunity presented itself – an online Art of Silence course hosted by the Art of Living Foundation, across Africa. I’ve done a few of these silent retreats before, each one with beautiful experiences. However, this was the first one I was going to experience online!

Being such a foodie, before making any other preparations, my first thought was “What are we going to eat?!” Usually, the Art of Silence course is residential, where accommodation and meals are fully taken care of. Delicious, sattvic meals are prepared for the journey within. However this time, we had to do it ourselves! How exciting! Some of the guidelines given were to have fewer carbohydrates and to eat more fresh vegetables. We were basically advised not to consume any foods that would take the body a long time to process.

It’ a very interesting science – choosing the correct food to achieve a certain state of mind. In order to meditate and go deeper within, we need our bodies to spend less time on digestion. Among the many other factors that influence the state of our minds, food plays a big role. Do you remember eating a chip bun, loaded with masala, tomato sauce, mustard and extra cheese (ok, let’s not forget the tiny bit of salad)? The flavours may be “out of this world-insanely delicious-mind blowing-the best thing ever”, but do you remember the feeling you had afterwards? The “I can’t move-I have a food baby-I need to lie down-Don’t show me more food” feeling? Yes! We’ve all been there! This choice of food may be great for a Saturday afternoon of lounging around, but not so much when you’re trying to sit upright, take deep, long breaths, ultimately to experience a state of pure bliss.

So the challenge was presented – to prepare meals that were light and easy to digest. I’ve shared all my recipes below, so even if you just want to take some days off to detox, feel free to try out some of the recipes. All the veggies were washed and cut ahead of time. You may use whatever veggies you like, but I really liked these combinations of veggies with the spices and soups – they complemented each other really well. All the meals were prepared in ghee. Among the many other benefits of using ghee, one of them is that it slows down the digestive process, helping the body to assimilate all the nutrients from the food. Besides that, the food tastes even more delicious when prepared with ghee! In the afternoons, we would have soup with veggies on the side and in the evenings, we would add some rice to the mix. We limited our portion sizes, didn’t snack in between meals and ate every bite mindfully, with complete reverence for the food that was before us, tasting every spice and feeling every texture. This is something that stuck with me throughout the four days of silence, just observing the little things we take for granted when eating our meals at the table every day.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says that before and after having our meals each day we should chant, “Annadata Sukhi Bhava” which means “Those who are providing me with this food, let them be happy”. From the farmer that produces the food to the trader that sells the food and finally to the person that prepares the food – all of these people play such an important role in our lives every single day. Just take a moment to observe all the people who provided the food for you, that whole long journey from the farm to your table, each one’s energy presented there before you. Despite the process it took to get to your table, as soon as you acknowledge and send blessings to all those that have provided for you, with thoughts of gratitude, the prana is restored to the food, and to the providers themselves.

Many of us are fortunate that not a day has gone by without us having some food to eat. In the times that we are currently living in, many people across the world have realised the value of food – the basic need that none of us can forgo. One of the sources of “prana”, life force energy, is food. Another topic that has come up in many discussions recently is - how are we boosting our immune systems? It may seem like a new concept at a time when we all need to learn survival skills during a pandemic, but actually it’s something we ought to have been doing to enhance our quality of life, to increase that life force energy.

So during the past four days of silence, meditation and reflection, I got to experience many things (maybe I’ll share at some other time), but mostly this fact got reiterated that just a basic source of energy – food – plays such an important role in the way in which we experience the world.

So much is changing. Observe the change. Go with the change. Grow with the change. At a time where nothing is certain, the only thing we can be certain of is change.

Here are those recipes I promised… Happy cooking!

DAY 1: Pumpkin soup + Green beans, Carrot & Spinach Stir Fry

Pumpkin Soup

Add 2 Tbsp ghee to a pot on medium heat. To flavour the ghee, add 1 dry red chilli, ½ tsp cumin seeds and 1 cinnamon stick. Add ¼ cup of pureed tomato and simmer for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of steamed and pureed pumpkin. Flavour with salt, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ¼ tsp crushed black pepper and ¼ tsp fresh ginger. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Green beans, Carrot & Spinach Stir Fry

Add 2 Tbsp ghee to a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. To flavour the ghee, add 1 dry red chilli, ½ tsp cumin seeds and ½ tsp mustard seeds. Add ¼ tsp asafoetida. Add ½ cup chopped green beans, ½ cup chopped carrots and ½ cup chopped spinach. Flavour with salt, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, and ½ tsp fresh ginger. Toss and lower the heat, cover with a lid and allow the veggies to cook with the steam that’s created naturally.

DAY 2: Moong Dhal Soup + Squashes

Moong Dhal Soup

Add 2 Tbsp ghee to a pot on medium heat. To flavour the ghee, add 1 dry red chilli, ½ tsp cumin seeds and ½ tsp mustard seeds. Add ¼ tsp asafoetida. Add 1 cup soaked (overnight) and rinsed moong dhal with 2 cups of water. Flavour with salt, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ¼ tsp red chilli powder, ¼ tsp coriander powder, ¼ tsp cumin powder and ½ tsp fresh ginger. Simmer on a low heat for approximately 20 minutes.

Squashes

Add 2 Tbsp ghee to a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. To flavour the ghee, add 1 dry red chilli, ½ tsp cumin seeds, ½ tsp mustard seeds and 8 curry leaves. Add 2 medium-sized steamed and sliced gem squashes and 1 cup chopped patty pans. Flavour with salt, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, and ½ tsp fresh ginger. Toss and lower the heat, cover with a lid and allow the veggies to cook with the steam that’s created naturally.

DAY 3: Toowar Dhal + Butternut, Zucchini, Carrot & Spinach

Toowar Dhal

Add 2 Tbsp ghee to a pot on medium heat. To flavour the ghee, add 1 dry red chilli, 1 cinnamon stick, 8 curry leaves, ½ tsp cumin seeds and ½ tsp mustard seeds. Add ¼ tsp asafoetida. Add 1 cup soaked (overnight) and rinsed toowar dhal with 2 cups of water. Flavour with salt, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ¼ tsp red chilli powder, ¼ tsp coriander powder, ¼ tsp cumin powder and ½ tsp fresh ginger. Simmer on a low heat for approximately 15 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp pureed tomato and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Butternut, Zucchini, Carrot & Spinach

Add 2 Tbsp ghee to a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. To flavour the ghee, add 1 dry red chilli and ½ tsp fenugreek seeds. Add 1 cup steamed butternut cubes, ½ cup chopped zucchini, ½ cup chopped carrots and ½ cup chopped spinach. Flavour with salt, ¼ tsp red chilli powder and ½ tsp fresh ginger. Toss and lower the heat, cover with a lid and allow the veggies to cook with the steam that’s created naturally.

DAY 4: Savoury Vegetable Rice

Add 2 Tbsp ghee to a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. To flavour the ghee, add 1 dry red chilli, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 2 green cardamom, 2 whole black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves, ½ tsp cumin seeds and 8 curry leaves. Add ½ cup chopped zucchini, ½ cup chopped carrots, ½ cup chopped green beans and ½ cup sliced mixed peppers. Flavour with salt, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ¼ tsp red chilli powder, ¼ tsp coriander powder, ¼ tsp cumin powder and ½ tsp fresh ginger. Toss and lower the heat, cover with a lid and allow the veggies to cook with the steam that’s created naturally. After 5 minutes, add 2 Tbsp pureed tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes with the lid on. Add 2 cups of cooked brown Basmati rice. Mix well. Steam with the lid on for another 5 minutes.