Raw food guru, Kate Wood shares her passion for foods packed with energy

May I start by declaring my bias? I love superfoods! I eat them every day, and have done for nearly two decades. I don’t know how I could survive without them – sure, I would still be alive, but I think I can state categorically that I would not be as happy and energetic as I am without them, and I certainly wouldn’t be leading such a joyful and abundant life. They provide me with that edge, that get-up and go, which helps me deal with the demands of motherhood, and still have energy for myself. As a breastfeeding mother, I can be sure my high nutritional requirements [Read more...]

Satish Kumar, our Director of Programmes, is unusual amongst Indian men of his generation in that his mother brought him up not only to cook, but to enjoy spending many happy hours in the kitchen. This he continues to do whilst at Schumacher College, and participants often feel delighted when they discover they are in the Monday night cooking group and will have the mysteries of North Indian cooking calmly revealed to them under the tutelage of Satish and his giant sauté pans. For many more traditional men from the subcontinent, their first encounter with cooking in the Schumacher College kitchen is met with a mixture of trepidation and eager anticipation. Indeed, they have often asked me to take a snapshot for their wives, as evidence that this unlikely occasion has really taken place!

Before proceeding with the recipes, over to Satish for one of the most essential ingredients-atmosphere.

“My first memory of cooking in my mother’s kitchen takes me back to the age of five. I was making chappatis-unleavened flat bread. I loved playing with the dough and rolling it out. All sorts of shapes would emerge-and my mother would laugh at my triangular chappatis, knowing they should have been round.

Our kitchen was a warm and reviving place, that brought all who cooked there immediately in touch with earth and fire-those basic elements that underlie all cooking, yet are so often invisible in modern kitchens. My mother sat on the ground, cross-legged. Around her sat her children, and everything she needed. Between us, pots and pans bubbled on a brick and mud stove. Two or three logs fed the flame, pointing towards the chimney where the smoke disappeared.

We were a family of eight brothers and sisters-four boys and four girls. Mother insisted that all four boys learned to cook. This was exceptional, but she believed that if you can enjoy cooking, you can enjoy eating even more.

Mother was an intuitive cook and we learned by observing how she prepared the food. She never had any recipe books-there were none in the house. In any case, Mother could not read or write, but she was herself a book of countless recipes.

When I became a monk I stopped cooking, and so from the age of nine to eighteen the practice of cooking lapsed. Later, when I joined a Gandhian Ashram, Mother’s cooking came back to me very quickly. I met a man called Sundarani, for whom cooking was a creative process, an art form. He was also a gardener and produced many kinds of vegetables and herbs. So there at the Ashram I truly experienced the joy of cooking. I liked to do nothing more than work in the garden, pick the vegetables, wash them, chop them finely, use appropriate combinations, appropriate herbs and spices, and take pleasure in serving the food and also in washing up. Cooking at the Ashram became a form of spiritual work, a form of meditation, a form of service-and a form of aesthetic experience.”

The following gives all you will need for Satish’s classic Indian meal (or bhojan), consisting of several different dishes. A few pickles, such as mango, brinjal and lime, are often served as well. The level of spiciness has been tailored for mild Western palates, and can be zapped up if you prefer your curries hotter.

Ingredients

• Serves 4-6 people
• 1 lb (450 g/3 cups) potatoes in 1/2″(11/2 cm) cubes
• 1 1/2 lb (700 g/1 medium-sized) cauliflower cut into little florets
• 12 oz (350 g/21/2 cups) onions, thin sliced
• 10 oz (275 g/11/4 cups) chopped tomatoes
• 4 1/2 oz (125 g/2/3 cup) red split lentils
• 3 oz (85 g/3/4 cup) frozen peas
• 9 oz (250 g) spinach
• 14 oz (400 g/2 cups) basmati rice
• 4 oz (110 g) natural yoghurt
• 2-3″ (5-7 cm) cucumber
• 1-2 oz (30-55 g/1/2-1 cup) fresh coriander leaves
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 oz (30-55 g/2-4 tbsp) fresh ginger root, grated
• 1-2 green chillies (depending on strength)
• 2 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tbsp garam masala
• 2-3 tsp cumin seed
• 1/2 lemon approx
• salt to taste
• poppadums-allow one each and a few extra

Directions
Cover the bases of three average/large frying pans with olive oil. Use large saucepans if large frying pans or sauté pans are not available. Gently fry 2 tsp cumin seed in each until brown. Add one third of the onions to each pan and fry slowly until golden brown. Cooking these onions separately like this is the first stage in making the following three dishes (Saag Aloo, Ghobi Mutter and Dhal).

Saag Aloo (potatoes and spinach)
Pre-cook the potatoes in some boiling water until soft (15-20 minutes). To one pan add the par-boiled potatoes and 2 tsp ginger, 1 tbsp garlic, 2 tsp turmeric, 1 tbsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp salt. Meanwhile steam a quantity of spinach leaf and then add to the potatoes about 5 minutes before serving. Alternatively, use defrosted frozen spinach that has been thawing for several hours, preferably overnight.

Ghobi Mutter (cauliflower and peas)
To another pan of golden brown onions add 1 tbsp garam masala, 2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tbsp salt and the cauliflower. Stir well and cook, covered, over a low flame until tender. Using plenty of oil and a lid, Satish seems to have no problem getting the cauliflower to cook. However, he suggests you add a sprinkling of water if the cauliflower is not cooking or you prefer to use less oil. Add the peas about 5-10 minutes before serving-using defrosted (or fresh) peas and adding them only towards the end of cooking time should ensure they remain bright green in colour, twinkling like emeralds on the serving table. That is how Satish likes them, though other Indian visitors have challenged him, saying curried peas should be allowed to turn khaki!

Dhal and Chonked Dhal
Sort the lentils carefully by spreading a little at a time on a white plate. Brown lentils are OK, but tiny stones are not, and though they may be very rare, they are worth checking for-for the sake of someone’s tooth! Cook the lentils in three times their volume of water with 3/4 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp garam masala and 1/2 tsp salt. When nearly cooked, add the third quantity of cooked onions and cumin and continue to simmer. Blend until creamy with a hand whisk or rod blender.

You now have the option of making ‘Chonk’ (or ‘Tarka’) dhal, but bear in mind that it requires great care and is best learned by observation. Basically, you add some cumin that has been browned in a pool of olive oil, in a small pan. While the olive oil is still piping hot and smoking you pour it into the dhal. Because it will steam up and sizzle terrifically you need to use the lid of the pan as a shield to protect your face, and you need to close the lid over the handle of the small pan you are emptying into the dhal, whilst the steam subsides. When the smoke has gone you can stir the dhal. If you are unclear about these instructions, avoid chonking. Whether chonked or not, you can go on to add the tomatoes to the dhal for the last ten minutes of cooking.

Raita
Peel and chop the cucumber. Mix with the yoghurt and a little salt. Add a little water, milk or cream to make the curd smoother-this may represent about one-eighth of the total volume, though of course it depends on the thickness of the yoghurt. Bruise some cumin seeds between your hands and scatter over the yoghurt mixture. Another way of making raita is to include freshly chopped tomato and red onion alongside the cucumber and other ingredients.

Coriander Chutney
Wash and dry the coriander. Remove any tough stalks. Chop up the green chilli and remove seeds (unless you are going for a very hot chutney). Blend 1 green chilli, with the coriander leaf, 1 tbsp chopped ginger, 1 tbsp roughly chopped garlic, the juice of 1/2 lemons and about 1/4 tsp salt together in a food processor or liquidizer with enough olive oil to slightly thicken it (2 tbsp approx.). Add a little yoghurt if you like. Traditionally, the coriander leaf would be crushed between two stones. Alternatively, a pestle and mortar could be used, or a mezzaluna-and some persistence! For a hotter version, use double the number of chillies and omit the coriander and ginger. Red chillies can also be used.

Basmati Rice
Bring rice to the boil in the water. The ratio required is one part rice to two parts water. Once boiling, turn the burner down as low as possible and put a lid on. Continue to cook for about 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed and the rice fluffy, and grains (hopefully) still separate.

Poppadums

We always use Lijjat poppadums, which are made by a Women’s Cooperative in Bombay. Fry them in about 1/4″ (1/2-1 cm) of sunflower oil on both sides. Using tongs, move the papadum from surface to surface several times quite swiftly-until they are light brown, puffed and rather moon-like! Hold above the frying pan with the tongs for a few seconds to shake off excess oil. Stack upright in a dish lined with absorbent paper underneath to soak up excess oil. Keep warm until serving time, if necessary.

Shumacher College was founded in 1991 based on the human scale values of E.F. Schumacher, author of Small is Beautiful. It is now more than a decade since the first supper was served and course participants have been requesting copies of recipes ever since. Gaia’s Kitchen – Vegetarian recipes for family and community is the result of these many requests.

Taken from Gaia’s Kitchen by Julia Ponsonby, Green Books, £12.99