A Taste of Well-Being A Taste of Well-Being Sadhguru’s insights for your gastronomics ISHA YOGA CENTRE First published in India in 2016 by Harper Element An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers India Copyright © Isha Foundation 2016 P-ISBN: 978-93-5136-378-1 E-ISBN: 978-93-5136-379-8 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 Isha Foundation asserts the moral right to be identifi ed as the author of this work. The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by them, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. HarperCollins Publishers A-75, Sector 57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301, India 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF, United Kingdom Hazelton Lanes, 55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900, Toronto, Ontario M5R 3L2 and 1995 Markham Road, Scarborough, Ontario M1B 5M8, Canada 25 Ryde Road, Pymble, Sydney, NSW 2073, Australia 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA Typeset in 11.5/14 Arapey Jojy Philip New Delhi 110 015 Printed and bound at Thomson Press (India) Ltd Contents The True Joy of Eating xi A Taste of Isha xiii JUICES AND TEAS 1 Lemon Mint Juice 2 Carrot-Pear Juice 3 Papaya Juice 3 Grape and Mixed Fruit Juice 4 Banana Stem Juice 5 Cucumber Mint Juice 6 Cantaloupe–Banana Smoothie 7 Jackfruit Cool Shake 8 Tangy Mango Lassi 9 Nannari Tea 10 Lemongrass Ginger Tea 11 Cinnamon Tea 12 Hibiscus Flower Tea 13 Rose Petal Flower Tea 14 Ginger Tea 15 Wheat Coffee 16 Ginger Coriander Coffee (Sukku Coffee) 17 NATURAL FOOD 19 SALADS 21 Green Gram Sprout Salad 22 Beans and Corn Salad 23 Sweet Corn Salad 25 Chickpea (Chana) Chaat Delight 26 Broccoli-Cucumber Salad 28 vi Contents Pasta Salad 30 Beetroot Lemon Relish 31 Sweet Apple Salad 32 Pumpkin Salad 33 Veggie Boost 34 Palak and Mushroom Salad 35 Palak and Fruit Salad 36 Caribbean Salad 37 Rose Salad 38 Carrot Crunch 39 Sweet Milky Salad 40 Banana Fruit Salad 41 Apple and Pineapple Salad 42 Peanut Butter-Banana Salad 43 INSIDE ‘AKSHAYA’ – THE ISHA KITCHEN 44 GRUELS AND GRAINS 47 OF KANJIS AND KALIS 48 Ragi Kanji (Finger Millet Gruel) 49 Kavuni Arisi (Black Rice) Sweet Gruel 50 Gasagasaa (Poppy Seed) Sweet Gruel 52 Ragi (Finger Millet) Puttu 53 Ragi (Finger Millet) Kali 55 Kambu (Pearl Millet) Kali 56 Urad Dal Palm Sugar Kali 57 Moar Kali 59 Wheat Rice 60 Wheat Bisibelebhath 61 Karnataka Puliyodhara 63 PRANIC FOODS 65 CURRIES AND SUBZIS 70 Agathi Leaves Fry 71 Agathi Leaves – Sweet and Salty 73 vii Contents Banana Flower Dal Fry 74 Broccoli Fry 76 Amaranth Fry 78 Beans Dal Fry 79 Aviyal (Mixed Vegetables) 80 Ridge Gourd Koottu 82 Snake Gourd Koottu 84 Stuffed Okra 86 Okra Masala 87 Karnataka Vegetable Subzi 88 Palak (Spinach) Subzi 90 Groundnut Capsicum Subzi 91 THE ENDLESS DEBATE: VEG OR NON-VEG? 92 KUZHAMBUS 95 Sodhi 96 Banana Stem Sambar 98 Fenugreek Kuzhambu 100 Ginger and Coconut Kadhi 101 Kadhi (Moar Kuzhambu) 102 Pakoda Kuzhambu 103 EKADASHI 105 EKADASHI DINNER 107 Papaya Slice 108 Amla Chutney 108 Kala Chana Sundal 109 Vegetable (Poriyal) 110 Rice Kanji 111 TIFFINS AND CHUTNEYS 112 Appam (Hoppers) 113 Green Dosa 115 Ragi (Finger Millet) Dosa 117 Ragi Palak and Vegetable Dosa 119 viii Contents Ragi (Finger Millet) Idiyappam (String Hoppers) 121 Sago Uppuma 123 Maize Sooji Uppuma 125 Bottle Gourd Muthiya (Steamed Dumplings) 127 Apple-Tomato Chutney 129 Butter Fruit (Avocado) Chutney 130 Ridge Gourd Peel Chutney 131 Toovar Dal Chutney 132 Tangy Mango Chutney 133 Mango-Curd Chutney 134 Green Tamarind Chutney 135 Groundnut Chutney 136 Drumstick Leaf Chutney 137 SNACKS AND SWEETS 138 Banana Roti 139 Date Balls 140 American-style Snack Mix 141 Granola 143 Banana Pancakes 145 Praline Cashews (Vanilla Chikki) 147 Spiced Orange Compote 148 Banana Halwa 149 Sooji Halwa 150 Ash Gourd Halwa 151 Coconut Mango Crisp 152 Date Roll 154 Elaichi Crème 155 Butter Fruit (Avocado) Pista Pudding 156 WATER: POISON OR ELIXIR OF LIFE? 157 TECHNIQUES 160 THE SIMPLICITY OF SALAD 161 SEASONING 170 ix Contents PROTEIN – POWER GROUNDNUTS 174 SPROUTS – THE POWER FOOD 176 JAGGERY – THE MEDICINAL SUGAR 180 HONEY – ENJOYING THE NATURAL SWEETNESS OF LIFE 182 Index 185 Sadhguru 197 Isha Foundation 198 Isha Yoga Centre 199 Worldwide Centres 200 x xi The True Joy of Eating Sadhguru Food is life giving away its own life to make your life. If only you were aware that so many lives are giving up their own lives to sustain your own, you would eat with enormous gratitude. If you eat with that kind of gratitude, you will naturally eat only to the extent that it is necessary. The food will behave in a completely different way in your system; the way you treat it is the way it treats you. Your consciousness is very important in determining how a certain food behaves in your system. Let us say two people are eating food with exactly the same levels of nourishment and their health and absorption rates are about equal. One person eats the food with joy while the other simply eats it as nourishment. The one who eats with joy will need much less food and will get better nourishment than the other person. There is scientifi c evidence to prove this. Every human being who is a little sensitive to life always knows this. If you eat with gratitude and reverence, you will see whatever you eat will work wonderfully for you. The true joy of eating is that you are conscious of some other life willing to become a part of you, to merge and mingle with your own life and become you. This is the greatest pleasure a human being knows – in some way something that is not him is willing to become a part of him. This is what you call love. This is what people call devotion. This is the ultimate goal of the spiritual process. Whether it is lust, passion, devotion or the ultimate enlightenment, it is all the same – it is just the scale. If xii A Taste of Well-Being it happens between two people we call it passion; if it happens with a larger group we call it love; if it happens much more indiscriminately we call it compassion; if it happens without even a form around you, it is called devotion; if it happens in its ultimate scale, we call it Enlightenment. This beautiful process of constant demonstration of the oneness of existence is happening at your mealtime every day. Food, eating, is a demonstration of the oneness of existence. Something that was a plant, something that was a seed, something that was an animal or a fi sh or a bird, just merging and becoming a human being, is clear demonstration of the oneness of existence, of the hand of the Creator in everything that is. Make the simple act of eating into fulfi lling the will of Creation and the tremendous experience of knowing the joy of Union. xiii A Taste of Isha Just a few decades ago, the way humans looked at food was largely infl uenced by local culture, tradition and seasons. Local produce, fast becoming a rare and expensive commodity, was once the natural diet of millions. What is now referred to as the ‘slow food movement’ was just the way of the world. But now that we have moved into an era when everything under the sun is accessible to us, one would think that we would be better equipped to understand what we should or should not eat. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The truth is, with the steady stream of half-baked research coming our way through online and print media, we have regressed to a state of confusion. Food products labelled ‘healthy’ one day are abruptly dismissed as ‘lethal’ the very next. Foods touted as nutritious and life- enhancing by one study are declared carcinogenic by another. The latest ‘celebrity diet’ is always around the corner, waiting to be trashed by nutritionists. So taking all this into consideration, what is the correct, balanced diet for our bodies in the long run? How is one supposed to differentiate between good foods and bad foods? How does one fi nd the best diet? The answer, simply enough, lies within. ‘When it comes to food, don’t ask anyone. You must learn to ask the body and listen to it. You should eat what your body is most happy with.’ – Sadhguru Yes, but how will I know? In the Yogic tradition, the way food is perceived goes beyond biology and chemistry. Food is alive, with a quality and prana (life energy) of its own. When consumed, the quality of the food infl uences the qualities of our body and mind. The line ‘you are xiv A Taste of Well-Being what you eat’ takes on a whole new meaning. If we pay suffi cient attention and become aware of the subtle connection shared between food and the body, we will effortlessly know from within what we need to eat and how much. We will not need to seek external sources of information. Armed with this awareness, what is merely a daily intake of food can be transformed into a beautiful process of nourishment and union. At the Isha Yoga Centre, founded by Sadhguru and located at the Velliangiri foothills in southern India, mealtime is not just about food and dining. Rather, it is approached as a possibility to touch the very source of life within. ‘The true joy of eating is that you are conscious of another life willing to become a part of you, to merge and mingle with your own life. This is the greatest pleasure that a human being knows; in some way something that is not him is willing to become a part of him. This is what you call ‘love’. This is what people call ‘devotion’. This is the ultimate goal of the spiritual process.’ – Sadhguru It is with this very same love and devotion that we offer you this volume, in the hope that you, too, can discover the true joy of eating. A Taste of Well-Being is not a diet, a food doctrine, or a regimented lifestyle plan. It is a guidebook to human well-being – on all levels. In the following pages, you will fi nd recipes that have been perfected in the kitchen of the Isha Yoga Centre and in the homes of thousands of Isha meditators across the world. Some dishes are positive-pranic adaptations of old favourites, and others might be completely new to your palate. Ranging from simple juices and salads to complete meals of grains, cereals and curries, each dish has been crafted to appeal to the taste buds and also provide wholesome nourishment. Through pictures and testimonials, you can also get a glimpse into life at the Isha Yoga Centre, a space designed for inner transformation, whose inhabitants have embraced the mission