Saturday, February 8, 2014

animal food without slaughter


Prabhupada wrote, "A human being has no need to kill animals, because God has supplied so many nice things... Animal fat is available in the form of milk, which is the most wonderful of all foods. Milk, butter, cheese and similar products give animal fat in a form which rules out any need for the killing of innocent creatures."

GHEE
I made ghee today. Then I made some fresh cheese, squeezed out most the weigh, chopped it up and fried the pieces on a cast-iron skillet in the ghee. Mmmm. Only a die hard meat eater could still eat meat after tasting it.

I learned that the taste of ghee, clarified butter, especially satisfies any meaty cravings. In fact, I give credit that ghee helped my transition to become full time vegetarian. To this day I use it to cook many many preparations. It is said to delay aging, aid digestion and other health benefits. I don't know if it contains high cholesterol like butter. I read once that it does not from a paper by the World Health Organization; it is considered to be unique, but I could not find the information again. But I do know from the craze over the "Paleo diet" that butter and milk aren't as bad for us as once thought.

Here's a quick method for making ghee:

First you bring the butter to a boil. Be careful to not put too many pounds into a pot. It foams up in this initial stage.If you stir constantly at this point it may not boil over, or else get a bigger pot.

The next stage, the foam will suddenly drop down and the texture changes to a glossy-like consistency. photo GHEE.jpg 
 Keep cooking and stirring until the ghee and ghee solids separate. It'll start looking more clear instead of opaque. photo gheee.jpg 
 Keep cooking stirring occasionally until the ghee and ghee solids separate. It'll start looking more clear instead of opaque.  photo gheetest.jpg 
 At the same time it must not be cooked too long or the ghee will foam once again and continue to do so if used later for deep frying (although it is not unusable, just annoying, especially if one deep fries it will foam over).

When I am satisfied with the clarity of the ghee and see some solids forming on the bottom of the pot, I turn off the heat and leave it on the burner to settle and brown the solids a little.

Next, I strain the ghee solids from the ghee with a cheesecloth while still hot.

Properly made ghee has a very long shelf life, without refrigeration. Practice makes perfect.

GHEE FOR CHAUNCES
I use ghee to chaunce my subjis and soups.

 photo chaunce2.jpg 

 photo dalandvegiesoup.jpg
FOR FRYING AND DEEP FRYING
Ghee can be used to fry things like pancakes (incomparable flavor), or deep fry things like pakoras. Ghee has the highest smoking point I know of. photo BESANBREAD.jpg 
 Chunks of cauliflower pakoras are the perfect substitute for fried chicken! I call it "Happy Chicken".

PANEER CHUNKS
Here's how to make fresh cheese or paneer. I bring fresh milk to a boil, add lemon juice or if unavailable, I use a small amount of citric acid. Best to start with a little. Add more as needed, until the curds separate nicely from the whey.

I next pour the curds into a colander and then put them into a cheesecloth to drain.

Paneer can be used in many many ways like adding it to a subji: photo curduses.jpg 
or shape it into patties for a curd burger: photo curdburgers.jpg 
 YOGURT Here's how I make yogurt. Bring the milk to a boil, let it cool enough that you can hold the clean back of your little finger in the milk long enough to chant one Hare Krishna mantra. Then add the culture. You can  use plain yogurt from the store. Stir in about half a cup of plain yogurt for a half-gallon of milk. Cover and keep it in a warm area. I keep it in an oven that has a pilot light to keep the yogurt snuggly warm. In about 4-5 hours you'll have a nice pot of yogurt!
With yogurt I love to make lassi. Today I added roasted ground cumin with a dash of salt and pepper per cup.
Or how about some stir fried chickpeas in a sauce made from yogurt? photo chickpeaswithyogurt.jpg
MILK SWEETS
In India they make many other wonderful sweets  such as sandesh, rasagullas, kheer and burfi. Burfi or sweet milk cooked down into fudge has many variations such as adding coconut, cardomom or ground peanuts.

 photo burfi.jpg
 So I hope this post illustrates nicely that there is no need to kill animals to eat well. In fact, the whole process of Krishna consciousness is simply joyful. There is no lack of enjoyment when we give up meat eating because we are given a higher taste. Bhagavad gita says:

"The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness." Bg2.59