Chhhannnggg….
The sound is familiar-- like a curtain of raindrops descending
on a tin roof. I am about to part the curtain and look out of
the window, when the aroma floats in. Conjuring images of
twilight, soft breeze, the cows coming home-- the bells jingling
around their necks… dinner laid out on a chatai (straw mat) on
the kitchen floor--light yellow rice peppered with mustard seeds
and soaked in home-made ghee…
I am led by the nose…into the kitchen in vaidya Ramakant
Mishra's home. A symphony of flavour is playing there. The big
round wok on the stove, with curry leaves and cumin seeds
crackling inside the clear golden ghee, sending out the sound
that I mistook for rain. And the aroma. Again the aroma.
I don't mean to sound dramatic. But don't blame me if I do.
There are smells that send you crazy. The first whiff of rain
that rises off the earth. The fresh scent of water-sprinkled
cilantro. Ocean-mist. Daffodils. And ghee.
"Almost everything I like is either sinful, illegal or
fattening" said Oscar Wilde. And isn’t that true of most things
in life--chocolate, fries and streaking on the beach, to name a
few. Happily, ghee isn't among them. It's delicious and it's
actually good for you.
Ghee is everywhere in Indian life. For centuries, Indian women
have used carbon from ghee-lamps as a protective eyeliner.
Mothers massage their newborns with it, to make their skin
supple. The no-fail Indian remedy for an upset stomach is
ghee-bhaat (boiled rice) with a pinch of salt. Because ghee can
transport particles into cells, many Ayurvedic formulations use
it as a base. Ghee is the fat that lights the lamps of
temples--no other fat is considered more auspicious.
But superstition is not just why the Indians love ghee. Renowned
vaidya Dr Ramakant Mishra, who heads product research at
Maharishi Ayurveda International, says Ayurveda discovered the
role of ghee in well-being centuries ago. So beneficial is this
fat that vaidyas have given it the status of a “rasayana”, or
pre-eminent healing food.
Ghee is:
Light: That rich, creamy look. You would imagine ghee is a heavy
fat. It's not. What is ghee, you may ask. Dehydrated milk-butter
without its solids. To make ghee, technologists heat milk butter
on a slow fire. All the water slowly evaporates. What's left of
the butter is a clear golden liquid, with the solids settled at
the bottom. The liquid is ghee. Bonus: ghee is so flavorful that
just a teaspoon will do more than four tablespoons of any other
cooking oil.
Luscious: Brush a layer on corn-on-the-cob or drop a dollop into
hot lentils. Pour into the hollow of a freshly baked potato or
saute with salmon. Stir-fry, bake, saute or spread--any which
way you use it, ghee will find flavour with you. What’s more, it
won’t smoke or burn during cooking.
Lasting: Keep ghee and butter at room temperature. Butter will
eventually turn rancid; ghee will not. It's the moisture in
butter that promotes decay. Virtually moisture-free, ghee has no
such problem. It will retain its original freshness and flavour
for months, even without refrigeration.
Energising: Some foods dissolve in water, and some in fat. Ghee
in your diet will carry fat-soluble foods quickly and easily
inside cells. Such foods will reach where they are supposed to
reach, to work the way they are supposed to work. Sometimes,
it's just packaging that makes the difference.
An Anti-oxidant: Ghee has beta-carotene and vitamin E, both
known anti-oxidants that counter the effects of free radicals.
Science has been able to establish that free radicals cause
nearly 90 percent of all degenerative diseases. Ghee in your
diet, then, could give Father Time a run for his money.
A Sharpener: The goodness of ghee not only powers your cells,
but also penetrates the corners of your mind. Result— quicker
leaning, better recall, wiser decisions. Cow ghee in particular
is supposed to be extremely good for your brain.
A Healer: Ghee repairs the mucus lining of the stomach and evens
out the acid balance in there. An ancient Indian fable says King
Akbar the Great once challenged a citizen to eat and digest
limestone. The man accepted—and won. His secret? Just before he
had the limsetone, he downed a huge bowlful of ghee to arm his
stomach against the assault.
So stir-fry the garlic in a teaspoon of ghee, and drizzle over
piping hot bread. It’s aromatherapy of the most intoxicating
kind. Then feel the flavour do ghee-licious things to your
taste-buds. Indulge.
About the author:
Shubhra Krishan is a journalist from India, now based in
Colorado Springs. She specializes in writing about Ayurveda--a
system of healing that originated in India more than 5000 years
ago. Her articles on Ayurveda can be found at www.mapi.com and
http://ayurvedix.tripod.com
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