This is no ordinary cookbook. You could say it´s more a way of life. I have always believed that we are what we eat. This book of basically Indian recipes supports that philosophy, answers many questions, and offers a viable alternative for so many people who, like myself, were never entirely convincend of the virtues of eating meat. I did not realize it at the time , but that small doubt was the beginning of a whole new way of looking at everything.
I had never been completely happy about being a meat eater. Even being brought up on a farm did not condition me to it. Rather, it made it harder. I could not blind myself to the facts. They were there, part of my life every day. I could never come to terms with the knowledge that those beautiful little calves I had watched being born and had later stroked as they came to nuzzle my hand would end up on my plate. That they should unnecessarily die in fear and pain seemed appalling; and with a third of the world starving, it did not make any sense at all to give animals grain that could nourish people. A field of grain that can feed two cows can feed sixty-four people.
It is very easy to label vegetarians mere sentimentalists and health nuts, but we are all aware that there is so much more involved than that. The question concerns us all, on moral, health, economic, and religious grounds.
Still, it was a difficult choice to make, and a difficult path to follow in many respects. The alternatives to meat-eating seemed rather boring and, what´s worse, fattening. I imagined that it would require huge amounts of will power.
Then there was the family aspect. Keeping my hungry, active, young children fully satisfied and happy at mealtimes waws a headache. And, of course, there was the question of nutrition: I was naturally concerned with their getting enough protein. So I gathered a few good vegetarian recipes, which I trotted out again and again, with monotonous regularity. Sure enough, the ever present baked potato was the cause of many a mealtime mutiny. Indeed, I even began to think that if I ever had to look another bean in the face, I would not be answerable for my actions!
I was beginning to despair and lose heart, but help was at hand. You will find it in this book of interesting, varied, and wholesome recipes. It shows how easy it can be to maintain a delicious and balanced diet without ever touching flesh of any kind. Added to this, the recipes are simple and easy to prepare. The days when one´s plate looked bare if bereft of meat are a thing of the past.
Of course, underlying all this is the philosophy, the attitude towards eating. You are what you eat. The how and why of it is inextricably tied up with the most fundamental questions of belief and feeling about life, about the true value of life – all life, not simply human.
I first tasted this food at one of the Hare Krishna temples in this country. It was absolutely delicious, and made even more so by having been prepared by devotees with pure hearts, and offered with love to God.
Here, then, is a cookbook with a philosophy behind it. Even if you only enjoy making the recipes, that´s good. But if you want to, it can change your life.
This is a practical cookbook, designed to help you prepare authentic Indian meals in your own home and to acquaint you with the tradition behind India´s great vegetarian cuisine. It explains not only the techniques of Vedic, or classical Indian vegetarian cooking, but also the Vedic art of eating, which nourishes both the soul and the body and mind.
Although this is only a fraction of the thousands of possibilities offered by the Vedic culinary tradition, these recipes, chosen for their diversity as well as their ease of preparation , give an idea of the vastness of Vedic cooking. The recipes were contributed by the best cooks in the Hare Krishna movement, some of whom were taught by Srila Prabhupada himself.