2. Clean Coal is a myth perpetuated by the Coal industry. In actuality, it is not scientifically or economically feasible. In the summer of 2007, America’s coal companies, railroads, and utilities, launched a major advertising campaign promoting the concept of clean coal. Clean Coal uses a process called the Integrated Gas Combined Cycle (IGCC) to “capture” the CO2 from coal and turn it into a cleaner burning gas. The captured CO2 is then injected into water deep in the ground. The reality is that this technology is simply a ploy from the coal industry to perpetuate its own existence and maintain profit. The science of capturing CO2 from Coal is still only theoretical. Scientists are not even sure if injecting CO2 into the ground could ever be safe. It makes no sense to invest in the research and massive infrastructure for capturing CO2 when we could simply use renewable energy sources.

3. Both John McCain AND President-elect Obama have publicly come out in favor of Clean Coal. The arm of the coal lobby is so strong that neither candidate could speak against Clean Coal. Swing states like Indiana and Ohio are heavily dependent on coal and highly involved with the coal industry. If we don’t raise awareness on this issue, its going to go on unaddressed. Change has to occur from the goverment level on this issue. Hopefully Obama flip flops on this one.

To read more, try going here or here.

–Rohit

(click for more views and to enlarge)

Ingredients

Curry:

* 2 bananas
* 1 tomato
* 1 tbsp coconut oil
* 1 tsp coriander
* 1 tsp cumin
* 1/2 tsp garam masala
* 2 pinches cinammon
* 1/2 tsp turmeric
* 1/4 tsp salt
* red chili powder (to taste)
* 1 handful cashews
* about 1/2 cup water

Koftas:

* 1 1/2 handfuls walnuts
* 1/2 tsp cumin
* 1/2 tsp coriander
* 1 tsp Nama Shoyu/Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
* 1 large soft date

Directions

Place bananas, tomatoes, and coconut oil into food processor and mix until smooth.  Next add spices and cashews.  Depending on the thickness of the curry, add water until it reaches the desired consistency.  Taste a little and see if you’d like it a little spicier (if so, add equal amounts coriander, cumin, garam masala).   To make the koftas, pulse walnuts, cumin, coriander, and nama shoyu in food processor until walnuts are in small pieces.  Mash walnut mixture together with dates by hand, then roll the mixture into little balls.

To serve:  Places koftas on plate and cover with sauce.  For “rice,” use shredded cabbage, and for “naan” use pieces of any leafy lettuce.  For salad, use cherry tomatoes or sliced tomatoes.

And remember to eat with your hands to get the full flavor!!!

–Rishi

However, while I was attending a yoga training program in the ashram, I was made to practice oil pulling every morning.  All I have to say is wow!  Within two weeks I found my skin was the softest it had been since I was a child.  A bleeding problem I had with one spot in my gums also dissappeared, along with sensitivity in one of my molars.  After getting such great results I knew this was something I had to share with everyone I knew.

What you need:

- A bottle of cold pressed sesame or sunflower oil (preferable sesame)
- A tablespoon

How to do it:
As soon as you wake up, place around one tablespoon of oil into your mouth.  Keep your jaw closed and relaxed, and push the oil through your teeth with your tongue.  Bring the oil back inside your teeth using your cheeks.  Keep repeating this process.  After about 10 to 15 minutes, the oils thick consistency will change to become much thinner and watery.  At this point, spit the oil out of your mouth into a sink.  If the oil is watery and whitish in color, you did it correctly.  Quickly rinse out your mouth with water several times.  And your done!

Important Notes:

- Oil pulling should be done BEFORE brushing
- Oil pulling should be done on an empty stomach
- Try not to swallow any of the oil

Benefits:

- Removal of toxins from the digestive system
- Clearer skin
- Whiter teeth
- Healthier gums
- Better overall Health

If you decide to try kavala graha out, tell us!  We’d love to hear whether it worked for you or not and share the results with everyone else.

Also, I’ll be posting an instructional video for this post later this week.

–Rishi

I practice kavala graha everyday with Raw Coconut Oil. It does wonders for the hair and skin. Basically, you can do this with any raw and cold-pressed oil.

–Rohit

This weekend I went out to an Indian restaurant with my friends, and after eating dinner, a few them decided they were still up for a dessert.  The restaurant had a big array of Indian sweet meats, and so I stood and explained to everyone what each one was.  After everyone had finished scarfing down all the desserts, I realized that I could probably replicate them pretty well.  There are many types of Indian sweat meats(ludoo, rusgula, gulab jamun), but out of all of them, my favorite is barfi.  Barfi is traditionally made with boiled down milk, jaggery (home-made evaporate cane sugar), and ghee (clarified).  Basically, this stuff is heavy, really heavy.  If you can imagine what solidified poisonous deliciousness tastes like, that’s barfi.  So now, with my barfi, you can enjoy all the wonderful flavors of barfi, with none of the common side effects (brick feeling in your stomach, immediate sleepiness, general malaise, etc.).  Enjoy this one!

Ingredients

* 1/2 pound almonds
* 1/2 pound cashews
* 4 cloves cardamom or cardamom powder (to taste)
* 1 1/2 tbsp agave nectar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* cacao powder (optional)

 Directions

Using a food processor, grind down the almonds and cashews until they are as close to a powder as you can get them.  Shell the cardamom cloves, and grind down the seeds to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle.  In a large bowl, place the almond powder, cashew powder, cardamom powder, salt, and agave nectar.  Mash everything together with your hands until all ingredients are evenly distributed and nothing is sticking to the bowl.  Lay the mixture out on a large cutting board and flatten in down to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut in whatever shape desired.   (Optional) Roll individual pieces in cacao powder.  Top each piece with whatever you’d like.  I suggest cashews, almond, walnuts, pecans, dates, or bananas.  Next…. oh wait, thats it.  I forgot it was that simple.

 hehe… enjoy it!

San Diego Raw Potluck

This weekend I also attended the first San Diego Raw Potluck, held here in La Jolla by my friend Prescilla.  She had been planning the potluck for the last month, and it turned out really amazing.  It was really great to be meet all the local raw foodists and share recipes and ideas.  About 25 people showed up, and everyone brought something delicious to munch on.  I brought barfi (recipe above), my famous banana cobbler (recipe coming soon!), and my previously posted curry with “rice” (shredded cabbage).  All the food was really amazing.  I know I definitely stuffed myself on the mini sun-dried tomato pizzas along with to-die-for chocolate mini desserts that Prescilla made.  It was really a great time.  If you live in the San Diego area, be sure to join us all for the next potluck on December 6th.  For more info, visit the La Jolla/San Diego Raw Food Meetup Group.

Here are some pics from the potluck:

–Rishi

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 tbsp Nama Shoyu/Braggs Liquid Aminos
* 1 1/2 tbsp Ume Plum Vinegar (if you have it) or Apple Cider Vinegar *
* 1 tbsp Agave Nectar
* 2 tsp Sesame Oil
* 1/4 tsp Grated Ginger
* 1 pinch Asafoetida or 1 clove Garlic **

* 1 zucchini - chopped
* 1 carrot - chopped
* 1/2 head broccoli - chopped
* 1 bellpepper - chopped
* 1 cup pealed and chopped sunchokes ***
* 1 cup peanuts

* 1/4 head iceberg lettuce

Directions

Lets see how short I can make this (just to show you how simple this really is):

Put chopped vegetables, except lettuce, and peanuts into a bowl.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients.  Let sit and marinate for 15-20 minutes.  Serve over lettuce as pictured.  Eat it and enjoy!

Notes

* Ume Plum Vinegar can be hard to find raw, and its very expensive.  So if you don’t mind normal ume plum vinegar, use it, otherwise ACV works just fine.
** Asafoetida is a powdered spice available in most Indian grocery stores.  It is used as a replacement for garlic, because garlic (along with onion) is considered to be rajsaic.
*** Sunchokes are a native American vegetable that for some reason haven’t really caught on in their home country.  I usually find mine at Trader Joes.

–Rishi

Ro and I would just like to wish everyone a very very Happy Diwali!

As the first order of business for this post, I would like to announce the opening of the Roshi’s Online Store.  As our very first product, we will be selling incense sticks (known as agarbathies in India) which I brought back from India this summer.  The incense sticks are hand made by the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India.  The Aurobindo Ashram is well known for its support of cottage industries (industries made by hand, in a home and not a factory), like production of incense sticks, textiles, artwork, etc.  I brought back a bunch of these incense sticks for myself because they smelled so wonderful and they are made with all natural ingredients. For more information on the incense, you can visit the Auroshikha website.  Then head over to our store to pick up a batch.

Chaat it up Pizza

So I actually started this recipe with something completely different in mind, which ended up not working out like I wanted it too (I would of had to use a dehydrator to get it just right, and you all know how Ro and I dislike waiting for food).  After playing around with what I had made, I thought I would go for more of a fusion feel on this one.  The idea of pizza popped into my head, and so the chaat it up pizza was born.  I actually wasn’t sure if it would taste good until I took a bite, and wow! what a bite. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with chaat (literally meaning to lick or to taste), this should be a good introduction.  Chaat is style of Indian snack food, mostly found in the north of India, and consists of all of my favorite Indian dishes.  Chaat usually consists of a variety of cracker like snacks, topped yogurt, tamarind chutney, yogurt, and basically every spice known to man.  The result is an explosion of flavors you probably didn’t know was possible and a stomach that will likely be angry with you for submitting it to such a concoction.  Luckily, this dish should give you all of those wonderful flavors without the resulting gas problems.  Hope you all enjoy it!

Ingredients

Crust:
* You’re favorite raw cracker/bread (should be hardy enough to hold all of toppings - I use Wheat-Free crusts from Mauk Family Farm’s)

1st layer:
* 3 handfuls cashew
* 2 medium tomatoes

2nd layer:
* 2 carrots
* 2 zucchini
* 4 sticks broccoli
* 1 medium tomato 
* 1 teaspoon coriander powder
* 1 teaspoon cumin powder
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
* 1 1/2 tablespoon Nama Shoyu/Braggs Liquid Aminos/Soy Sauce
* 2 handfuls walnut pieces

3rd layer:
* sliced tomato
* chaat masala (I prefer MDH’s Chunky Chaat Masala - available at your local Indian grocery store)

Directions

1st layer:
In a food processor, put all of your cashews and just 1/2 of a tomato.  Keep adding more tomato until the juices from the tomato makes the mixture mildly smooth and sauce like.  If you have any tomato leftover, you can use it for the 2nd layer. That’s it for step 1.

2nd layer:
Grate carrots, zucchini, broccoli, and tomato into a large mixing bowl.  Then add coriander, cumin, turmeric, Nama Shoyu, and walnuts pieces.  Let the mixture sit for a bit so all the juices have time to mix together.

Assembly:
Take one slice of crust, and spread tomato-cashew mixture on top as the 1st layer.  Then, top with the vegetable mixture for layer 2.  Place thinly sliced tomatoes on top of the vegetable mixture, and, finally, dust the top of the pizza with chaat masala.  Chaat masala has a very strong taste, so first add a little to see how much you’d like to add.  I personally love spiced up food so I like to add a bit more than a dusting, but it’s up to you.  After that, all you gotta do is take a bite and enjoy it!

–Rishi

I’m temporarily done with my travels. Now I’m working with a consulting company in San Francisco. I’m trying to save up money so that I can go to law school, then save the world…I’m still having fun on the weekends though. I just went to Stinson Beach this last weekend on a hike with some friends.

Today I’m writing about an issue I’m very concerned about. It’s also an issue that I’m unsure about. WATER

As many of you may have heard, scientists have discovered all types of medical waste, drugs, toxins, and chemicals in tap water. This has prompted many people to start buying bottled water because they believe it’s cleaner. Guess what? Not really.

The Environmental Working Group recently analyzed samples from 10 major bottled water companies. They found the same contaminants in the water that caused the ruckus over tap water–disinfection products, caffeine, Tylenol, nitrate, industrial chemicals, arsenic and bacteria were detected. Pretty nasty stuff.

I could have predicted this, but yes, bottled water is no better than tap. It’s just more expensive.

But like I said, this is an issue that I’m unsure about how to approach. It’s very difficult to be particular about the water you drink. On top of that, there’s all these conflicting theories over which water is best–some say distilled, some say RAIN water. Sometimes food issues like this are so large and so widespread that the only way we can address them is through policy. Something needs to be done at a high-level with this problem. Until then, be mindful that you’re probably not getting what you’re paying for when you buy bottled water…

If you want to read more, go here.

–Ro

Hi everyone! Well, here it is, my first recipe post since I got back from India.  After traveling around for three long months, I learned a lot about how Indian food is put together and what all the spices can be used for.  I also learned a lot about the different styles of Indian cooking.  Food really differs from state to state in India, almost as if each state is a different country with a different culture (each state also has its own set of dominant languages).  Most of the Indian food you are probably familiar with (such as Tandoori Paneer or Naan or Paneer Makhani) is from the state of Punjab (my families home state), but there is so much more variety in Indian food that most people in the West are unfamiliar with.  So I’m going to try to bring some of that variety here, and of course, do it raw!

To start with, I’m bringing you an all-over-Indian all-time favorite known as halva.  Halva is usually made out of semolina, but there are dozens of other varieties like almond, carrot, jackfruit, and strawberry.  Halva was something I grew up with, and it was always one of my favorite desserts/breakfasts.  Its sweet, spiced, buttery, delicate and just overall amazing.  If you’ve ever had freshly made homecooked halva, you know what I’m talking about.  I really tried to capture that traditional halva taste in this raw halva, and I think I hit this on the head.  I hope you all try this one out and enjoy it. And to all of Roshi’s Indian followers who have given up this tasty treat, I hope this brings you back to your childhood like it does for me.

Ingredients

* 3/4 pound almonds
* 1/2 cup white sesame seeds
* 6-7 whole green cardamom seeds (or to taste)
* 2 tbsp agave nectar (or to taste)

Optional Mix-ins:

* 1 handful almonds
* 1 handful raisins

Directions

Put all the almonds into a food processor until they are ground down to be as powder-like as possible. Put the sesame seeds and 3 cups of water into a blender on a low setting.  Don’t allow the blender to run too long because you’ll need the sesame seed pulp.  Using a very fine strainer or cheese cloth, separate the sesame seed pulp from the water.  Take the sesame seed pulp and mix it together with the almond powder by hand.  Skin and grind the cardamom seeds into a powder and add to the mixture.  Next add the agave nectar.

Mix-ins:

Some people like their halva straight, others like a little variance.  For the almonds, crush them up a bit and then mix them into the halva.  For the raisins, you can mix them in straight, or soak them first and then mix them in to give them a more cooked texture.

And that’s it!

Simply the best raw halva you’ll ever try.  We promise!

Pictures from India

I’ve uploaded a select few photos from my trip to India for everyone to see, and by few I mean around 150.  They all have a little caption, and if you follow the link to Google’s Picasa, you’ll be able to see on a map exactly where each picture was taken.  If you’ve never been to India, I hope these pictures will give you an incentive to go there.  It’s really such a wonderful country filled with so much knowledge, mystery, and beauty that everyone needs to see at least once.

–Rishi

With all the time we’ve taken off, we’ve also had sometime to brainstorm some new and innovative ideas on how to run this noble little experiment of ours, which you should be implemented within the coming weeks.  I’m not going to spoil any surprises, but I will say that you will be seeing a little more spice in our offerings and a lot more wisdom.

I hope you’re all as excited as we are.

–Rishi
UPDATE:

Here’s a little something to show you the direction we’ll be taking the company in.