His Holiness Romapada Swami's Menu

PROHIBITED FOODS Wheat, fried foods, fermented foods, refined flour, farina, semolina, tomatoes, lemons (ascorbic acid, citric acid, any acidic foods), tamarind, yogurt. No raw foods, turnips, radishes. No sweeteners of any kind (sugars(white, brown, raw, date), maple syrup, honey, dates). The only sweetener allowed is soaked raisins. No chillies.

RATING OF BEST TO WORST VEGETABLES 1. BEST: Leafy green vegetables are very good. Anything from the squash, pumpkin (veg) melon family, including Chayote Squash, Lauki. Especially good is spaghetti squash, pallak squash, English marrow, "palak sak and pai sak" (different kinds of spinach). Maharaja likes Parwal. Fresh karelas (bitter melon). Asparagus, Artichoke, Green papaya.

2. O.K.: Carrots, cucumbers, sweet corn

3. LESS O.K.: Maximum serve: Once per 15 days. Cabbage family, cauliflower, broccoli, including Brussels sprouts.

4. TRY TO AVOID: Beets and peas, yams and sweet potatoes. Once per month only.

5. PLEASE DO NOT SERVE: Okra, potatoes and tomatoes. Maharaja does not like them. Also please do not use Red Pepper and Green Pepper in any preparations. No citrus fruits (Oranges, Grape fruit etc.) or vegetables (Lemon, Lime…). Strawberries cause pitta and should not be served.

Note: It is good to use spices to substitute for red and green peppers for cooking vegetable and dahl. Garam Masala is OK.

DAHL AND LENTILS: Green Mung dahl, Yellow Split Mung dahl, Toor/Arhar Dahl with Kokam.

GRAINS: Rice, spelt flour, millet, quinoa, amaranth, oats (less).

SPICES: GINGER AND METHI are the best. Dhaniya (Cilantro) is excellent. Hing, fennel, salt and other spices are OK. No chillies. Kokam can be used as a replacement for tamarind.

TEAS: PREFERRED – Ginger, Dandelion, Burdock, Chicory, Cinnamon, Ginseng, Methi.

FRUITS: Sweet fruits like apples, grapes, ripe papaya, pears and cherries can be served. No citrus fruits. Ripe strawberries are OK occasionally. Also melons don't go well with other fruits.

DAIRY: Organic Cow Milk (for night). In moderation, vegetables prepared with a modest amount of paneer (not fried) have been recommended by the Ayurvedic doctor. The amount of ghee used for cooking should be minimal (need not be stopped completely).

MENU

NOTE: The items identified below are a maximum list. Anything less than this is fine!

Date drink to be served first thing every morning:

Previous night, soak ONE WASHED DATE in one cup of water. In the same water add one teaspoon fennel seed, 2 cardamoms and 2 washed almonds. Early morning remove the skin of the cardamom and almond, and blend every thing in the same one cup water that has been soaked in. Serve early morning. This is to be taken in empty stomach.

Morning Drink: 2 Figs, 3 Dates 4 Almonds 1 tsp fennel seeds 2 Cardamom Seeds (Remove Hull) Soak overnight, do NOT discard the water. Using the same water, blend into syrup or paste or beverage.

Breakfast: (Maharaja prefers to eat around 9:00 AM)

Khicari (with ample vegetables like Spinach, Broccoli etc.) Apple sauce with cinnamon 2 muffins (if available) 1/2 very ripe papaya (big) cut into small peaces. grated Ginger Fresh ginger juice (obtained by squeezing grated ginger) Kokam chutney Raisin Drink or Green Drink.

CINNAMON APPLESAUCE: 2 Tart apples, cored and peeled. Covered with small amount of water, Add 2 teaspoon fennel powder and 6 cardamom pods to the water and boil for 15-20 minutes. Remove the water (to be taken as prasadam). Crush or smash the apples and add cinnamon. Mix in 2 or 3 teaspoons of ghee.

MUFFINS: Spelt, amaranth, quinoa or millet flours may be used. Muffins come out well with spelt. Maharaja likes to have bran (example: oat bran) mixed along with the flour.

GREEN DRINK:

Previous night:

Step1: Blanche 15 almonds the previous night, soak them in 1/2 cup of water and keep them in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Blanching Almonds: Boil 1/2 cup of water, put 15 almonds into it when water is boiling. Turn off the stove. Allow the almonds to remain in the hot water till the outer cover of almond gets shriveled. Remove almonds from water and remove the outer cover.

Morning: Step2: Crush and blend the blanched almonds in a blender, with required quantity of water till the almonds turn into a reasonably smooth liquid. Do not throw away the water in which you had soaked the almonds as it has beneficial enzymes. Use this water also for blending.

Step 3: Add 1/2 teaspoon Psyllium husk powder 2/3 teaspoon Organic Spirulina 2/3 teaspoon fat free Vegetable protein 2/3 teaspoon Liquid Chlorophyll and blend it again for a minute.

Step 4: Add cut ripe Papaya pieces (more than a hand full) and add enough water and blend well. When we cut a papaya, we usually keep the inner completely ripe portion for Maharaja to take directly and the less ripe outer portion is used for the green drink.

Note: The final quantity should be around 800ml and it should have a pour able consistency. The green drink tends to become thicker after some time, so while serving to Maharaja, either it has to be mixed well again or you might want to add some more water.

KOKAM: • Take 4-5 pieces cut it into smaller pieces. Boil it in 1 cup of water till it becomes very soft, drain remaining water if any and serve it(it can be served everyday along with lunch, good digestion) • The same can be made into chutney. After boiling add some salt, black pepper powder and dry fried fennel seed powder can be added, grind all into a fine paste and serve. • Kokam is sour in taste so it can be added(1-2 pieces) in Daal and cooked • It can also be used to make rasam. We are yet to find the recipe.

KOKAM CHUTNEY: Ingredients Kokam, black pepper, cinnamon, cumin seeds, asafetida powder, salt, ghee. 1. Clean kokam properly, then wash it. Keep it in water for 20 min. Water should be equal to kokam. 2. Take kokam from the water, grind it. Put some remaining water in kokam, when you grind it. Make it like thick paste. 3. For Chaunce: Put some ghee in a pan. Make it hot. Put some cumin seeds, after it. Becomes brown put black pepper and cinnamon (make it into Paste). Then put one pinch of asafetida powder. Then put kokam paste and stir it. Put some salt. If you want put some remaining kokam water and put on gas for 5 min. and stir it. Then put off the gas.

After it becomes cool transfer in to a glass bottle.

CILANTRO CHUTNEY: 1 bunch of Fresh Cilantro 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds A handful of fresh groundnuts Salt to taste Water as needed.

Grind all the mixture into a paste. Do not add too much water. Add it as needed. This can be served with Breakfast and Lunch.

RAISIN DRINK: to be given sometime in the morning: 1. Soak 25 organic raisins in 250 ml of water overnight. 2. Add 1 tsp. of Jeera or cumin powder. 1/2 tsp. of Fennel powder and 1/2 tsp. of Coriander powder. 3. Mix it well and serve (without heating or boiling)

LUNCH:

2-3 Spelt/Amaranth/Quinoa/Soy flour chapatis/parathas or mung dosa. Optionally one can make baked samosas made from Spelt flour with a vegetable filling or “pizza” (base made of Spelt flour) with vegetable (e.g. spinach) topping.

Jasmine Rice

2 sabjis Yellow/green moong dahl and/or vegetable soup

Tea Kokam chutney Grated ginger

EVENING/DINNER:

Organic Cow Milk and a few types of allowed fruits (Please see above) – nicely cut. Fruits like apples, grapes, ripe papaya, pears and cherries can be served . No citrus fruits. Also melons don't go well with other fruits.

Other points to note:

• In moderation, vegetables prepared with a modest amount of paneer (not fried) has been recommended by the Ayurvedic doctor. • The amount of ghee used for cooking should be minimal (need not be stopped completely). • The Ayurvedic doctor has recommended taking fresh juices, apart from meal time. These can be served in moderation. Fresh Vegetable Juice or Fruit Juices (Leafy greens, carrots, pomegranates, apples).