How to make PANEER - INDIAN COTTAGE CHEESE

As a student in U.S, paneer (a kind of Indian Cheese) is not available in grocery stores. Here is a very easy protocol to make delicious paneer at home and then cook whatever u want with it.

1. Take half gallon of Stoniefiled Organic Whole milk. I like whole milk as the paneer comes out very nice, I have no idea what happens with reduced fat milk.

Ingredients

2. Empty the milk in a container and bring the milk to a boil, make sure u keep stirring it frequently as it may get stuck to the bottom of the pan, this will spoil the taste.

Milk Boiling

3. When the milk comes to a boil, slowly start adding white vinegar so that the milk curdles. Keep stirring it slowly. For 1/2 gallon 2 - 3 table spoon shld be enough. Do not add too much as it will make the paneer sour. The way I do it, is Iadd a little bit and stir the milk and see if panner comes out. if not add more.

4. After 1 or 2 min you will see the milk curdles and the paneer and water separate. Use a strainer to get rid of excess water. It will take around 1 hr to get rid of the water. Let the paneer be in the strainer for the whole time.

Curdled Paneer

5. Paneer is ready. This fresh paneer will be very fresh so it may break easily. What I do is if I have to cook paneer in the evening. I make it in afternoon or a night before and refrigerate it. So it is hard and easy to cut in cubes.

Paneer is ready

P.S : Shape the paneer --- Take the paneer out from strainer and wrap it in a muslin/cheese cloth. Put something heavy and flat on top of the paneer. I usually fill a cooker with water and use it as a weight. You can leave the weight overnight or 5 - 6 hrs. Once done you can make cubes out of it.

NOTE: The water you get from straining, is a good hair conditioner; so do not throw it. Once it cools down you can use it to wash hair.....

Time - One of the non renewable resources....

A wise man Christine Warren, once said -

Time I have only just a minute. Only sixty seconds in it. Forced upon me, can't refuse it. Didn't seek it, didn't choose it. But it's up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it. Give account if I abuse it, Just a tiny little minute but eternity is in it.

But are we aware how we use our time ? One thing nature made sure was; each one of us on the planet will be given 24 hrs a day, not a second more or less. From the Head of a state to a peon all have the same amount of time for work. And a lot of times when people ask you to do something and the 1st reply we give is "I don't have time". Now think on this carefully, you don't have time or you don't want to make time ? We waste so much of this precious resource on useless issues (browsing internet, facebook, orkut, gossip, thinking too much etc etc). In fact a person who can manage his time can find the time to do everything in life. Having said that I agree it is not that easy, as old tendencies are hard to overcome. But the 1st step to get over a bad is habit is to acknowledge it. Then comes the 2nd step of how to get rid of it. In school days, time use to come at premium, not any more..-:(. 70 - 80 years of life is too short to waste in useless things my friends, so come on wake up and shake up and leave all those judgments, prejudices, and enmity behind. Else you can keep on dragging life and see it as a burden or you can just realize the truth that one day every one has to die so why waste time in getting angry and fighting with people. Why not dance, why not love, why not celebrate, sing and laugh!!!! Just think back and see at your own life, how quickly 20 - 25 yrs have passed, and the rest 50 - 60 yrs will fly away. You know in the Indian scriptures it is said that one of the most difficult things to get is a human life, as the human consciousness has the capacity to reach the zenith. Not possible with any other living form. So in short if we realize just 2 things:

1. One day everyone has to DIE.
2. This human life, right now, is a GIFT.

Then all the distractions the mind has, go away and we see life in a more dynamic form. And meditation is nothing but just a dynamic expression of life.....

So lets be aware of each and every moment and not let these beautiful 70/80/90 years just slip by...-:).

Till then, Lots of love,
Anu

Wasting a lot of time......

Last few weeks I have been very irregular on blog, and in life as I had a couple of issues.
1st I had a severe neck ache, may be due to excessive traveling, odd sleep hrs and sleeping wherever (on the floor, in a bus, on the couch etc etc) I want to. The body is intelligent to signal in its own way, when you mess with it -:).
2nd one of my old collaborators has left to France forever, so that was jolt for me. As I used to work closely with him on the bio side of my experiments, now I am left all by myself -:(.
3rd somehow I felt a sudden loss of energy for the past 2 weeks or so and I have no explanation and excuse for it. Perhaps I have to step up my sadhana and be more disciplined.

I have to remind myself again and again that time is flying away and we should know how to use it to fullest.

But the good part was I developed some cool recipes (Indian, Chinese food), which I will post pretty soon.

Till then
Make use of ur time and Enjoy
..am

Eye Opening Incidence of my LIFE.....

This happened in India. During my freshman year I was traveling with my family for a wedding in Udaipur, Rajasthan. We decided to take a break and get something to eat. We stopped the car at a rest area and each one of us took things to eat like Namkeens (Salted Snacks), tea, coffee, some chips etc. My younger brother was very hungry so he took more than he could finish. After about half hour when we were full we decided to resume the journey. My brother was not able to finish his portion so he asked me what to do. I told him leave it on the ground for the dog to eat. A street dog came and sniffed the food, he licked some of it; but since it was salty and dogs do not like salty food he just walked passed it. During this whole time my eyes were neither on food nor the dog but on a man who was standing approx 2 feet away from the dog and watching the food without blinking his eyes. He was a home less person who was very hungry. As soon as the dog left the place, this person jumped on the food, grabbed it and started eating it.

I was so shaken by the incident that I realized and experienced how important food is. Food that was sniffed and licked by a street dog was being eaten by a human being. Indeed it was clear to me whatever we are doing it is for food. But sometimes we take a lot of things for granted, as we have not seen or experienced the other extreme. As written is Upanishads “Annam Brahmam” – meaning Food is God, I saw it by my eyes that yes food indeed is God and one should not waste it anytime. From that day, I made sure that I do not waste food at all.

Was an eye opener for me......

...Am

The Big Question???

Lately my mind is pondering upon very important and difficult questions.

What is the purpose of this life?

What do I want from it?

How can I make it useful?

The more I try to get answers to these questions more the confusion. Sometimes I feel those who do not probe so much into life and live it as a mundane thing might be happy. But are they really? Their life is like a ferrris wheel, same thing again and again and again. Typically, as I have observed 99% of the people have somewhat similar life pattern – work on the weekdays, and on the weekends they go visit friends (most of the time same set of frds), do grocery, and kill time by watching TV etc. Now, this is fine once a while but can you imagine doing it more than once a month. I ask myself do I want such a life and the answer is an outright NO. Then again the question crops up what do I want? Some excitement, some enthusiasm, some life energy. Every action should lead into a feeling of fulfillment, we shld feel yes now I have done it 100% and I have lived it 100% then we experience life in a very dynamic form. Can I have such a life?? Yes I can, as I am to choose what I want. Initially, it is difficult as the mind has been cultured to do things what most people do, but once you get over it then you recognize how useful this life can be.

I remember once, Sri Sri was asked: What is the purpose of life?

And his answer was “ The purpose of life is to serve, rest you figure it out”.

Yes, the correct balance of Sadhana (Spiritual Practice), Service and Satsang (chanting/knowledge) has the potential to give a sense of fulfillment. But it should be made a priority it is not something done in a lukewarm manner. It has to be intense.

Then again the question comes why should I do other things. That is when the spiritual knowledge goes through the litmus test. It is very easy to renounce the world and have a peaceful mind, but the challenge is when you are in the world, doing the usual chores and still not perturbed by the disturbances around. It is living life like a LOTUS. If you notice, the lotus flower is in dirt but is still is unsoiled by it, similarly a true Yogi is one who lives life in the world but is untouched by its dirt.

So I strive to be a LOTUS at the same time taking each day as gift from God. But the questions still remain...-:).

Love

Am

Few Jokes and one Liners.....

1. A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.

A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need.

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

2. My friend asked me " What is your major?"
Ans. Nocturnal Activities....

3. 2nd Question: "What is your sign?"
Ans. No Entry..-:).

4. 2 of my friends who were taking a Spanish class, started talking in Spanish when I was with them. They kept on going for 5 min, as I was feeling pout of place I interject them and say:
"You know what, a Bullet sounds the same in English and Spanish..."

They start in English after this...

Two Most Valuable Things in Life.

Hi,

I was just thinking about what is/are the most valuable thing/things that a human being aspires for? What can it be, money, fame, power? But are these things really that valuable! I know people who have all of it but still there is something lacking in their life. That joy, that happiness, that enthusiasm, the life force is nowhere to be seen, it is like having everything but still being like a beggar. I tell you that is a very very pathetic condition, I am sure all of you remember the story of King Midas, who had all the riches in the world but went lunatic. I am not saying that we should not aspire of these things, money, power, status have their place but we need not be so feverish about them, that we forget to enjoy others things that life has to offer. Now again the question, what is important then?

The answer is Love, the answer is Trust. Yes, Love and Trust are the 2 most valuable things that each one of us aspires for directly or indirectly. Just look back and see how much fulfilling you feel when someone says he/she loves you and has full trust in you. That feeling in itself is a kind of Satori, where in your consciousness is expanded and it feels like yes I am doing something in life. Else we can go on living life as a dead person and we won’t event know of it. Of course love here does not mean all that emotional drama that many of you may be thinking. It is a feeling where in you can accept the person as he is and do not go on demanding. As demand destroys love, possessiveness destroys love. Same with trust, which cannot be built overnight, it takes some time, many times years to trust a person. But I tell you if you have people who trust you, love you count yourself lucky, give a pat on your back and know for sure that you are on the right track. And mind you it takes a lot of time to build it but only one act to destroy, so whenever you have people who love you, have trust in you, regard it as something valuable and treasure it.

Lots of Love

…Anu