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Anandamayi Kitchuri

You can substitute just about any "protein" food for the tofu. Gluten, tempeh, cooked beans, dahl, and GimmeLean all work well. (But nonvegetarians should be warned that adding actual meat to Dolphyn.com recipes will bring bad karma.) For the vegetables, broccoli and carrots work well. Greens are good too, but add them toward the end of cooking. You can even use frozen mixed veggies.

Place in a rice cooker (or saucepan):

1½ cups brown rice
1½ cups water

Simmer until the water is gone. (This makes partially cooked rice; we'll finish cooking it later.)

Heat 1 Tbsp oil until very hot. Sauté

1 cup onions, chopped
1 Tbsp sliced jalapeños (optional)

briefly. Then add the spice mixture (see below) and stir constantly until until it all fries to a rich brown color of a heavenly fragrance. (Not my choice of words, but I'm not one to argue...) Add

2 cups tofu or whatever (optional)

and fry a little longer. Add

1 quart of your favorite chopped veggies
up to 2½ cups tomatoes, fresh or canned (optional)
2 cups boiling water (including liquid from canned tomatoes if used)

Stir, bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the vegetables and rice are cooked (½ hour or so).

Spice Mixture

The spice mixture should contain:

1½ tsp. turmeric, ground
1 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp fenugreek, ground
1 tsp anise, ground
½ tsp ajwan*, ground
1¼ tsp sea salt or regular salt
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated, OR 1 tsp powdered ginger
3 cloves garlic, chopped, OR ¼ tsp garlic powder

You can achieve this any way you want, but I find the following method to be quite efficient.

Combine the whole spices and seeds (which should be as many as possible) in a small blender or spice grinder. (Mine is an attachment to a hand blender.) Grind. Then add the fresh stuff (ginger and garlic) and grind some more. Finally, throw in the salt and powdered seeds and spices and grind briefly.

* What is ajwan? Good question. According to the cookbook, it is "a small black seed with a slightly sour tang that is available in most Indian grocery stores." On the other hand, the ajwan I bought looks like small cumin or fennel seeds and tastes like spicy oregano. It's even labeled "ajwan seeds (oregano)," but quite different from standard oregano. Oh well... I don't argue with delicious!