Pasta, Pesto and Permaculture
by Nancie DiSilverio
Last week a friend of mine sent out a desperate plea for a homemade pasta dinner. Under regular circumstances that’s an easy, minor task for me as a second generation Italian American (on my father’s side). But my current residence is anything but regular: I am currently residing in the Soudhamini Apartments, in Udayapura, a small village on the edge of tech famous Bangalore City, in South India. The Soudhamini Apts are adjunct living spaces to another famous place in Bangalore: the Art of Living International Center, the main hub of international operations for His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Recognized as one of India’s most powerful and influential citizens, Sri Sri doesn't stop at power and influence- seemingly impossible for one man, his impact is recognized on things as diverse as: cutting edge impacts in the world of yogic technique (his Sudarshan Kriya is lauded by science, saints and practitioners alike as a game changing stress buster); global peace building (he has been cited by both sides as instrumental in brokering the deal between Columbia’s Government and the FARC rebels working to end that decades long civil war); childhood and continuing education (up to the college level with theSri Sri College of Ayurvedic Science and Research, and Sri Sri University in Orissa), and organic agricultural research and policy development (the Center has more than 17 active organic research farms, and this blog’s host has just produced a doctoral thesis in Law as pertains to seed varieties rooted in his philosophy). I guess not surprisingly, he’s also a master of inspiring others and an amazing team leader!!
BUT back to dinner. The first challenge to a great pasta dinner here on the edges of rural India, is finding the necessary ingredients. A trip to the grocery store can be an hours long affair, with multiple stops, especially to find the core ingredients like pasta and basil. Luckily, I had picked up a few bags of pasta, olive oil and some tomatoes the day before. But I really wanted either some zucchini or some basil to complete the sauce. Come on, I thought, with 17 farms around here, basil cant be too hard to find. And so my search began.
I swung by another set of gardens outside the Center’s Vishala Cafe, an awesome place that is a regular haven for the Internationals and locals alike, serving not only both North and South Indian staples (dosa, idli, parathas, rice, dahl, subzi,) but great pastas and pizzas complete with two of their own homemade brick pizza ovens, and a bakery with some of the best healthy desserts anywhere in the world. The pastry chef, PD, is an artist, constantly exploring new ways to make our sweet teeth less hard on our sensitive, meditating, yoga practicing bodies. A hero among humans! But still no sweet basil in their beds either: tomatoes, papayas, pumpkins, lemons, but no basil!
But those beds reminded me of my old friend Swami Brahmatej. Besides being a thoroughly charming and knowledgable guide on the path of yoga, not just yoga asanas or postures, but the art of bringing the mind to rest in peace in the present moment, he is also a “gentlemen farmer”, and oversees much of the agricultural enterprise around the International Center. He would know where to find the elusive sweet basil!
“Oh, we’ll get the basil from the Permaculture Center (PCC),” he said brightly, when I had explained my mission, “You know where Permaculture is?” It quickly became apparent that I didn't have a prayer of finding it, so Swamiji’s cook, Nandish, summoned Binay, the head of the Permaculture Center, who arrived in a few minutes to take me out to there.
If you’re like me, you may already have heard of permaculture, and even seen or worked in permaculture spaces, without knowing too much about it. Basically it is the ultimate Green philosophy for creating spaces to live. It consists of three things: an ethical approach, an understanding of Nature and how it works, and a design approach, all of which are combined to create sustainable, agriculturally productive, non-polluting and healthy places, be it a garden, a development or a whole city. The word permaculture comes from “permanent agriculture”-ie sustainable, and “permanent culture” as in lasting civilization. The purpose of permaculture is to inspire us to live more lightly on the Planet and more harmoniously with Nature. (This is lifted lightly, or heavily actually, from www.permaculture.org.uk where you can learn more about permaculture, and its roots and shoots.)
Nestled in the back of everything, on a couple acres of a sand and rock hillock, the PCC is a wonder of a farm! Here you’ll find not only plenty of basil for making a fresh vegan pesto (recipe below), but the sweetest cherry tomatoes, half a dozen varieties of India gourds, many suspended from handmade bamboo lattice works, to maximize growth and space. These included loki, and pumpkin, and even a bottle gourd plant climbing a small mango tree. Sadly, it was already past mango season, but the passion fruits, (Swamiji lovingly referred to them as “The fruit of my passion”) were perfect: sweet, sour, juicy and runny, with seeds adding the perfect crunch. Bindhi, otherwise known to English speaking audiences as Ocra or Ladyfinger, was at the end of its harvest too but it was a novelty to see how they grow, one by one shooting off their long tall stalks. And of course, it’s all organic.
Another ancient farming technique, Agni Hotra, is also a regular practice on the farm. Cow dung from a particular Indian breed of cow, is burnt in a small copper pot shaped as an inverted pyramid, while chanting special sanskrit sutras (or threads, meaning “threads” of knowledge) and once the ceremony is complete, the ash from this practice is also thrown onto the beds and mixed into the soil. This practice has also been shown scientifically to provide healthy nutrients to the soil as well as having a purifying impact on the atmosphere. (For more on Agni Hotra: www.homatherapie.de)
The PCC also is an active training center for the practices of Permaculture. They offer training classes to organic farmers and lay people alike, that include not only how to make their soil-less beds, but also how to work to create effective rain water harvesting to maximize rainfall as a water resource, and many other aspects of a permaculture farming. Another very cool aspect of the farm, is the training center itself: it’s styled after a Mongolian round yurt made entirely of ingredients found on site including: bamboo framing, a thatched frond ceiling, and about 4 inches of a red mud blend that hangs on the frame. Built by Binay and 3 other guys in under three weeks, it’s 30m in diameter and can seat roughly 70 trainees. The hut keeps a stable temperature with a variance of roughly 4 degrees in the peek of summer. The interior is set up as a classroom complete with red mud tiered seating so all students can see. Its quite an impressive structure built with no architect, contractor or experienced builder.
The large handfuls of basil I harvested from the farm, were turned into the vegan pesto below-as pasta for four with sautéed tomatoes, toasted almonds and a couple heaping tablespoons of this pesto (per plate). This recipe was first developed for a meditating friend with gluten and dairy allergies, so its pretty non-traditional with no cheese, or even garlic. But the first time I served it to my dubious siblings (our Grandfather was an immigrant from the rich farming areas of Abruzzi, Italy), and even they praised the final product, I knew I had a winner. Its great on pasta or as a spread on toast with a bit of feta or avocado, or as a non-spicy chutney to add a little moisture to anything needing a dip. I also have been known to mix it into a rice dish with some sautéed tomatoes and zucchini stirred in, topped with some goat cheese and raisins. I hope you enjoy it too!
Nancie Di’s “New Fangled” Pesto
Ingredients
1/2 cup of soaked walnuts (cashews and almonds will also work but I usually toast the almonds and leave the cashews raw, soaking preferred)
2 cups of basil (this is a slightly packed measure)
1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil (depends on your blender and your taste; less makes a drier pesto)
1 t lemon juice
1/2 -1 pitted date (more if needed; these can also be soaked if you wish-but I don’t)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cumin powder (optional)
1/2 t corriander powder (optional)
Method
First, soak your walnuts. This can be done the night before, if you've planned; but I often just soak them for about 15-30min while I am cleaning the basil, or doing other prep work, like putting water to boil for pasta or putting on rice.
Then, clean the basil thoroughly. Pick the leaves off the stems, and rinse in a bowl of water. Often basil grows in sandy dirt, if the whole stems of plants have been pulled out of the ground, the leaves collect sand. If your basil is like this, you have to soak it repeatedly, 3-4 times and rinse-there is nothing worse than sandy pesto, so not short cuts on the washing, however tedious plucking and soaking may seem. After all that work, you want a delicious finished product, and short cutting here wont cut it. If your basil has already been well cleaned by your merchant, no problem, but be sure to check for sand and rinse until there is basically none in your rinse water.
In a good blender (raised blade preferred here) or a food processor, blend the basil, olive oil, and lemon juice. This will be a bit liquidy, oily and not yet resemble pesto. Don't worry.
Add the walnuts and blend until smooth. Now it should be looking a bit more like your idea of pesto.
Add the date. Start with half the date. I have used medjool and daglit but pretty much they are the same once you get proportions correct-the secret is between the lemon juice, the dates, the salt and the relative sweetness of the basil.
Add the remaining spices and taste. The cumin and coriander are on the sweet side of taste to the tongue but also replace the garlic. But I have made it without one or the other and its fine.
Balance spices to your taste. If its too lemony add, more date or corriander/cumin. If too sweet, use a little more lemon (by the drops as opposed to teaspoons) or salt.
There is this moment where it all comes together and you say, “Yeah! YUM!” and thats when you stop.
Scoop it out of your blender and serve. You can also refrigerate it (it’ll keep a couple of weeks at least-I usually eat it long before it can go bad) or use as a spread or chutney straight from the fridge. I also use it in salad dressings as a flavor base (a tablespoon or so) with oil oil and balsamic vinegar for a quick basil dressing.
Buon Appetito!
