Preparation required to survive during the adverse times

Paratpar Guru (Dr.) Jayant Athavale, the only visionary active for the survival of humans in the adverse times !

In our previous article of this series on the measures required to survive the adverse times such as floods, earthquakes, World War 3, Corona pandemic, etc., we learned about using earthen stove, bio-gas, etc. alternatives in cooking and about growing vegetables and fruits.

In this article we talk of long-lasting food items. During the adverse times, it may not be possible to prepare normal or usual meals. To prevent starvation during such times, it will be beneficial to prepare long-lasting food in advance.

1. Physical level preparations to survive the adverse times

1A 5. Buying or making various long-lasting food items at home : During the adverse times, shortage of cooking gas, sickness of family members, sudden shifting to another place, non-availability of vegetables in the market, etc. can arise. At such times, it may not be possible to make breakfast or lunch as usual. Under such conditions it would be useful to have enough stock of various long-lasting food items.

A. Some food items mentioned here can be bought from the market and stored. Develop and continue the habit of making such food items at home from now on, since it will be difficult to fetch them from the market as the adverse times intensify.

B. Food items mentioned here are examples and they mostly cater to Maharashtrian taste. Readers can buy long-lasting food items or make them at home as per their taste.

C. We have not mentioned many recipes for making long-lasting food items. Most people know of these recipes. However, considering the adverse times, we have provided useful tips on how to make long-lasting food items.

If a reader does not know how to make such items, he should seek help of the elders in the family or read a cookery book or watch preparations of these recipes on YouTube.

D. Wherever possible, the matter also gives the average durability of these food items. This period depends on factors such as the climate of the region and precautions required while preparing them, etc.

1A 5A. Rice and ragi (Finger millet) flour, milk powder, etc.

1A 5A 1. Rice and finger millet flour

Of these two flours, finger millet flour is more nutritious.

Soak rice grains in water for 3-4 hours and place them in a strainer. After about an hour when the wetness has reduced, roast the rice grains in small batches on medium heat. Roasting small quantities of rice at a time makes the grains pop like popcorn. Finally, grind all the puffed rice into flour and fill it in a dry jar. This flour will last almost 3 months. It can be eaten with milk, curds, buttermilk or curry. Sugar or jaggery can be added as per taste while having it with milk.

We can also make finger millet flour using the same method. This flour will last almost 3 months.

1A 5A 2. Wheat/Barley flour

Wash wheat grains and place them in a strainer to drain the water. After about an hour, when the grains are fairly dry, roast them nicely on medium heat. Add roasted chickpeas and cumin seeds to it. Mix all the ingredients together and grind them. Fill this flour in airtight and dry container or jar. This flour can be eaten with water or milk by adding sugar or jaggery as per taste. This flour will last almost 6 months.

The procedure for making barley flour varies from State to State. In some places barley is used instead of wheat, while in other places whole grams are roasted and ground to make flour. Five to seven types of grains can also be roasted together and ground into flour as mentioned above.

– Mrs. Kshama Rane, Sanatan Ashram, Ramnathi, Goa. (February 2020)

1A 5A 3. ‘Sattva’ made from wheat or finger millet

Juice can be extracted from wheat or finger millet by soaking them in water overnight, grinding them by adding slight water, and filtering the white juice formed through a strainer. It can be dried to form a powder called ‘Sattva’. This powder is nutritious and can be eaten after cooking it with water or milk and adding sugar or jaggery for taste. This powder usually lasts 3 months.

– Mrs. Arpita Deshpande, Sanatan Ashram, Miraj, Maharashtra. (February 2019)

1A 5A 4. Nutritious food items processed in machines : Milk powder, different powders containing various nutrients for children, such as Lactogen, Cerelac, etc. Cerelac can be eaten as complete food by patients and adults.

1A 5B. Food items such as bhakris (A type of Indian bread) dried in hot sun and rotis (A type of Indian bread made from wheat) stuffed with jaggery

1A 5B 1. Jowar (Sorghum) and bajra (Pearl millet) bhakris : Before making these bhakris, you can add chilli powder, salt and hing (Asafoetida) to the flour for taste.

A. Make very thin bhakris of jowar flour and dry them well in the sun. These bhakris last almost a month.

B. Make very thin bhakris of bajra flour and dry them well in the sun. These bhakris are tastier than the bhakris made of jowar flour. They last almost 2 months.

Sun-dried bhakris should be stored in an airtight container. These bhakris can be cut into pieces and eaten with hot curry.

1A 5B 2. Rotis made with jaggery

Roast the rotis stuffed with jaggery well. After roasting the roti, let it cool completely. Do not place the rotis one on top of the other while they are hot. Once the rotis cool down, keep them in an airtight container. Such rotis last a month or more.

1A 5B 3. Khakra (dried and crispy, spicy roti) : Khakra can be made by adding various flavours such as fenugreek, cumin, spicy (For example, chaat masala, garam masala, etc.). Add desired spices in wheat flour and make firm dough. Roll it into a very thin roti. While roasting it on the pan, roast it on a low flame by pressing it with a clean cloth. Do not let it puff. Then let the roti cool completely. This item is called khakra. When the khakras are cold, put them in an airtight container. These khakras last almost 3 months.

1A 5C. Laddu (Indian sweet) made from the flour of wheat and other millets

Laddus made from wheat flour and powdered sugar or jaggery last 1-2 months. Laddus made from finger millet flour, chickpea flour (besan), green gram flour, etc. also last 1-2 months.

1A 5D. Mango-poli and jackfruit-poli (Dried thin and soft strips of mango and jackfruit pulp) : These should be dried thoroughly in the sun. When hot water is added to the mango-poli, it can be eaten like a jam with a regular roti. Mango-poli and jackfruit-poli last almost a year.

– H.H. (Vaidya) Vinay Bhave, Sanatan Ashram, Ramnathi, Goa. (January 2020)

1A 5E. Mango pulp

1. Add equal amount of sugar to the mango pulp and keep it in the sun till the mixture is completely dry. If such dried pulp is kept in the fridge, it lasts almost 11/2 – 2 years and outside the fridge it lasts almost 1 year.

2. Add equal amount of sugar in mango pulp and cook the mixture on gas or earthen stove till it becomes thick. This thickened pulp lasts almost a year in the fridge. (It can develop fungus if not kept in the fridge.)

1A 5F. Jam, raw mango chhunda (Sweet and spicy pickle made from raw mango), etc. : These condiments are made with sugar or jaggery syrup. Cook the syrup to a thick consistency to make these condiments last longer. As a result, there will be no water left in the syrup and the food item will be long-lasting. No preservative is required to be added to the food item as the syrup is thickened.

1A 5F 1. Jam

This jam is made from raw or ripe mangoes and it lasts easily for a year.

1A 5F 2. Chhunda made from raw mango (A mixture made by grating raw mango and adding the required ingredients to it) : Chhunda made from raw mangoes should be kept in the sun for 15-20 days. This lasts for many years.

1A 5F 3. Jelly and jam made from Amla (Indian gooseberry), raw mango, strawberry, oranges, etc. : These last almost a year.

– Mrs. Arpita Deshpande, Sanatan Ashram, Miraj, Maharashtra.
(February 2019)

1A 5. Buy or make at home a variety of long-lasting food items

1A 5A. Pickles and tomato sauce

1A 5E 1. Pickles

A. Precautions required for better shelf life of homemade pickles : If pickles are made at home with the care mentioned ahead, some pickles made from Indian gooseberry, chilli, fresh turmeric, etc. can last 1-2 years. Pickle made with cooked lemons lasts almost 4-5 years. Lemon pickle activates the taste buds of a sick individual; older the pickle gets, the better it tastes.

A1. Wash your hands and dry them before commencing the process. The pickle ingredients such as raw mangoes, lemons, Indian gooseberry, fresh turmeric, chillies, etc. should be washed, stem portion is removed, wiped clean and dried. Roast the ingredients needed for the pickle such as chilli powder, rock salt, etc. so that all the moisture in them is removed. (Rock salt is preferred over iodized salt, since iodized salt can spoil the pickle quickly due to its moisture content.) If sugar is to be added to the pickle, it should be dry. Add preservatives if necessary.

A2. Store the pickle in a porcelain (China clay) jar or thick glass jar.

A3. Once the pickle is filled in a jar, spread rock salt on the surface of the pickle.

A4. To prevent formation of fungus on the pickle, pour oil (which is heated first and then cooled) on the pickle in enough quantity so that the oil level is above the surface of the pickle by two finger width.

A5. Wipe the exposed portion of the pickle jar with a clean dry cloth and tighten the lid of the jar. Put a clean cotton cloth on the lid of the jar and tie it around the neck of the jar with a lace or rope.

A6. Keep the pickle jar in a dry place. In the past, pickles used to be kept on a high rack or in the temple-room at home.

A7. The main jar should be kept as reserve stock and not be handled every day. Remove enough pickle for a week from this jar in a small container. Keep replenishing this container as and when required. If possible, remove the pickle from the main jar only after bathing. The big spoon used for removing the pickle from the main jar, the small container to fill the pickle for daily use and the individual’s hands must be dry and clean. Once the pickle is removed from the jar, wipe the outside of the jar with a clean dry cloth and close it as before.

A8. A menstruating woman should not touch the pickle in the main jar. Do not touch the main jar even during an eclipse.

Due to the humid climate of the Konkan region of Maharashtra or other coastal regions, chances of fungus formation on the pickle surface in the jar are slightly higher. Hence, life of the pickle is lesser in such places when compared with hot and dry environment.

– Mrs. Arpita Deshpande, Sanatan Ashram, Miraj, Maharashtra. (February 2019) and Mr. Prasad Mhaiskar, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. (8.8.2019)

1A 5E 2. Tomato sauce

Tomato sauce prepared without using vinegar (a very sour liquid preservative made from acetic acid) can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a year. Tomato sauce made with vinegar lasts six months at normal temperature and can last for 11/2-2 years in a refrigerator.

1A 5F. Chutneys, metkut (roasted and seasoned chana dal powder), etc.

1A 5F 1. Wet chutneys made from raw mango, Indian gooseberry and tamarind

A. Raw mango chutney : Make a thick syrup with sugar. Add necessary spices and grated mangoes to the syrup and make chutney. This chutney can also be made with medium ripe mangoes. It can also be made with jaggery syrup instead of sugar.

B. Indian gooseberry chutney : Indian gooseberry chutney can also be made similar to raw mango chutney.

C. Tamarind chutney : Soak preserved tamarind in water for half an hour and then squeeze the juice from it. Make thick syrup of sugar or jaggery and add tamarind juice, red chilli powder, salt, little of black pepper and coriander-cumin powder and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn off the gas when all ingredients are properly mixed.

After these chutneys are cooled, store them in glass jars. If kept in a refrigerator they last 11/2 year; otherwise, 1 year.

– Mrs. Arpita Deshpande, Sanatan Ashram, Miraj, Maharashtra. (February 2019)

1A 5F 2. Various types of dry chutneys and metkut : We can make various types of dry chutneys using peanuts, ses-ame seeds, karle (Niger seeds), flax seeds, peeled chana, dry coconut, etc. Metkut can be mixed with rice. Since these condiments are dry, they last for about 3 months.

– Mrs. Kshama Rane, Sanatan Ashram, Ramnathi, Goa. (January 2020)

1A 5G. Sandge (dry spicy dumplings), papad, etc. : These items last almost a year.

1. Sandge : In some regions ‘sandge’ is known as vadya (Dry squares).

A. Sandge are made from white and green parts of watermelon; different types of vegetables such as bottle gourd, pumpkin, papaya, cabbage, etc. as well as soya beans.

B. Sandge can also be made from yam (sweet potato) and kharvadya made from sorghum (sandge made from puffed sorghum).

C. Sandge can be made from pulses (split) such as green gram, black gram, Chickpea, moth beans, etc. You can also make sandge by mixing all these pulses together.

Sandge can also be cooked as a vegetable. Do not add salt while making sandge of bottle gourd, pumpkin, etc. because salt makes it difficult to cook them later. If you want to make sandge as a side dish during meals, then you can add salt in them.

– Mrs. Chhaya Vivek Naphade, Sanatan Ashram, Ramnathi, Goa. (May 2020)

2. Grated root vegetables : Grated yams and potatoes

3. Papad : Papads can be made from black gram, green gram, rice, finger millet, pohe (Flattened rice) and jackfruit pulp.

4. Papdya (smaller version of papad) can be made with sorghum, rice, sago and potatoes and kurdai (another item that has to be fried in oil before eating) can be made from wheat

5. Sandgi mirchi or yogurt mirchi (Chilles stuffed with sandge or yogurt and dried)

– Mrs. Arpita Deshpande, Sanatan Ashram, Miraj, Maharashtra.
(February 2019)

6. Jackfruit seeds

1A 5G. Drinks that quench thirst and to some extent hunger

1A 5G 1. Lemon, orange and sweet lime concentrates

Add equal amount of sugar to the lemon juice and fill it in a glass jar and keep it in the sun till the sugar is completely dissolved. Depending on the intensity of the heat, it usually takes 15 to 30 days for the sugar to dissolve.

Concentrates of oranges and sweet lime can be made in the same way as lemon. These concentrates last 2-3 years without refrigeration. Keeping these drinks in refrigerator changes their taste, hence, this is not advisable.

1A 5G 2. Panha made from raw mango (raw mango concentrate)

Boil raw mangoes, extract the pulp, add sugar or jaggery to make panhe. Fill this drink into a glass jar and keep it in the refrigerator. This will last 1-11/2 years.

Depending on the State (such as ‘Kokam [Garcinia indica] concentrate’ in Konkan region of Maharashtra) and seasonal fruits, a variety of fruits can be made into long-lasting concentrates.

– Mrs. Arpita Deshpande, Sanatan Ashram, Miraj, Maharashtra.
(February 2019)

1A 5H. Biscuits with more of nutrients, shelf life chocolates that last 5 years, dry fruits, etc. : During adverse times, sudden evacuation may be required. Getting stuck in a new place for some unknown reason is also a possibility. At times, in such situations, food may not be available. Under these circumstances, the above mentioned food items can be very useful.