- An update on kefir…
Firstly, one of the wonderful women who attends my yoga classes told me yesterday that since eating her homemade kefir on a daily basis the condition she suffers from, ulcerated colitis, has calmed down considerably. She has found that even when stressed, she does not become incapacitated. Her conclusion being that the kefir has most certainly been of benefit….
My friend and yoga lady, feeds her cats and dogs small amounts of kefir daily…they love it! My old dog is not interested, so it doesn’t work for all….mind you she is 15 years old and is entitled to stick with what she knows best.
- Kefir as a Healer…
As mentioned in my previous post I suffered amoebic dysentery years ago in Kenya and at that time I had no access to kefir but there was “maziwa lala”. The direct translation is sleeping milk. It was thinner and not as creamy as kefir but very soothing and always felt like just the perfect food at that time.
In Zimbabwe we lived in the Sabi Valley. It is truly hot and a very long way from any town….75 kilometres from our nearest grocery store. My milk came directly from the cow. It was rich and creamy and the (as they were known then) Yugoslav workforce who lived on the camp with us made delicious cheese and yoghurt for me. They added herbs and salt to the cheese after the milk had fermented. The result was wonderful.
- Rajasthan
Years later whilst visiting Rajasthan I did one of my walkabouts for which I am famous. I tend to wander off into the countryside, just to feel the area! We were staying in the beautiful Narlai Lodge which is very much off the beaten track.
A couple of miles along a dirt road and I came upon these beautiful women. They had obviously finished their work for the morning and were sitting in the shade chatting and laughing. I was invited to join them and although we had no language in common we spent a lovely hour. I took photos of them with permission. They were delighted. This involved rooting around in my bag for the camera and resulted in them inspecting hand cream, lipstick, a notebook and pen and the novel I was reading! We then shared a bowl of fermented milk. It tasted like maziwa lala and had salt added…..a lovely interlude.
Beautiful Rajasthani women, full of laughter.
This lady was definitely in charge! She insisted on being photographed alone.
So, many folk have their own version of kefir and in hot climes where milk would never keep, it is the perfect solution and provides those communities with first class protein rich in calcium and vitamins.
- Where we stayed…
We stayed in Narlai Lodge which is located between Udaipur and Jodhpur. To find out more there are several travel operators, one of them being www.naturalhighsafaris.com