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A little goes a long way

A little goes a long way to help Tibetan Buddhist nuns in India.

In this blog post, we want to share with you the cost of basic food items at the largest nunnery we support in India so that you can see the impact of your support. In this blog, we take you inside the kitchen at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, home to 347 nuns plus staff.

Rice

Rice is a staple food for the nuns in all the Tibetan Buddhist nunneries we support in India. One of the most common meals for Tibetans in exile is rice and dal. This simple dish is nutritious and inexpensive. A huge bag of rice costs 640 Indian rupees or just under $9. Each day at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, the nuns use about 1.5 bags of rice to feed close to 400 nuns and staff.

$12/day feeds rice to 350 nuns

A nun on kitchen duty at Dolma Ling checks rice. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

Flour

Flour, like rice, is used daily at the nunneries to make bread, noodles, and steamed buns. An 88 pound (40 kg) bag of flour costs just over $12 and is enough to feed over 300 people.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns in kitchen using flour Brian Harris copy

This summer, donors kindly helped the nuns at the two largest nunneries we support, Dolma Ling and Shugsep, purchase dough-making machines. Until now, the nuns would have to knead dough by hand.

$12/day provides 350 nuns with flour

Potatoes

All the nunneries have a vegetarian diet and potatoes are important staple food. Just a small monthly donation to the Tibetan Nuns Project feeds hundreds of nuns in a day. For instance, a 110 lb (50 kg) bag of potatoes costs just $14 and will feed a lot of nuns. We are extremely grateful to everyone who sponsors a nun and also to those donors who give monthly at any amount they choose. As you see, even $5 a month helps feed hundreds of nuns.

$14 buys 110 lbs of potatoes

cost of food, Tibetan Buddhist nun at Dolma Ling peeling potatoes, cost of basic food items, peeling potatoes

A nun on kitchen duty at Dolma Ling Nunnery pauses from peeling potatoes. There are about 350 nuns at the nunnery so that means a lot of peeling! Photo by the Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

Onions

Some Buddhists follow a strict diet that avoids aliums including onions, garlic, and chives. However, Tibetan Buddhists do use onions and garlic in their cooking, especially in exile in India and Nepal. A 55 lb bag of onions (25 kg) costs $10.

$10 buys 55 lbs of onions

Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute chopping onions ⓒ Robin Groth

With COVID, the nuns have not been shopping in the same way as before because it was unsafe to go to the market. Instead, during the lockdown times, they had supplies such as vegetables delivered to the gates of the nunnery where they would be sanitized and then stored in the storage room shown below.

cost of basic food, vegetables in storeroom at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute copy

Vegetables in the storeroom at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in India. The nunnery is home to about 350 Tibetan Buddhist nuns and they have a vegetarian diet, so lots of vegetables are needed.

Thank you again for helping the nuns!

a little goes a long way, Dolma Ling Nunnery

Bags of vegetables outside the gate of Dolma Ling Nunnery during the COVID lockdown in 2020

Happy Nuns in the Dolma Ling Kitchen

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Cooking for about 250 nuns a day is a challenge, especially during the pandemic. This spring, the nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute asked for your help to buy an electric rice cooker, a dough-making machine, a refrigerator, and two new gas burners.

The kitchen equipment has arrived now and the nuns are happy because their daily tasks are safer and easier.

Helping the Nuns Cook Rice Safely

new electric rice cooker at Dolma Ling Nunnery

“We are very happy with the new rice cooker. Now we just have to wash the rice, put it in the rice cooker, add water, close the lid, and press the cook button. So easy and safe! We don’t have to worry about the hot rice water,” said one nun. It also saves on fuel costs and produces better, more nutritious rice.

Venerable Samten Dolma, the nun in charge of the kitchen this year, said, “Before, I had to check regularly to see if the rice was cooked perfectly or not. Now, with the new rice cooker, I don’t have to worry about rice being undercooked or soggy.”

Tibetan Buddhist nun cooking rice at Dolma Ling

“The rice is so delicious now and every time it is evenly cooked.” The new rice cooker can cook up to 77 pounds of rice safely and efficiently. The nuns eat rice every day, so it’s a huge help to them.

“Every day five nuns have to prepare a day’s meal,” said a nun on kitchen duty. “In the morning while preparing lunch, we used to have two nuns in charge of the rice and three nuns to cut and prepare the lunchtime vegetables. But now, with the rice cooker, it is so much easier. All five nuns can cut and prepare vegetables for lunch. While we eat our lunch, we can use the dough machine to prepare the dough for the evening. Now we have more time on our hands.”

With the old way of cooking rice, the nuns were always in danger of being scalded by the boiling water and steam. Detail of photo by Brian Harris.

Before the nuns got the rice cooker, it took a long time to cook rice in a huge caldron over one of the two large gas burners. When the rice was half cooked, the excess water had to be poured off – a very risky operation. It took two strong nuns to pick up the pot and carry it across the kitchen to the drain. This operation had to be done quickly and carefully to avoid scalding from the boiling water and losing the steam.

Having the new electric rice cooker means that the rice cooks more evenly and keeps more of its nutritional qualities so it is better for the nuns’ health.

The New Dough Maker

Each day the nuns on kitchen duty prepare traditional Tibetan bread and steamed buns for hundreds of nuns. Until now, the nuns had to mix the dough by hand which was very labor intensive and less hygienic than using a machine.

before and after, Tibetan Buddhist nuns using new dough machine

“The dough machine saves us a lot of time and energy! I never knew it was this easy to knead dough.” The nuns bought a 55-lb (25 kg) capacity dough maker. Before photos by Brian Harris; after photos by Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

On special occasions, the nuns make paratha (fried flatbreads) and khapse which are fried Tibetan biscuits. At Losar, Tibetan New Year, every member of the nunnery gets a large bag of khapse to celebrate Tibetan New Year so preparing large quantities is a great deal of work.

making dough, Dolma Ling Nunnery, inside the kitchen at Dolma Ling Nunnery

Before, as in this photo, the nuns had to knead dough by hand. Now mixing dough by machine takes only 15 to 20 minutes, so it is much easier to prepare multiple batches for bread, buns, and noodles. Normally the nuns up to 20 kg (44 pounds) of flour at a time.

New Refrigerator Saves Costs and Prevents Waste

Dolma Ling’s refrigerator was very old and broke down in the spring. Thanks to our supporters, the nuns were able to buy a new fridge in time to store food during the summer heat.

A nun shows the new refrigerator at Dolma Ling

When the old refrigerator broke down, you kindly helped the nuns buy a new one, just in time to keep food from spoiling during the intense summer heat. The temperature in the kitchen regularly reached 97 degrees.

The nuns follow a vegetarian diet. Without a fridge, vegetables, fruits, milk, butter, and tofu quickly rot. It is not possible for the nuns to get fresh supplies of everything daily so they need to buy for more than one day. They are happy to have the fridge to safely store perishable vegetables and fruit to avoid wastage and save money.

Without the fridge, they would be restricted in what they could buy and their diet would have been more monotonous. Especially during the pandemic, everyone looks forward to lunchtime. Now, the nuns can use different vegetables such as tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, and spinach which need to be kept chilled. With the new fridge, the nuns and staff are healthier and happier!

Thank you for your support!

Inside the Kitchen at Dolma Ling Nunnery

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The kitchen is a central part of life at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, home to about 250 nuns and 30 staff. It is run by one nun who is permanently stationed there, supported by a rotation of 8 other nuns. The nuns are willing but not always experienced!

Dolma Ling Nunnery, Brian Harris, inside a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery kitchen

Inside the kitchen at Dolma Ling Nunnery. The Tibetan Nuns Project is fundraising for a rice cooker, a dough-making machine, a fridge, and two new gas burners. See below for more details. Photo by Brian Harris.

Breakfast Means an Early Start!

Each morning, the nuns on kitchen duty wake up around 3:30 am (2:30 am in the summertime) to prepare round flatbreads called Amdo Balep for breakfast. The evening before, the nuns prepare the dough and leave it to rise overnight so it is ready to shape and bake on the large gas griddle. To feed all the nuns and staff, the nuns must make and bake 350 pieces of bread. The 6-inch diameter flatbreads are served in the dining hall at 7:00 am following the nuns’ morning prayers.

making parathas, inside the kitchen at Dolma Ling Nunnery

On special occasions, the Tibetan Buddhist nuns on kitchen duty make paratha, a fried flatbread, for breakfast. Photo by Brian Harris.

As well as bread, the nuns get eggs on some days and on other days they eat cooked vegetables. And, of course, tea.

Lunch

The nuns start preparing lunch after the morning tea has been served at 10:15. Some of the group of nuns on kitchen duty may already have been assigned to clean and cut vegetables downstairs in the special area below the kitchen that was built for this purpose. To have lunch ready at 12:15, the nuns must start work very soon after breakfast.

Lunchtime at Dolma Ling Nunnery. During the pandemic lockdown, the nuns ate their meals apart. Photo by the Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

Cooking rice for nearly 300 people is a challenge and dangerous. Keep reading to learn about our special campaign to buy the nuns a rice cooker, a dough-making machine, and a freezer. It takes a long time to cook the rice in a huge caldron over one of the two large gas burners in the kitchen. When the rice is half-cooked, the nuns must pour off the excess water – a very risky operation.

It takes two strong nuns to pick up the giant pot and carry it to the drain where they strain off the water through a cloth. This action must be done swiftly and carefully to avoid being scalded by the boiling hot water and also to prevent the loss of steam. The nuns then cover the rice with a cloth and leave it to stand in its own steam for up to an hour to become soft and tasty.

cooking rice, Buddhist nunnery kitchen, Dolma Ling, Tibetan Buddhist nuns

Cooking rice for hundreds of nuns is dangerous and the nuns need an electric rice cooker. You can donate below. Photo by Brian Harris

In the meantime, the nuns prepare and cook the two vegetable dishes and one dal (lentil dish) which form the standard lunch in the nunnery. Because there are only two large gas burners, it is quite a tricky exercise to cook three dishes as well as the rice in time for lunch. The kitchen nuns can’t keep everyone waiting in the dining hall! Having a separate electric rice cooker will make managing the kitchen considerably smoother.

Supper

After lunch, the nuns prepare dough and leave it to rise until it is time to prepare dinner or supper. The evening meal usually consists of tingmo (Tibetan steamed buns) served with a vegetable dish. The quality of the steamed buns depends on how well the dough is prepared. If the dough is inadequately mixed, it won’t rise properly and the buns will be chewy and indigestible. A dough-making machine will help to ensure that the nuns get lovely soft fluffy buns!

chopping papayas, Dolma Ling kitchen, Tibetan Buddhist nuns cooking

Chopping papayas. Photo by the Dolma Ling Media Nuns

Sometimes the nuns prepare thukpa, Tibetan noodle soup, for supper. Once again, having a dough-making machine would be a great help in preparing the dough for the noodles. Thukpa is normally made using a mix of eggs, flour, and water but there are some nuns who don’t eat eggs so the nuns on kitchen duty always make two batches of noodle dough.

Once the dough is mixed, the nuns run through the noodle-making machine. Having a dough-making machine would be so helpful to the nuns and they will be saved from the temptation of buying readymade noodles from outside the nunnery, thus saving the nunnery money.

After dinner, the nuns set about preparing the dough for the breakfast bread and leave it to rise overnight. It is hard work mixing and kneading so much dough by hand! Usually, the kitchen nuns don’t finish their duty until 8:00 pm. Since they start work at 2:30 or 3 am, it is a very long day!

Help the Nuns Cook Rice Safely

Cooking rice for nearly 300 people is dangerous and challenging. Currently, the nuns cook rice in a huge cauldron over a large gas burner. When the rice is half-cooked, they have to pour off the excess water – a very risky operation.

The safety of the nuns is the main reason why we are asking for your help to purchase an electric rice cooker for the Dolma Ling Nunnery kitchen. A rice cooker would also save on fuel costs.

Having an electric rice cooker will mean that the rice cooks more evenly and that it keeps more of its nutritional qualities and will be better for the nuns’ health. Rice cooked in a giant caldron does not cook evenly and has to be frequently stirred.

The nuns have asked for help to buy a rice cooker with a capacity to cook up to 77 pounds of rice. Photo by Brian Harris

The nuns would like a rice cooker with a capacity of up to 35 kilograms (77 pounds) of rice which is about the biggest they can find in their area. Normally, the Dolma Ling nuns cook 20 to 25 kilos (44 to 55 pounds) of rice for one meal, but it will be good to have a slightly bigger capacity for special occasions. By buying from a reputable local kitchen equipment supplier who is prepared to give the nuns a good warranty and service, the nuns feel that this will be a huge benefit to the nunnery and will be a much safer and more efficient way of cooking rice.

Help the Nuns Buy a Dough Mixer

Each day the nuns on kitchen duty prepare traditional Tibetan bread and steamed buns for hundreds of nuns. Mixing the dough by hand is incredibly labor intensive and less hygienic than using a machine. The nuns have asked for help to buy a dough-making machine with a capacity of 25 kg (55 pounds).

Kneading dough by hand is an incredibly labor-intensive process and the nuns have asked for help to purchase a dough-making machine. Photo by Brian Harris

Mixing dough by machine takes only 15 to 20 minutes, so it would be so much easier to prepare multiple batches for bread, buns, and noodles. Normally the nuns up to 20 kg (44 pounds) of flour at a time and the machine would be used for at least two meals each day.

The dough-making machine will also be used on special occasions when the nuns serve paratha, a fried flatbread, for breakfast and also for times like before Losar, Tibetan New Year, when the nuns prepare delicious crisp khapse, fried Tibetan biscuits. Every member of the nunnery gets a large bag of khapse to celebrate Tibetan New Year so preparing large quantities is a great deal of work.

The nuns make dough daily for Tibetan bread (Amdo Baleh) and steamed buns (tingmo) and also, on special occasions, for khapse which are fried Tibetan biscuits, and paratha, fried flatbreads. Mixing dough by hand is hard work when you have almost 300 people to feed. A dough-making machine would make the work much easier and give better results. Photo by the Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

The Nuns Need Two New Hot Water Boilers

The nuns like to have hot water to drink in their rooms while they are studying in the evening. The nunnery built a small covered facility in the first wing courtyard in which there are two hot water boilers where the nuns can fill their thermoses to take to their rooms. However, each boiler takes about four hours to heat 100 litres (26 gallons) of water and there is not enough for everyone to get even one litre of water.

The nuns need two new water boilers to have enough water for everyone. Right now some nuns get up in the middle of the night to fill their thermoses because there’s not enough supply at other times. Photo by the Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

Some nuns are getting up in the middle of the night to fill their thermoses if they miss out on the first boiling. The nuns have asked for help to buy two new boilers so they can have enough hot water for all the nuns. They also need to get the two older boilers serviced. Right now, the nuns are unable to take even one boiler out of service to get it repaired because there will be a drastic shortage of boiled water.

New Refrigerator for the Dolma Ling Kitchen

Dolma Ling’s old, large, 4-door refrigerator was bought a very long time ago. It has broken down many times and was frequently repaired. However, it has now stopped working and must urgently be replaced. During the winter when it is very cold (and because the nuns follow a vegetarian diet and do not cook meat in the nunnery), the nuns have managed without a fridge, but soon the summer heat and monsoon humidity will come meaning that vegetables and fruits will quickly rot. It is not possible to get fresh supplies daily and the nuns buy in bulk. The nunnery needs to be able to safely store perishable vegetables and fruit to avoid wastage and to save money. Milk, butter, cheese, and tofu also need to be refrigerated.

A nun sanitizes food outside the nunnery. The nuns have asked to help to buy a new fridge to replace their old one which has completely broken down. Photo by the Dolma Ling Media Nuns.

Without a new fridge, the nunnery is restricted in what it can buy and the nuns’ diet will be more monotonous. Especially during the pandemic and these times of lockdown, everyone looks forward to lunchtime. If the kitchen can provide a variety of vegetables such as tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, and spinach, all of which must be kept chilled, the nuns and staff will not only be healthier but also happier!

Please help the Tibetan Buddhist nuns at Dolma Ling with this essential kitchen equipment!

The total cost for all items is $10,700.

Make a gift online at tnp.org
Call our office in Seattle at 1-206-652-8901
Mail a check to The Tibetan Nuns Project (for Rice Cooker and Dough Maker at Dolma Ling)
815 Seattle Boulevard South #216, Seattle, WA 98134 USA
Give a gift of securities
Leave a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project

Make a Donation

Solar Lights and Kitchen Equipment for Nuns at Shugsep

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The 76 nuns at Shugsep Nunnery and Institute have asked for solar lights and essential items for their kitchen, dining hall, and prayer hall.

We’ve launched a fundraising campaign to raise $8,450 and supporters can donate here.

Solar Lights So the Nuns Can Study

The nuns and staff at Shugsep Nunnery have asked for solar-powered lights, both for security and so they can study outside their rooms in the evening. The balconies outside the nuns’ rooms need two solar lights each and we’d also like to install lights in each of the two garden areas in front of the main temple. The road to the nunnery gate is very dark, so two solar lights on the road would brighten the path and also help the students study at night.

A nun at Dolma Ling studies at night by lamplight. The nuns at Shugsep Nunnery and Institute have requested solar-powered lights so that the nuns can study and also for security. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

Kitchen Equipment Needed

Shugsep Nunnery and Institute is home to 76 nuns plus staff. To make bread and dumplings twice a day for close to 100 people is a challenge. The nuns need a dough-making machine to lighten the considerable workload in preparing dough for bread and Tibetan dumplings.

Tibetan Buddhist nun making dough by Brian Harris

The nuns have requested a dough-making machine and a fridge-freezer for the kitchen at Shugsep Nunnery and Institute, home to 76 Tibetan Buddhist nuns. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

To reduce food waste and save costs by making food last longer, the nuns need a fridge/freezer so that they can purchase more food in bulk at a time since, during the pandemic, it is not always possible to go shopping. The nuns also need two steel shelf units for their pantry to help organize their food supplies.

In addition, the plastic chairs purchased for the dining hall 15 years ago are falling apart and it is time to replace them. The nuns want to avoid plastic and are happy to use wooden benches. The ceiling fans in the dining hall have also worn out and need replacing.

Prayer Hall Tables

The nuns at Shugsep have asked for 15 low tables for the prayer hall and 2 higher tables for the presiding masters or teachers. The office also requires a new large wooden storage unit for keeping the files.

Inside the Shugsep Nunnery Prayer Hall by Brian Harris

Shugsep traces its rituals and practice to some of the most illustrious female practitioners in Tibetan history. Tables are needed in the prayer hall for the nuns and their teachers. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

Our goal is to raise $8,450 to fund all the items requested by the nuns.

You can help the nuns at Shugsep with this essential equipment and furniture.

Make a gift online at tnp.org
Call our office in Seattle at 1-206-652-8901
Mail a check to The Tibetan Nuns Project (for Shugsep Solar and Kitchen)
815 Seattle Boulevard South #216, Seattle, WA 98134 USA
Give a gift of securities
Leave a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project

Make a Donation

How you are helping accomplish great things at Dolma Ling Nunnery

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In the spring of 2016, we launched a campaign called “Sustaining Dolma Ling Nunnery” that outlined six projects that the nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery asked for help with.

projects at Dolma Ling Nunnery Dolma Ling is a non-sectarian nunnery in northern India near Dharamsala that is home to about 250 Tibetan Buddhist nuns.

Although the nunnery has a number of income-generating initiatives like the nuns café and the nunnery shop, like other religious communities around the world, the nuns rely on the generosity of a caring community.

Today we’d like to report back to you on progress on all six of the Sustaining Dolma Ling projects. We’re happy to report that three of the six are fully funded and another two are nearly funded.

We really hope that all six can been fully funded and completed by the end of March 2017.

1. Butter Sculpture Workshop

ONLY $167 NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT
We are almost there! Only $167 is needed to complete the funding to create a workshop room where the nuns can learn how to make butter sculptures, a sacred Tibetan art that has been practiced in Tibet for over 400 years. Like so much of Tibetan culture, the practice of making butter sculptures is under threat. The nuns at Dolma Ling have an excellent teacher, but they’ve been using a makeshift space. Please help us complete this project.
Make a Donation

2. New Cow Shed

PROJECT FULLY FUNDED – THANK YOU!
The nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute have kept cows for the past 20 years and currently have 14 cows in their small herd. The cows provide the nunnery with milk and also manure for the gardens. Prior to the completion of this project, there wasn’t enough space for all the cows to be protected when the weather was too harsh for them to be out grazing, such as during the torrential monsoon rains. Thanks to five generous donors – Alix, Anna, Bob, Cindy, and Stuart – the cow shed is now complete. See the full report and more photos here.

3. Clean Water Project

PROJECT FULLY FUNDED – THANK YOU!
Twenty-one generous donors came forward to support this project to increase the amount of clean drinking water at the nunnery. Thanks to our global family of supporters, the nuns have now been able to purchase and install three additional water filtering machines at different parts of the nunnery to provide safe, clean drinking water for over 280 nuns and staff residing at the nunnery, as well to build a simple shed to provide hot boiled water. The nuns have made a short video showing the new water boiler in action.

4. Painting Dolma Ling Nunnery

$7,150 NEED TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT
This is a huge project that the nuns really need help with. This year they need to paint the main prayer hall, one of the nuns’ housing wings and the staff quarters. Dolma Ling Nunnery is a large complex of buildings, like a monastic university, that needs repainting every five years. The harsh climate in this part of northern India take its toll on the nunnery buildings and it is essential to regularly repaint and maintain the buildings to avoid more costly repairs in the future.
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5. Tables and Stools

PROJECT FULLY FUNDED – THANK YOU!
Thanks to seven generous donors, we have fully funded the project to provide 15 tables and 2 stools for the nuns’ rooms at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India. View more photos and our full report here.

6. Furnishing and Equipping the Kitchen

$1,668 NEEDED TO COMPLETE THIS PROJECT

Last year a new kitchen was constructed at the nunnery because the nunnery population had more than tripled since the nunnery kitchen was built and the nuns had outgrown the space. Now the nuns need help to equip and furnish the new space including these items:

An enclosed vegetable storage and chopping area to keep birds and animals out.
Environmentally responsible sorting bins for recyclables, compost, waste food suitable to feed to the cows and trash.
A large pot rack for heavy pots, steamers and utensils
A heavy-duty and hygienic wall drainer for washing up
A wall-mounted utensil rack, and
Large metal storage containers for grains such as rice and flour.

If you can help support the completion of the kitchen, we would be very grateful.

Make a Donation

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

An updated, larger kitchen for the nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery!

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The nuns who live at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute near Dharamsala, India now have an expanded kitchen facility thanks to the generosity of some very special donors.

The old kitchen at the nunnery was initially built in 1993 when there were just 82 nuns. Slowly, over time, the number of nuns more than tripled to 240 plus 40 staff so it was no longer large enough to adequately prepare food for that number of people.

To try to cope, the nuns, in 2001, took over a ground floor classroom as a vegetable storeroom and cutting room. The space was very cramped and the classroom that served as a kind of kitchen extension was sorely needed by the expanding education program.

Enter some very generous donors who made the nuns dream of a new kitchen a reality. We’re excited to show you these photos and a little video.

The front of the new kitchen showing the solar panels for hot water. By extending the kitchen forward into the courtyard, an additional 750 square feet of functional space was added.

In the spring of 2015 we sought funding for the kitchen extension project. Our donors have helped the nuns solve many problems at once. Not only do the nuns have much more space for preparing and storing food, but by moving the solar panels and water tanks the nunnery has been able to solve problems with maintenance and leakage.

The ground floor of the kitchen extension is a purpose-built space for the storage and preparation of vegetables and supplies. The nuns follow a vegetarian diet.

The nuns also make tofu each week to supply the nunnery kitchen and to sell to other monastic institutions and local people to raise some funds for the nunnery.

Nuns working in the spacious new kitchen at Dolma Ling. The nuns have 3 meals a day and all the cooking is done by the nuns themselves.

The head cook is always busy and the kitchen is kept spotless. The nuns rotate in and out of kitchen duties so everyone participates. Breakfast preparations begin as early as 3 a.m. Lunch is the main meal of the day and is often rice, two kinds of vegetables, dal, and sometimes fruit. Dinner is often a noodle soup and maybe a steamed bun.

See this blog post showing the old kitchen space at Dolma Ling and giving a recipe for dal.

A dream come true. A view into the new kitchen space at Dolma Ling Nunnery. Our deepest thanks to the donors who made this possible.

From the Nunnery Kitchens: Tibetan Nuns Making Tofu

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There’s something special cooking in the kitchens of Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in northern India.

For the past several years, the nuns at Dolma Ling have made tofu once a week to supply the nunnery kitchen for meals. There are a lot of mouths to feed at the nunnery, so being able to make tofu in-house is very important. Currently there are over 230 Tibetan Buddhist nuns who live at Dolma Ling Nunnery and there are also teachers and visitors. The nuns follow a vegetarian diet and tofu is a nutritious and protein-rich part of their weekly menu.

Nuns in 2013 making tofu at Dolma Ling Nunnery. Photo courtesy of Brian Harris.

The nuns also sell any extra tofu to visitors and the local community to help support the nunnery. This generates a bit of income for the nunnery but, so far the demand for tofu has outstripped supply because the nuns’ had a limited capacity to make tofu due to the size of their tofu kitchen and the capacity of their tofu-making machine.

Here’s a video made in 2012 by the nuns showing tofu making at the nunnery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgygQy9SaOE&feature=share

It has been the nuns’ wish for several years to purchase a larger tofu machine and to have a new tofu kitchen so that tofu could be made and sold on a larger scale. There is a great demand for tofu from nearby communities so the income from tofu sales will help to support the nunnery.

The new facility for making tofu was built a while ago but the donor who had originally offered to provide a special tofu-making machine was unable to raise the necessary funds to purchase and ship the machine to India. So the project was delayed by almost two years.

We are delighted to tell you that this spring, Norman Steinberg, a generous donor from Canada, has helped fulfill the nuns’ long-term wish by funding the purchase of a much larger and more efficient tofu-making machine and by helping to establish a special tofu kitchen at the nunnery. We are extremely grateful for his support.

A big advantage of the recent donation is that it has allowed the Tibetan Nuns Project to purchase an Indian-made machine, so we’ve avoided the costly customs and shipping costs and it will also be easier to service and repair in the future.

Once the new machine is up and running and the tofu kitchen is firmly established, we’ll post another blog with photos.

Making tofu is somewhat similar to making cheese, but rather than curdling milk you are curdling soy milk. The first step in the process is to soak the dried soybeans and mix them with water to produce soy milk.

Soybeans are being prepared in the old tofu kitchen at Dolma Ling Nunnery. This photo was taken in 2013 by Brian Harris.

Next the nuns add enzymes or acid to curdle the soybean liquid. Then they press the liquid to remove the liquid whey. Once there are just curds remaining they can be pressed into forms and cut into blocks.

The Tibetan Nuns Project is extremely grateful to Norman Steinberg and another private donor from Canada, as well as other individual donors from around the world who made the new tofu-making facility possible.

If you would like to learn more about how the nuns are moving towards greater self-sufficiency, or to help fund these efforts, please contact us at info@tnp.org or donate at https://tnp.org/youcanhelp/donate/.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns stirring to make tofu

Photo taken in 2013 by Brian Harris at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute in India