The Kitchen Religion

The Kitchen Religion is dedicated to my beloved spiritual master A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who taught his disciples by his personal example how to cook and offer delicious vegetarian food to Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Dear Friends, Welcome to The Kitchen Religion. I love to cook, and am a follower of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, whose disciples taught me how to cook "Krishna prasadam" back in the early 70's. Krishna prasadam (or "God's mercy") is vegetarian food that's offered to Krishna (Krishna, or Lord Shri Krishna, is a name of God the Father which means "the all-attractive person who attracts the hearts of all living beings").

Ever wonder why the Hare Krishnas are called "The Kitchen Religion?" Because for us, cooking is a meditation. Everything we eat, we first cook with love for Lord Sri Krishna, then offer it to Him, then eat (or "honor") His remnants. The Hare Krishna Movement has become known as "The Kitchen Religion" because so much of what we are as a group has to do with cooking for Lord Krishna and then honoring and sharing His holy remnants, or prasadam, with others. We call eating prasadam "honoring" prasadam, because we understand that after we have offered the food to God and He has kindly accepted our loving offering, the food has become spiritualized. So it's like accepting a treasured gift from the Lord when we eat His remnants. Spiritual food is uplifting to the heart and purifying to the soul. Krishna prasadam is meant to be honored.

Srila Prabhupada taught us that because all things come from God, they are meant to be used in His service. He explained that we should lovingly cook vegetarian dishes for Krishna and offer them to Him with devotion. Krishna then accepts and blesses our offerings so that when we partake of His remnants, we become purified of all kinds of unwanted, sinful desires within our hearts. I was happy to learn this, as I had always wanted to know of practical ways to serve God, and I had never thought about cooking for God. But this idea made so much sense to me that I took it up immediately and have been enjoying the pleasure of cooking for God for the last 40 years! After all, God is a person. Granted, He is the Supreme Person, but a person nonetheless. And God eats. He doesn't need to eat, but He eats what His devotees lovingly cook for Him, just to give them pleasure.

By the way, did you know that God likes cows? His supreme abode, Goloka Vrndavana, is named after cows. Gau, or go, means cow, and loka means place or abode or planet. So Goloka means the abode of the cows. Because God puts so much importance on cows, we should understand that cows are very, very important for human society. We humans are given the responsibility to protect cows, and in turn, we are blessed with milk, the miracle food.

Although a lot of my recipes are influenced by my American upbringing, they are all pure vegetarian. Not all are vegan, but they're all vegetarian. We humans are given a diet just like all the other creatures on earth, and our diet is supposed to include milk and milk products. Cow's milk and milk products are beneficial and very important for human consumption. But they must be prepared properly and offered with love to Lord Krishna to provide the greatest benefit to human society.

Of course, using milk and other products from the cow necessitates treating the cow humanely. How ungrateful some people are, that they consume milk, yogurt, cream, sour cream, ice cream, butter and cheese from the cow and then turn around and slap the cow in her face by killing her and eating her slaughtered carcass! How can those people be so cruel, heartless and ungrateful?

Srila Prabhupada explained that we humans have more than one mother. Not only is our birth mother our mother, but the earth is one of our mothers as well as the cow, because the earth gives us food and the cow gives us her milk. Therefore, it behooves us to treat both Mother Earth and the cow with respect and love, just as we would our birth mother.

Speaking of mothers, my love of cooking awakened in my early childhood as I watched my mother cook and bake. From her guidance as well as the tutoring of my Hare Krishna friends, combined with years of cooking and baking for my family, trying out new recipes and repeating old ones, making up some of my own recipes and adjusting many that I have found on the internet and in cookbooks, I feel inspired to share with you some of my cooking experiences and favorite recipes.

In the recipes below, "c" means "cup," "T" means "Tablespoon," and "t" means "teaspoon."

Thanks for being here! Hare Krishna!

Phalini devi dasi

PS Srila Prabhupada demonstrated a high standard for his disciples by always using fresh ingredients. Because I almost always seem to be in a hurry, I have adopted the use of canned goods on occasion. I apologize for this aberration, and hope to switch to using all fresh (uncanned, unfrozen) ingredients in the near future.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

For people who are transitioning from a meat-based diet to a vegetarian diet, Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie is a wonderful marriage of textures and tastes.  Paneer, vegetables and legumes combine with select spices to satisfy the palate and nourish the body.  Based on an old traditional recipe, this Shepherd's Pie substitutes paneer for the meat, so you get the experience of traditional Shepherd's Pie without the bad karma!

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie


First, gather your ingredients.  There are two parts to this dish, the filling and the topping.  For the filling, you'll need:

1/4 c melted unsalted butter
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t hing
1/2 t mustard powder (ground mustard seed)
1/2 t cumin powder
1/4 t methi (fenugreek) powder
2 t coriander
1/2 t turmeric
1/4 c cornstarch
2 c cold whey, vegetarian soup stock or water 
2 c cooked beans of your choice, drained
Paneer made from 12 c milk, pressed and cubed
4 c mixed vegies of your choice, steamed
1 T salt

For the topping, you'll need:

2 T melted, unsalted butter
4 c potatoes, peeled, cubed, boiled, then mashed
1 t salt
1/8 t turmeric
1/4 t black pepper
1/2 c cream, sour cream or milk
Paneer made from 4 c milk, crumbled
Crumbled rosemary for garnish
Paprika for garnish

First, make your paneer from one gallon of milk.  If you use raw milk, press your curd for one minute.  If using homogenized milk, press for three minutes.  Unwrap and cut into four equal pieces.

Cut your paneer into four equal pieces.  The missing piece above has already been crumbled and added to the mashed potato topping, pictured at top left of this frame.
To make the topping:

Crumble 1/4 of the paneer into small pea-sized pieces.  Mix the mashed potatoes with the crumbled paneer and the 2 T melted unsalted butter, 1 t salt, 1/8 t turmeric, 1/4 t black pepper and 1/2 c cream.  Use a potato masher to mash and combine everything thoroughly.  Set aside.

To make the filling:

Cut the remaining 3 sections of paneer into bite-sized cubes.

Cubed paneer

Melt 1/4 c butter on low heat in a medium-sized pot.  Add 1/2 t black pepper, 1/4 t hing, 1/2 t mustard powder, 1/2 t cumin powder, 1/4 t methi powder, 2 t coriander powder.  Pour the cubed paneer into the butter and spices, and stirring frequently, sautee on medium-low heat until the paneer starts to stick a little to the bottom.

Sautee the paneer chunks in the butter and spices

Turn down the heat to low, add the beans and the steamed vegies and continue cooking for a couple minutes until everything is heated through.

While the beans and vegies and paneer are merging flavors, prepare the sauce for the filling:

Pour 1/4 c cornstarch and 1/2 t turmeric into a small measuring cup.  Add 1/4 c of the cold whey, stock, or water.  Mix thoroughly.  Gradually add small amounts of the remaining liquid, stirring after each addition, until all the liquid (2 c) is incorporated into the cornstarch.  Add 1 T salt.  Pour into a small saucepan.  Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over low heat.  As soon as the mixture thickens, remove from heat and add to the bean mixture.  Stir thoroughly.  Remove from heat.


Butter a 3 qt. (2.84 litre) casserole and spoon the filling in.  Spread evenly on the bottom of the pan.

Spread the filling evenly in the pan
Now spoon the topping onto the top of the filling, forming soft peaks that can brown as it bakes in the oven.

See the little peaks?
Now sprinkle some crumbled rosemary and a little paprika powder on top for a colorful garnish.

Sprinkle rosemary and paprika on top
Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack to keep your glass pan from cracking.  Offer to Lord Sri Krsna--who has kindly given us all these wonderful ingredients--with love and devotion, then serve to your happy family!

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