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.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Mung & Brown Rice Kichari

Kichari and Chapatis

Kichari is good any time of the year.  Very easy to make, it's a one-pot hot meal that is both nutritious and delicious.  Try this recipe next time you need a quick, easy dinner to warm your family's hearts.

For those of you who are not familiar with the word "dahl," it means small beans like lentils that you can buy at Indian groceries.  Mung beans, which are available in health food stores in America, are a classic type of dahl in India, and they cook quickly.  Mung beans with or without the green skins cooks fast, so they're a great choice when you're pressed for time.

Ingredients:

1/2 c whole or split mung dahl
8 c water
1/2 c brown rice (white rice can also be used)
1 qt (4 c) vegetables of your choice, cut into small chunks (e.g., bell pepper, celery, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, turnips, etc.)
1/2 t turmeric powder
4 t (or 1 heaping T) grated fresh ginger root
6 T unsalted butter or ghee, divided
2 t coriander powder
1/2 t methi (fenugreek) powder
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t garam masala
2 t salt (add more* if adding more veggies)
1 t mustard seeds
1 t cumin seeds
1 small jalapeno, seeded and chopped small
1 sprig fresh curry leaves, if available
1/2 c chopped cilantro, if available

Wash 1/2 c split mung dahl 5 times in cold water, drain. (Whole green mung does not need so much washing--one rinse will do.) Put washed, drained dahl in a large pot that holds at least half a gallon of volume.  Add water.  Turn heat on to high.  Add:

turmeric
grated ginger
1 T unsalted butter or ghee

Stir and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat to medium.  Simmer while you prepare the rice and vegetables.

If using brown rice, wash and add now. Set your timer to 45 minutes. 

Next, prepare root vegetables.

Wash, peel and cube potatoes, carrots, turnips and other root vegetables. Root veggies as well as other veggies that require longer cooking time, like cabbage or winter squash, should be added when the timer has 25 minutes left.  Simmer for 5 minutes before adding other veggies that take less time to cook (timer should indicate 20 minutes left at this time). If using white rice, add the washed rice now.  

Add coriander powder, methi powder, paprika, garam masala and salt*.  Stir these spices in and continue simmering on low.

Three to five minutes before the timer rings to indicate that the rice is done, prepare the chaunk.

Melt the remaining 5 T unsalted butter or ghee in a small pan on low heat.  Add mustard seeds and let them warm until they start popping.  Then add cumin seeds, jalapeno, and curry leaves, if you have them.  Fry on low heat until mustard seeds finish popping, just a few seconds.  Immediately add chaunk to the kichari.  Turn off the flame and stir in half the chopped cilantro.  Sprinkle the other half of the cilantro over the top of the kichari as garnish.

Offer to Lord Krsna immediately so the cilantro stays pretty and green.

Yield: about four large helpings.

*If using more than 4 c (1 qt) of veggies, increase salt by 1/8 t for every cup of extra veggies

Note: when the cooking is finished, the kichari will appear like a chunky soup.  It will thicken up over time, but if served immediately after cooking, it should be served in bowls.

Note: if using white rice, add vegetables right after dahl starts to break up.  Add coriander powder, methi powder, paprika, and garam masala.  When vegetables are medium-soft, add the rice and salt, and continue cooking on very low heat, covered, until rice is soft--about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the kind of white rice you use.

Serving suggestions: Can be served with a dollop of plain homemade yogurt or a drizzle of fresh ghee on top.  In summertime, a cool raita as a side dish offers a nice contrast to the warm kichari.  In wintertime, a bowl of steaming hot karhi along with kichari takes the chill off and creates a hearty meal.  Hot puris right off the stove are always a delicious accompaniment to kichari as well.

1 comment:

  1. I had the opportunity to taste this khichidi made by HG Phalini Mataji and I loved it so much!

    Thank you Mataji for sharing this wonderful receipe.

    Your servant,
    Rasanand das

    ReplyDelete