Banana Pudding

Inspired by an article I read recently about a bakery somewhere in the US that daily sells banana pudding to long lines of customers, I thought, "I can make banana pudding!" So I tried, and it turned out pretty good, I thought.

Photo courtesy of Rasapriya Gandharvika devi dasi

1/2 c white sugar

3 T powdered coconut

1/4 c + 1 T cornstarch (called "corn flour" in India)

2 3/4 c milk

2 T butter, unsalted

1 t vanilla extract

12-15 three-inch bananas, or the equivalent 

Toast the coconut in a small pan, stirring contantly over low flame, until the coconut turns a light golden-brown color. Remove from heat, cool the bottom of the pot immediately so that the toasting process stops, and then set the coconut aside.

Put the sugar and the cornstarch into a medium pot. Stir to combine. Add 1/4 c of the milk. Stir thoroughly. Add a little bit more of the milk and stir to thoroughly combine. Keep doing this until you have added all the milk. Stir in the coconut.

Heat on medium flame, stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Turn down heat to medium-low and continue stirring while it boils gently for two minutes. Turn off heat.

Add 2 T unsalted butter and 1 t vanilla. Stir thoroughly until butter is completely mixed in. 

Slice the bananas 1/2 inch thick. Fold bananas into the pudding. May be offered warm, or cooled before offering to Krishna.

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

This banana bread is a great breakfast bread or tea-time treat. It has received rave reviews from so many people that it's a pity I didn't get it posted till now. Simple to make, hearty and easy to slice, this has been our family favorite for many years.

Ingredients:

3 large ripe bananas, mashed (I mash them on a plate with the back of a fork)
1 c sugar
2 T sour cream (or other similar milk product--in India I use yogurt)
3 T softened unsalted butter
2 X egg replacer, pre-mixed (I use Ener-G Egg Replacer--in India I use 2 T yogurt)
1 t vanilla
2 c unbleached all-purpose flour (in India I use atta--finely ground whole wheat flour)
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t nutmeg powder
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together, then add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Sift the dry ingredients together into a separate medium-sized bowl, then stir into the wet mixture.

Stir in the walnuts if you're using them.

Spoon into a greased and floured 9 X 5 loaf pan. Gently drop the filled pan onto the counter 5 times. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Allow to cool on a trivet or wire rack for 2 minutes before turning out onto a cutting board. Offer to Krishna with love.

If like me you have no oven, you can steam this bread. Grease a pudding mould and spoon the batter into the mould. Lower it into a steamer. Cover with aluminum foil or with a lid that reaches beyond the edge of the pudding mould, because water will be dripping and you don't want it to drip into the pudding. Keep the fire on medium-low. Cover the steamer and allow to steam for 70 minutes. Turn off fire and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Remove from steamer and place on counter. After two minutes, loosen the sides of the cake with a knife. Turn out onto a plate or a cutting board. Offer to Krishna with love.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal raisin cookies are one of the best kinds of cookies ever invented.  Chewy with those little raisin surprises in every bite, they are best when they are still warm out of the oven!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 c unsalted butter, softened
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 X egg replacer
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
3 c oats
1 c raisins

Cream the butter and sugars together.  If using a powdered egg replacer, pre-mix with water according to package directions.  Add egg replacer and vanilla.  Mix in.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Stir into the butter mixture. Stir in oats, then raisins.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes.  Cool for one minute before removing from pan.

Yield: about 4 dozen

Khoa Burfi

When my husband and I used to live in Fullerton, California, we would attend the annual Los Angeles Ratha-yatra celebration at Venice Beach.  It was a grand parade, a colorful festival and there were many booths for spectators to browse.  Quite a few of the booths were food booths.  We had a little food booth of our own called "Miracles from Milk," where we sold homemade paneer steaks simmered in tomato sauce, and juicy gulabjamons, both miraculous epicurean delights made from milk.  Although khoa burfi was not one of the items on our menu, it is nonetheless a miracle from milk.  Khoa, or cooked-down milk, makes a most amazing cooking ingredient from which one can create all sorts of delicacies.  Khoa burfi, or vanilla fudge, makes a great little treat to pack in lunches, to give to friends at holiday time, or to send in care-packages to lonely army doctors overseas.  When my son Krishna dasa was deployed in Afghanistan, he requested that I send him a care-package of homemade khoa burfi.  I was happy to oblige him.

Khoa Burfi

1 gallon half-and-half
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean

In a LARGE pot (a 4-gallon pot with an aluminum-clad bottom is good) pour the half-and-half.  Add the vanilla bean (if you don't have a vanilla bean, that's okay.  It will still turn out delicious.)  Turn on the flame to high.  Allow the milk to come to a full, rolling boil.  Stir in the sugar and keep stirring for a minute until the sugar dissolves.  Scrape the bottom of the pot frequently with a straight-edged spatula to make sure the milk is not sticking to the bottom.  As the quantity of the milk decreases with boiling, you will need to stir and scrape more frequently.  Gradually turn down the flame to keep the milk from sticking.  Be prepared ahead of time to stay with your burfi.  You will be cooking for at least a couple of hours.

When the milk starts to get thick and you feel resistance while stirring--this usually happens around the two-hour point but it will vary according to your pot and the size of your flame--you will need to turn down your heat to low and continue scraping so as not to scorch the bottom.  Scrape the sides of the pot often--I like to use a spoonula for this--and regularly clean off your straight-edged spatula with the spoonula so that all the khoa gets put back into the mixture in the pot.  Keep scraping the bottom and sides of the pot until the cooked-down milk becomes a mass that tends to pull away from the sides of the pot and become a lump in the center of the pot.  It should be thick and rather difficult to stir at this time.  Now the cooking is finished, so remove the pot from the flame.

Line a 9" X 13" non-stick cake pan with parchment paper.  Cut two pieces of parchment.  One piece should fit the pan going one way, and the other should fit the pan going perpendicular to the first piece.  Lay the two pieces of parchment in the pan perpendicular to each other.  The inside corners of the pan will be exposed, but it won't be a problem if you use a non-stick cake pan.

If you don't have parchment paper, butter a non-stick cake pan.

Spoon the khoa into the pan.  Press it evenly into the pan with the back of a spoonula so that it is equally distributed and level throughout.  Make sure to press it into the corners.  Don't worry if your khoa is lumpy.  Just press down to make it as smooth as you can on the top.   

Allow the khoa to cool.  When cool, lift the khoa out of the pan by grasping the four ends of the parchment paper with your four hands (just kidding) and carefully transfer the rectangle to a cutting board.  Leave the parchment paper in place while you cut.  Use a sharp knife to cut the khoa.  Wet your knife, then shake off the drops of water before cutting.  With each cut, slide the knife slowly and firmly through the khoa.  After each cut, wipe the blade of the knife, saving the little khoa scrapings from the knife in a little pile each time after you clean the knife.  Wet the knife again for the next cut.  Cut the whole rectangle into 48 pieces.

Now offer the burfi to God, from whom all wonderful ingredients come.  He will accept your offering, then return it to you as spiritual food, or "prasadam."  Arrange three or five pieces of burfi on Lord Krishna's plate (make sure Krishna has His own special plate that no one else eats from) and garnish them with Tulasi leaves or manjaris, if you have them.  (Krishna really likes Tulasi ((holy basil)) ).  Don't forget to offer Krishna a little cold drinking water with Tulasi in His own special cup.  Offer the burfi and water to Him with love, then clean His plate and cup before honoring His remnants with devotion.              

Ekadasi Buckwheat Cookies

We Hare Krishnas follow a fast day called "Ekadasi" twice a month.  "Eka" means one and "dasi" means ten. Ten plus one equals eleven.  On this day, which falls eleven days after the full moon and eleven days after the new moon, we avoid eating legumes and grains as an austerity for purification of heart and for the pleasure of the Lord.  Buckwheat is not a grain, as its name might lead one to believe.  It's actually a fruit, so we use buckwheat occasionally on Ekadasi.  These Ekadasi Buckwheat Cookies are chewy, nutritious and protein-rich.  They're great to have on hand not only on Ekadasi, but any day of the month.

Ekadasi Buckwheat Cookies

2 sticks + 2 T softened butter
1/3 c sour cream
2 X egg replacer, pre-mixed (I use Ener-G egg replacer)
1 t vanilla
1/2 t almond flavor
2 c sugar
3 1/2 c buckwheat flour
1 T baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3 T carob powder or rajgiri (chestnut) fasting flour

Cream butter and sugar together.  Mix egg replacer powder with water (1 T powder to 4 T water).  Stir pre-mixed egg replacer into butter and sugar mixture.  Add sour cream, vanilla, and almond flavoring.  Mix well.  In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients, then stir dry ingredients into the wet mixture.  Roll into 1 1/2" balls and place at least 1" apart on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Cool slightly on pan before removing to wire cooling rack.  Offer to Krishna, the Lord who feeds all of us, with love and devotion. 

Yield: about 3 1/2 dozen

Serving suggestion: try sandwiching two of these cookies together with a dollop of vanilla ice cream in between.  Makes a great little ice cream sandwich!

Shortbread Cookies

Having married a Scotsman, naturally I had to learn how to make shortbread!  Last time my older son Krsna dasa visited home, I made these cookies.  He remarked, "Mata, these taste like those cookies Srila Prabhupada used to give us when we were kids!"  The ingredients are the same as in "Prabhupada Cookies"--butter, sugar and flour.  So simple.  And so delicious.  Here's an easy recipe for shortbread, and it can be flavored as you like (as in Mexican Shortbread, see below), or just left plain.

1 c unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
2 c flour

Line a cookie pan with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add flour.  Roll into 1 1/4" balls and flatten slightly.  Place on cookie pan.  Poke cookies with the tines of a fork.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Allow cookies to rest in pan for two minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  Offer to Lord Krsna with love and devotion.

After cookies cool completely, transfer to an air-tight storage container.

Variation: for Mexican Shortbread, add 1 t coarsely ground anise seeds to the dough.

Mexican Shortbread

Tapioca Pudding

This is the best recipe for sabudana kheer or payasam (tapioca pudding) that I have ever come across, and credit has to go to my dear Godsister and friend Shashi-kala devi dasi, who kindly shared her recipe with me.  Shashi has long been one of my most beloved kitchen gurus.  This tapioca kheer is not thick like American tapioca pudding.  It's more pourable, like sweet rice.  We pour it into cups for our guests.  At our little house in Udupi, sabudana kheer has become my husband's favorite dish to cook and share.  He used to make it only on Ekadasi, but when he discovered how popular it is, he started making it every time we have guests over, which is very often.  We also like to surprise friends by bringing them a quart or two as a little gift.  Super easy and fairly quick, it's a great dessert on Ekadasi, or any old time!

Tapioca Pudding

Soak in cold water for 30 minutes:

1 slightly heaping c whole tapioca pearls

Drain off excess water.  Pour tapioca into a large pot.  Add:

1 gallon milk
10 threads of saffron
8 cardamom pods
1 vanilla bean

Stirring almost constantly on high heat, scraping bottom of pot to keep from sticking, bring to a boil.  Turn flame down to low and stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot frequently, simmer slowly until tapioca pearls are mostly clear, about 20-30 minutes.  (There may be a little white left in a few of the pearls.  That's okay.  They'll be soft enough.)  Add:

2 c sugar

Stir and continue cooking on low heat for two minutes or so to make sure the sugar is completely dissolved.  Turn off heat.  Remove cardamom pods and vanilla bean.  Cool before offering.

If you don't have a vanilla bean, that's okay.  You can skip it, or add pure vanilla extract, maybe 2 t or so.  It's perfectly delicious without vanilla, but with vanilla, it's awesome.

Simply Wonderfuls

When Srila Prabhupada first tasted these little sweetballs, he pronounced them "simply wonderful."  Here is my version of this famous old ISKCON sweet, often called simply, "simplies."

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 c powdered milk (I use non-instant whole milk type)
1 c powdered sugar
dash of salt
1/2 c chopped pecans
1/2 c dried cranberries
1 T orange zest
1/4 t vanilla

Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Put all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, add melted butter and stir until thoroughly mixed.  With hands, finish the mixing until all ingredients are well blended.  Form into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a plate or tray.  Makes about 15-16 simplies.

Blueberry Halavah

Sometimes when there's no dessert around, I make a quick pot of halavah.  Halavah is like a stove-top cake, or a hearty, whole-wheat pudding.  A variety of fruits can be added, or nuts, or both.  Or you can just leave it plain.  Today's hurried lifestyle requires hurry-up recipes, and this is a quick dessert.  It can also be served as a stick-to-your-ribs hot cereal--mmmmm--great on a cool morning!

1 c unsalted butter
2 c farina, sooji, or uncooked Cream of Wheat cereal
2 c unrefined sugar
4 1/2-5 c water, whey, or milk
1 t cinnamon
2 c fresh or frozen blueberries, rinsed in cold water and drained (if using frozen, keep frozen until right before using)

Melt the butter on low heat in a large saucepan.  Add the farina and cinnamon, and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until the mixture starts to sound like wet sand when you stir it.

While the grains are cooking, dissolve the sugar in the liquid in a separate large saucepan.  Over medium heat, stir thoroughly until the sugar is completely dissolved.

After it comes to a boil, turn down to low.  If you are using either water or whey (I used whey for this recipe), cover while continuing to cook the grains.  If you are using milk, don't cover, because it could boil over.

When the grains start to sound like wet sand as you stir, take a moment to add the blueberries to the sugar-liquid.  Turn up the heat slightly and cover again, only if you are using water or whey. 

Now it is time to turn up the heat under the grains.  Turn up to medium high, and stirring constantly, cook till the mixture looks like wet lava.  Turn off the heat.

Uncover the sugar-liquid-blueberry mixture, which should now have returned to a boil after you added the blueberries, and turn off the heat.  Now, the heat should be off under both pans.

Pour a small amount--about a cup--of the still boiling-hot liquid into the grains.  It will bubble up and may even splatter, so stand back a little when you pour the hot liquid in.  Stir gently with a wooden spoon.  Add a little more of the hot liquid.  It will again sputter and bubble.  Gently stir again.  Keep doing this till all the liquid is incorporated into the grains.  Stir thoroughly.  At this point, the mixture should be loose enough to stir easily.  Now cover.  Let the mixture sit for three minutes.

After three minutes, uncover and stir again.  At this point, the pudding will be thick and will provide a little resistance to your spoon.  After stirring again, cover and let it sit for a few more minutes before offering to Lord Krishna.

Serve warm, and if you like, you can offer a little cream along with it as a garnish.  Krishna likes cream.

Serves 6-8 normal people, one pregnant momma, one starving teen-ager, or one blueberry halavah monster.  If the blueberry halavah monster is fed the entire contents of the pot at night before retiring, along with a big cup of hot milk, the monster will then go to sleep and will not bother anyone until late in the morning.

Note:  Halavah, also known as "seera" is a popular dessert in India.  Although most of the sooji halavah I've tasted in Indian families' homes was cardamom flavored raisin-nut halavah, the possibilities of halavah flavors are really numerous.  Here are some ideas:

If you want to use a type of fruit other than blueberries, you can use pretty much anything except avocado or melons.  Just make sure that if you use an acidic type of fruit, that you use either water or whey for the liquid, as milk may curdle if used with acidic fruits.  Also, you may want to use a different spice other than cinnamon, or none at all.

If you want to use nuts, make sure to use raw, unsalted nuts.  Add one cup nuts to the farina mixture toward the middle of the farina frying-time (after about 10 minutes) so that the nuts get a little toasted.  When you're using nuts, it's okay to use milk as the liquid.  Whey is also very nice.  After merging the liquid with the grains, stir in one teaspoon vanilla extract.

Banana halavah: add one cup sliced, ripe bananas (about one large banana) at the very end, after you've added the liquid to the grains.  Otherwise, the banana slices will get rubbery.  Milk is the best liquid to use with bananas.  A little carob powder or a handful of walnut pieces or both added to the grains makes a nice combination with bananas.  If you like, you can try putting a teaspoon of vanilla in before the final stir.

Orange halavah: add a tablespoon of orange zest to the grains, and use the squeezed juice of the orange as part of your liquid (remember, use whey or water).

Cranberry halavah: wash and drain a handful of cranberries.  Add them to the boiling liquid (water or whey).  Add a tablespoon of orange zest to the grains as they are toasting.

Pineapple: add two cups pineapple tidbits to the sugar-water.  If you like, you can add a handful of pecan pieces to the toasting grains.

Saffron-cardamom: add about ten threads of saffron to the milk, and about a teaspoon of cardamom powder to the toasting grains.  Use milk as your liquid.  Ahh, the taste of mother-love!

Vanilla-cardamom: Grind 1 t fresh cardamom and add to grains as they are toasting.  Stir 1 t vanilla into the halavah after the sugar-water is added to the grains.  Use water for your liquid.  This is my husband's trademark halavah--a favorite among the students in Manipal.

Apple-cinnamon: peel and chop two Granny Smith (sour green) apples (cut apples should equal about 2 c).  Add apples to the liquid (remember to use whey or water, or you can even use apple juice!) and add a teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/8 t nutmeg to the grains as they are toasting.  

Ginger: grate a scant 1/4 c of fresh peeled ginger root and add it to the sugar water before mixing into the fried grains. The earlier you mix the ginger into the sugar water, the better.

Plain: One of the most amazing flavors of halavah is just plain unflavored halavah made with whey as the liquid.  You will not believe how yummy this is until you try it.  Great way to use the left-over whey after you make paneer.

Sweet Rice

Summer is that time of year when everybody travels. We often have visitors here in Prabhupada Village during the summer months, and sometimes they come unannounced. Our house is just off of the main road right across from the temple. You never know when somebody is going to show up at the door. I like to keep some sweet rice (kheer) on hand for unexpected guests, especially in the hot summertime. The other day, our friends who own the Indian restaurant/store in Winston-Salem came by asking for go-bar (cow dung). They needed it for some medicinal purpose. I said, "Sure! Our cows poop every day!" We went out in the pasture and filled up an empty sour cream container, and they were happy. They were in a hurry and had to leave before I could cool them off with a cup of sweet rice, so instead of serving them the kheer on the spot, I handed them a jar of the yummy stuff to take with them. I was glad I had some in the fridge to give them. They were delighted, and drove away smiling and waving. Gotta keep sweet rice in the fridge at all times!

Recipe for Sweet Rice (Kheer)

1 gal whole milk
2/3 c Basmati or other long-grain white rice
1 1/4 c granulated sugar (I like to use organic raw cane sugar)
1 vanilla bean (or if you don't have a vanilla bean, try two t vanilla)
8 cardamom pods
10 threads of saffron

Cook all ingredients together in a large pot (I use a four gallon stainless steel pot with an aluminum-clad bottom). Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot with a flat-edged pancake-turner. After it comes to a boil, keep it at a rolling boil, stirring frequently, until you can see rice grains floating near the top. Should be about one hour cooking time. Turn off the flame and remove the vanilla bean and cardamom pods. Leave the sweet rice sitting, draped with a clean cotton cloth, until it cools to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until cold. Offer to Lord Krishna with love and devotion, and then honor His remnants!

Granola Cookies

These are delicious and nutritious cookies, chock-full of goodies!  And because they are big, they are almost a meal in themselves!

1 c butter, softened

1 c firmly packed brown sugar * 

1/2 c organic raw granulated sugar

2 X egg replacer, pre-mixed (I use Ener-G Egg Replacer, but you can use whatever egg replacer you like) 

1 tsp vanilla

1 c unbleached flour

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 T powdered milk

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

3 c oats

1 c raisins

1 c Craisins (dried, sweetened cranberries)

1 c shredded coconut

1 c chopped walnuts

In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together.  Gradually stir in egg replacer and vanilla. 

Sift together flours, powdered milk, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in separate bowl.  Add to wet ingredients.

Stir in oats and blend thoroughly.  Stir in raisins, Craisins, nuts and coconut.

Pack dough into a 1/4 c measure, then plop out into your hand.  Shape it into a ball. Place 12 balls on a cookie sheet, bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Cool for two minutes before removing from pan.

Offer with devotion to Krishna, and honor His prasadam with reverence.                                  

*Note: I make my own brown sugar by mixing 1 T molasses with 1 c organic raw sugar