The Kitchen Religion: Snacks

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.

Showing posts with label Snacks. Show all posts

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Spicy Fried Cheese

Spicy Fried Cheese is an irresistible high-protein snack for someone who is transitioning from a non-veg diet to vegetarian. Of course, if you have already made the transition and just want a nutritious pick-me-up that's quick to make, this is a winner! Or, if you're not a vegetarian, but you want a healthy snack that's delicious, easy, and fast, here's a suggestion.

Spicy Fried Cheese

What you'll need:

500 g paneer ("Farmers Cheese"), pressed into a block (if you're making your own paneer, use a gallon of milk, and when pressing it, make sure it turns out after pressing to be at least 1 inch thick. WARNING: ONLY PANEER OR FARMER'S CHEESE WILL WORK WITH THIS RECIPE. DO NOT TRY TO USE RICOTTA OR MELTABLE CHEESE!!!!)

Paneer (Farmer's Cheese) pressed into a block

Slice the paneer into rectangular strips. You can slice them thick or thin, according to your taste. Also, the length and width can be varied, according to the shape of your paneer block.

Sliced paneer

Heat a capati pan or other non-stick shallow frying pan on low flame. Melt 3-4 T butter on the pan.

Add 1/4 - 1/2 t turmeric powder,
1/8 - 1/4 t black pepper,
1/8 t hing
1-2 t salt

Mix the spices into the melted butter.

Lay 3 - 4 strips of paneer into the bubbling spiced butter.

Allow to fry on one side until edges start to brown. Carefully turn over the slabs, and fry on the second side. After both sides are browned, tip the strips to drain, remove and place on a tray. Add more butter and more spices as needed until all the strips are fried.

Offer to Krishna with Tulasi leaves and love.

These can be served along with soup or kichari, used as sandwich fillings, or eaten just by themselves.

I made about 12 of these yesterday, and it took me about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Cauliflower Pakoras

There is just nothing comparable to Cauliflower Pakoras for a hearty, nourishing snack. Quick and easy to make and even quicker and easier to eat, Cauliflower Pakoras are an unbeatable addition to the recipe repertoire of a busy mom.

Cauliflower Pakoras

1 c besan (chickpea flour)
1 c maida (unbleached all-purpose flour) or rice flour
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t hing
2 t salt (if you're using fluffy Indian salt, 2 slightly rounded teaspoons)
Water (enough to make a medium-thin batter, approximately 1 c + 2-3 T)

First, heat ghee in a wok or karai on low flame until a test piece gently bubbles and slowly rises to the surface.

Next, mix all dry ingredients together in a deep bowl, then slowly add water, mixing thoroughly after each addition, until batter is medium-thin, like thin pancake batter, when dropped from a spoon.

Wash and cut one large cauliflower into florets. Each floret should be about 1 1/2 inches across. Let the wet cauliflower drain a bit so that the pieces are not too wet when you dip them.

Test the heat of the ghee by dipping one floret into the batter, slightly turning it to drain, then gently lowering it into the ghee. Get it down close to the top of the ghee before letting go, so you don't burn yourself by splashing the ghee. Watch to see how it behaves in the ghee. If it bubbles gently and then slowly rises to the surface, your ghee is the right temperature. Start adding dipped pieces of cauliflower into the ghee (9 to 12 pieces usually leaves enough space in my karai to allow them to freely float on top of the ghee without crowding each other). Allow a few seconds of time between each addition so that they have a little time to harden before the next piece is added. That way, they don't have much tendency to stick to each other as they are cooking.

Add several pieces of coated cauliflower but leave a little room so the pieces are not too crowded (as I said above, about 9-12 pieces works in my wok). After they brown slightly, turn them over with a fork or a slotted spoon. Allow them to cook for a few minutes on the second side, then turn back over. Keep doing this until they are thoroughly and evenly cooked to a light golden-brown color. If you use maida in your batter, they will become a little darker than if you use rice flour. I prefer using rice flour, because the pakoras come out a little more crisp.

After they are a nice golden-brown color, remove from the ghee with a skimmer and place in an open dish. If you like, you can cover them with a dry cotton tea-towel, but don't cover them with anything airtight, as they will get mushy. If lunch or dinner is scheduled a little later, you can keep the cloth-covered pakoras warm in your oven on a low temperature.

Offer to Krsna while they're still hot, then serve to your happy family and guests.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Cheese Sticks

These are great travel food. We always make them when we're going to be on airplanes or trains for long hours. Easy and delicious, hearty and wholesome, nothing can beat cheese sticks!

Cheese Sticks

Paneer
Salt
Ghee for deep-frying

Start with a large quantity of paneer. If you live in India, you can buy paneer already made. Buy it in a block.

Slice paneer in shapes like french-fries. Heat ghee in a wok (karai) and carefully add the sticks. Let them cook for a few minutes before you touch them with a spoon. Gently stir with a slotted spoon until they are evenly fried and a light golden brown. Remove with a skimmer and drain. Sprinkle with generous amount of salt, preferably finely ground salt.

Offer to Krishna and voila! a perfect travel snack!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Puffies


Puffies									P

Puffies are an easy, quick snack that kids--and grown-ups--love. Very simple yet delicious and they only take a few minutes to make.

1 stick (1/2 c) unsalted butter
12 oz puffed rice
1 c raw sunflower seeds
1/4 t hing
1/4 t black pepper
1/8 t red pepper
1/4 t methi (fenugreek) powder
1 t turmeric
2 t cumin powder
1 t paprika
1/2 t ground mustard
1 T finely ground salt

Melt butter in large pot. Add spices except for salt. Add sunflower seeds. Stirring often, fry seeds on medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes or until seeds are golden brown. Add rice grains. Stir to coat rice grains thoroughly and continue cooking on low flame. Add salt. Continue stirring 5-6 more minutes. Remove from heat, but keep stirring for several minutes until the pot cools a little on the bottom. If you fail to do this, the grains on the bottom can pick up a little too much color and may even get a little burnt. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Note: if you want, you can either use popcorn salt or you can grind your salt crystals in a spice grinder to make them more fine. Fine salt adheres to the puffies much better than coarser types of salt. The puffies taste so much better when you use fine salt! If you choose to use regular table salt or another type of coarse salt, you can sift the puffies through a sieve before storing, so that the salt doesn't collect over time on the bottom of the storage container, but be aware that with this method, you don't get the nice overall salty flavor that you get by using fine salt.

Puffies Store Well in a Jar With a Tight-Fitting Lid

Puffies can be stored in a used pretzel jar like this one. I don't know how long they keep, though. Sorry I can't help you with that. They always get eaten up too fast for me to test out their longevity.