The Hare Krsna Cookbook | The Hare Krishna Movement

Radhaballabha Kachoris

25 Aug 2020 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Kachori, Radhaballabha Kachoris, Radhastami, Srimati Radharani, The Hare Krsna Cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking, Vegetarian Recipies Tags: appearance day of srimati radharani, hare krishna cookbook, Krishna, Radha, radhallabha kachoris recipe, Srimate Radharani, vegetarian cooking

Today we celebrate the Appearance Day of Srimati Radharani [Radhastami] with a half day fast followed by a feast cooked in honor of Srimati Radharani. She appears at noon so we begin our day with songs in praise of Srimati Radharani and time in the kitchen cooking up a nice vegetarian offering. Since She is fond of Kachori’s, we share with you this nice recipe from “The Hare Krishna Cookbok”; Radhaballabha Kachoris.

“This preparation is one of Srimati Radharani’s favorites and is always prepared for Her appearance day. There is nothing in the material world to compare with the flavor of Radhaballabha Kachoris”.

Radhaballabha Kachoris Recipe

ghee for deep frying
1 cup of cleaned, split urad dhal
2 cups white flour
cayenne pepper
asafoetida
2 T. freshly ground anise seed
butter or ghee solids

Wash urad dahl thoroughly. Soak in water overnight. Drain, leaving a tiny bit of water. In a blender, grind urad dhal untill it is a smooth paste, adding a little more water if necessary. The past should ve very thick. Set aside. Add ground anise seed to paste. Using white flour, butter or ghee solids and water, make a soft dough, like puri dough. (not wet.) Let the dough sit for one hour under a dampened cloth. Meanwhile prepare three very small bowls in the following manner:

1. Put in a mixture of 1 T. water and 1/2 t. asafoetida.
2. Put plain salt in the second.
3. Put cayenne pepper in the third.

Pinch off balls of dough one inch in diameter. Roll them out into circles of 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Pinch off a ball of kachori paste about one inch in diameter; dip into each of bowls in succession, and place in the center of the circle of kachori dough. Gather up the dough around the paste as you would gather a paper bag. Make sure all the urad dahl paste is covered, and seal the top edge very well using a little water. Flatten the sealed kachori with a rolling pin and then roll gently as you would apuri or chapati.

Be carful not to break the surfaces. If necessary, pat them out by hand. Deep-fry the kachori in fairly hot ghee as you would a puri. Stand up kachoris on paper toweling to drain. Before offering them, re-fry very quickly, but do not brown.

This recipe I copied from; “The Hare Krishna Cookbook” [click on link to down load the entire book]

Prasadam; The Lords Mercy

25 Jul 2013 2 Comments

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Practicing Krishna Consciousness at Home, Prasadam, The Hare Krsna Cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking, Vegetarianism Tags: cows and brahmans, extraordinary tastes, Krishna prasadam, Krishna's lips, Lord's mercy, mercy of the Lord, Prasadam, senses become spiritualized, spiritual nectar, spiritualized food, Srila Prabhupada, supreme absolute truth, transcendental qualities, uncommon fragrances, vegetarian

Prasadam
How to Prepare and Offer Food

Food prepared for and offered to Krishna with love and devotion becomes completely spiritualized. Such food is called Krishna prasadam, which means “the mercy of Lord Krishna.”

Lord Caitanya said of prasadam…”now that they have been prepared for Krishna and offered to Him with devotion, these foods have acquired extraordinary tastes and uncommon fragrances. Just taste them and see the difference! Apart from the taste, even the fragrance pleases the mind and makes one forget any other fragrance. Therefore, it should be understood that the spiritual nectar of Krishna’s lips must have touched these ordinary foods and imparted to them all their transcendental qualities.”

Eating only food offered to Krishna is the perfection of vegetarianism. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says that unless one eats only food that has been offered to Him in sacrifice, one will suffer the reactions of karma. He also states, “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I will accept it.”

The Hare Krishna Cookbook (Free PDF Download)

23 Dec 2011 16 Comments

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Free Downloads, Free eBooks, The Hare Krsna Cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking, Vegetarian Recipies, Vegetarianism Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, devotional service, Krishna, krsna consciousness, Krsna devi dasi, Prasadam, Sama devi dasi, singing dancing and feasting, The Hare Krsna Cookbook, vegetarian cooking, vegetarian recipies, vegetarianism

click on link at bottom to download entire book in pdf format

The Hare Krsna Cookbook
1973 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
Compiled by Krsna devi dasi and Sama devi dasi

“The Hare Krsna Cookbook”, originally published in 1973, was the first widely distributed book of vegetarian recipes, throughout the Movement. This was the book myself and many early devotees learned to cook from, and remains today my all time favorite cookbook, and is a constant companion in our kitchen. We offer the complete book on a PDF Format as a gift to all our readers this Holiday Season.

Dedication

Prasadam means mercy, and this Prasadam Cookbook is dedicated to the fountainhead of all mercy, the spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He is by nature kind to every living entity, but that ocean of mercy becomes fully visible in his devotees.

Srila Prabhupada has not given us some dry, canned philosophy to chew; he has given us the nectar for which we have sought so long: he has taught us how to render transcendental loving service to the Lord in all our daily activities. This book illustrates on of them.

The Process of Krsna Consciousness is usually described as one of dinging, dancing and feasting. We have already demonstrated to the world how anyone can sing and dance to the holy names of God, Hare Krsna, and now, with the publication of this Prasadam Cookbook, we hope that the whole world will feast in honor of the Supreme Lord. That will make this world like Vrndavana, the transcendental abode of Krsna, where Krsna, Balarama and the monkeys visit every kitchen with thieving intend and bless the devotees with pure love of God. (Dedication from The Hare Krsna Cookbook)

Dwonload PDF Format 5.6MB The Hare KRSNA Cookbook

Vegetarian Health and Nutrition

03 Dec 2011 5 Comments

by The Hare Krishna Movement in The Hare Krsna Cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking, Vegetarianism Tags: Hare Krishna Movement, vegetarian cooking, vegetarian health and nutrition, vegetarian recipes, vegetarian times, vegetarianism

Vegetarian Health and Nutrition
From the book “The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking”
By Adiraja Dasa

“Can a vegetarian diet improve or restore health? Can it prevent certain diseases?

Advocates of vegetarianism have said yes for many years, although they didn’t have much support from modern science until recently. Now, medical researchers have discovered evidence of a link between meat-eating and such killers as heart disease and cancer, so they’re giving vegetarianism another look.

Since the 1960s, scientists have suspected that a meat-based diet is somehow related to the development of arteriosclerosis and heart disease. As early as 1961, the Journal of the American Medical Association said: “Ninety to ninety-seven percent of heart disease can be prevented by a vegetarian diet.” Since that time, several well-organized studies have scientifically shown that after tobacco and alcohol, the consumption of meat is the greatest single cause of mortality in Western Europe, the United States, Australia, and other affluent areas of the world.

Basic Cooking Ingredients

14 Jul 2011 1 Comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in The Hare Krsna Cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking Tags: basic cooking ingredients, cooking for Krsna, Krsna prasadam, The Hare Krsna Cookbook, vegetarian cooking

The Hare Krsna Cookbook
Chapter One

Basic Cooking Ingredients

In the Vedic scriptures it is stated that the Supreme Lord has provided ample varieties of food-stuffs for all living creatures and that one should take only that which is allotted to him by the Lord, not more. For Humanity the Lord has set aside simple foods such as grains, vegetables, fruit and milk products and He has requested that we offer Him such pure and nourishing foods. In this way, there are hundred and thousands of palatable dishes that may be prepared and then offered to Lord Krishna.

Listed below are some of the ingredients most commonly used in preparing Krsna prasadam.

white flour (unbleached if available)
whole mung beans *
chick-pea flour, somtimes called besan or gram flour *
whole chick-peas
yellow split peas
split, cleaned urad dahl *
split, claned mung dahl *
powdered milk
almonds (raw and shelled)
walnuts (raw and shelled)
peanuts (raw and shelled)
white rice flour *
sugar

Most of these ingredients are readily abailable from regular grocery stores. The items marked was asterisks would more likely be found at Chinese food stores or Indian specialty stores.

Note; There are of course many more key ingredients, but it is our humble attempt to present “The Hare Krsna Cookbook” the way it was written back in 1973. Next post will be on Spices, which are the jewels of cooking for Krsna.

Mung Bean Dahl

09 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in The Hare Krsna Cookbook, Vegetarianism Tags: BBT, Krsna devi dasi, mung bean dahl, Sama devi dasi, the Hare Krishna cookbook, vegetarian recipies

We are going to begin a new series with recipies from the “Original” Hare KRSNA Cookbook, and will weekly post recipies from that wonderful book that most all of the early devotees learned to cook, for Lord Krishna from. The Hare KRSNA Cookbook was compiled by Krsna devi dasi and Sama devi dasi. We are eternaly grateful to these nice devotees, for they have helped us all on our path of devotional service (bhakti yoga).

Mung Bean Dahl

1cup mung beans
6 cups water
1/2 t. finely chopped fresh ginger
1 large fresh sliced tomato
3 T. ghee
1 t. salt
1 t. tumeric
1/2 t. cumin seed
1 t. red pepper

Wash beans and put into a saucepan with water. Add tomato, ginger, tumeric and salt. Bring to a boil. Turn to a low boil and cook until the beans are soft and broken up. Spice with Basic Massala

Making a Basic Massala
Heat 3 T. ghee. Add 1/2 t. cumin seed. Brown cumin seed and add 1 t. crushed red chilis. Cook untill brown and fragrent.