Vegetarian Cooking | The Hare Krishna Movement

Prabhupada’s Kitchari

19 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Uncategorized Tags: cooking for Krishna, family, food, kitchari, kitri, Prasadam, recipe, recipes, srila-prabhupada-cooking, Vegetarian Cooking

We share this memory from Nara Narayan dasa, of Srila Prabhupada’s extraordinary cooking abilities. Also at bottom of post a nice recipe for Kitchari or as it is also referred to as Kitri.

Nara Narayan : Once, in the Los Angeles La Cienega temple, on the occasion of his spiritual master’s appearance day, Srila Prabhupada cooked a pot of kitchari. He said that kitchari was his spiritual master’s favorite dish.

Prabhupada cooked it using polished urad dahl, and it had a creamy consistency. There were thirty of us at that celebration, and there were many other dishes besides kitchari.

Since it was a holiday, everyone was in a jolly mood, talking and chatting, and we all got a dab of Prabhupada’s kitchari on our plates. By this time the kitchari was cold, and Prabhupada had already gone to his quarters. We popped the kitchari into our mouths, and all of sudden the conversation died out everywhere.

As soon as that prasadam touched our tongues we fell silent. We sat there in dead silence tasting grain after grain of it until it was all gone. Then we searched for stray grains on our plates. Then everybody began crawling towards the pot in the middle of the room where there was still a little bit left.

We were taking little pieces out of the pot. No one spoke a word until there was nothing left. Then we all went back and sat down in silence. Something about that prasadam was charged with what must have been Gopi-bhava. There was ecstasy involved in that prasadam. We were struck by it. Every exquisite feeling that Prabhupada had for his spiritual master was present, and we had a chance to experience that; we realized that Prabhupada had given us an extra special benediction he had allowed us to open the door a little and peek into what his world was like.

Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint – Volume 1 by Siddhanta Dasa

Prabhupada Memories

Krishna Prasadam (The Lords Mercy)

29 Apr 2026 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Uncategorized Tags: India, Krishna, Krishna prasadam, Krsna, spirituality, Srila Prabhupada, The Hare Krishna Movement, vegetarian, Vegetarian Cooking

Krishna Prasadam is spiritually sanctified food offered to Lord Krishna with love and devotion, considered His mercy (prasada). It is believed to purify the heart, cleanse sinful reactions, and spiritualize the soul. Vegetarian, sattvic food (free from meat, onion, garlic) is offered in a devoted, clean manner before consumption.

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.” (The Hare Krishna Cookbook)

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 spiritual master is always offering Kṛṣṇa four kinds of delicious food . When the spiritual master sees that the devotees are satisfied by eating bhagavat-prasāda, he is satisfied. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master. (Śrī Śrī Gurv-aṣṭaka)

Prasadam: The Lords Mercy

09 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Prasadam, The Hare Krishna Movement, The Hare Krsna Cookbook, Uncategorized Tags: God, hare krishna cookbook, offering food to the Lord, Prasadam, the-lords-mercy, Vegetarian Cooking

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.”

Wwe can offer Krishna foods prepared from milk products, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains. Meat, fish and eggs are not offerable. And a few vegetarian items are also forbidden— garlic and onions, for example, which are in the mode of darkness. (Hing, or asafoetida, is a tasty substitute for them in cooking.) Nor can you offer Krishna coffee or tea.

In preparing food, cleanliness is the most important principle. Nothing impure should be offered to God, so keep your kitchen very clean. Always wash your hands thoroughly before entering the kitchen. While preparing food, do not taste it, for you are cooking the meal not for yourself but for the plea¬sure of Krishna. Arrange positions of the food on dinnerware kept especially for this purpose; no one but the Lord should eat from these dishes. The easiest way to offer food is simply to pray, “My dear Lord Krishna, please accept this food,” and to chant each of the following prayers three times while ringing a bell.