Recipe Vegetarian

Krishna Janmashtami recipes | 15 Janmashtami recipes to try from my blog

“Janma” meaning “birth” and “ashtami” signifies the 8th day of the month, “Bhadra” in the Hindu calendar. This day has special significance as it is celebrated as  the birthday of Lord Krishna . The Lord krishna is the 8th incarnation of  Lord Vishnu,one of the three prominent  supreme Hindu deities, Brahma(creator) and Maheshwar (destructor) being the other two.

There are a huge number of literature ,sculpture ,poems belonging to Indian mythology which describe the sweet childhood of Krishna who was sent to earth to end the evil “Kansa” his maternal uncle, who was a cruel unscrupulous ruler.

Krishna who was the narrator of Srimad Bhagwat Gita , the religious book of Hindus ,as a child was an attractive and mystical personality.He had magical powers and stories of his childhood mischief were  woven with wild imagination by different poets,  and writers of medieval era.

The childhood of Krishna was spent in the beautiful village of Gokul in  Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. Both Mathura and Vrindavan( where Krishna’s maternal uncle Kansa lived )are the home of “gowalas” who as a community , are keepers of cows and as such  milk is available in abundance here. The city is famous for its various milk products like sweets, lassi, peda etc. Sweets are prepared from thickened milk and not by curdling the milk forming cottage cheese. During the Janmastami celebrations in various states of the country seasonal fruits  and dishes made of local grains and seasonal; vegetables is offered as bhog to the lord.

There is a story in Hindu mythology which describes little Krishna saving the village of Gokul from natural cats-trophy ,heavy rainfall and thunder by lifting the “Govardhan” parbat(Mountain) on his little finger.  The Lord held the  Mountain for 7 days , under which the citizens of the whole village of Gokul took shelter.

Based on this story there is a practice of offering “Chhappan bhog ” to the Lord in the temples. “Chhappan” meaning 56 signifying 56 dishes for 7 days ,8 times per day as prasad or food is offered to the Lord.I had tried 12 dishes which are traditional dishes of various regions, which one can prepare during Janmastami for the celebrations. The dishes are sattvik or strictly vegetarian without onion and garlic .

Janmastami bhog

12 dishes to prepare during Janmastami

  1. Khichuri :

This is a one pot meal made of rice and lentils with spices. It can be prepared without onion by garlic only flavored by ginger and green chilies and garam masala. Clarified butter is must for the mind blowing aroma and flavor ,this simple dish gives. Different types of  lentils can be used like green moong,roasted moong, urud dal, matki etc to produce enormous varieties. In Bengal ,a special variety of short grained aromatic rice called “Gobindo bhog” is used to produce the best “khichudi” during the festivals.

Kacha moong daler khichuri(Rice and lentils cassarole with vegetables)
This is a special vegetarian one pot meal which is cooked during the festivals ,holy ceremonies or can be a delicious meal for the kids.it has a heavenly aroma.This post is specially for Foodies community and  I am posting a meal for the infants. For the adults one can make it spicy and for kids keep it simple but yet it is,flavorful,aromatic and delicious.You can feed this to a child from 6 months onward.my daughter still now loves this meal in any form.
Check out this recipe
Moong daler khichudi

 

2.Shinghara Ate ka poori :

In some places people observe fasts and refrain from the intake of grains . Hence they make deep fried poories made of “Shinghara Atta” or the flour extracted from dried water chestnuts. Water chestnuts are fruits and hence don’t fall under the category of grains. This flour is gluten free ,so very little water is mixed with the flour and small balls are flattened and deep fried . The dough can be spiced with green chilies and Indian spices.

3.Shevgachya palyachi bhaji:

“Shevga” in Marathi is called drumstick(Vegetable) or Moringa in English ,”Palya” is leaves .this is a traditional vegetable sidedish prepared using “moringa leaves” and spices. Seasoning is made using mustard ,boiled moong dal can be added to it. The local residents of Maharashtra add onions and garlic to it too and garnish with freshly grated coconut. This green vegetable is seasonal and extremely beneficial for developing as strong immunity against various diseases prevalent this season.

4.Malpua :

This is a popular dish served in almost all Indian festivals .The recipe varies with every community as well as family. Sweet fritters are made with flour ,sometimes mixed with semolina ,sometimes cottage cheese or thickened milk. The crispy fritters are then dipped into sugar syrup  and served.

Sooji Malpua
Malpua is a popular Indian sweet dish prepared during festivals.There are a large number of varieties made in different parts of the country by people of different cultural origin.It is generally served with rabdi another sweet dish made with thickened milk or dipped in sugar syrup.It is one of my favorite sweet dish which I make during every festival.This preparation is little rare variety which is made with semolina.
Check out this recipe

5.Kheer kamala:

This is a sweet specialty from Bengal where the milk is thickened and sweetened with sugar. After cooling it is flavored with orange pulp. Tastes divine with the richness of milk and fragrance of oranges.

Kheer kamala

6.Taler bora:

Palmyra fruit is a favorite among the locals of West Bengal this season so ,rice powder and sugar is mixed with the palmyra fruit and an exotic sweet  deep fried fritters are prepared . Some times malpuas are also flavored with this delicious juice.

Taler Malpua
Sweet dish made from the juice of Asian Palmyra fruit
Check out this recipe
Taler malpua

 

7.Meetha chawal:

This sweet rice tastes absolute divine and I have tasted this as a part of Mahaprasad in the temple of Jagannath Puri. Lord Jagannath is another form of Lord Vishnu ,in the holy Temple of Puri, located in OdishaIndia.The “Prasad” offered to him and later to Maa Bimala in the Grand Temple (SriMandir) is known as ‘Mahaprasad’.  This rice is cooked with clarified butter ,cinnamon powder,sugar and coconut and tastes absolutely divine ,out of this world.Cinnamon rice

8.Sabudana khichdi:

This is a traditional fasting recipe which is delicious, nutritious as well as evergreen for every festival. The tapioca pearls are soaked in just appropriate amount of water and seasoned with spices and roasted peanuts.

Sabudana khichdi
Tapioca is a starch extracted from the roots of cassava which is an original inhabitant of Brazil.The Spanish and the Portuguese explorers brought this secret ingredient and spread its usage in various countries of Asia. Khichdi is considered as a one pot nutritious meal and is prepared in different varieties in different regions.So lets see the ingredients used to prepare  this wonderful snacks from this wonder food.
Check out this recipe
Sabudana khichdi

9.Nadu :

This is also an traditional recipe which has a huge number of versions depending on the region and community in which it is prepared. In Bengal freshly grated coconut are cooked in sugar or jaggery to form a sticky mixture which can be made into balls while warm. In Maharashtra and North India sometimes rawa or semolina can be added to these.

Semolina coconut balls
These are sweet dishes which can be enjoyed during any festive seasons with family.The main constituents are grated coconut,fine semolina and sugar.Instead of sugar one can use jaggery.    
Check out this recipe

10. Payesh :

Sweet rice pudding prevalent is almost all states and common in most festivals. It can be prepared during Janmastami also with flavors of cardamom, bay leaves and saffron.

Payesh
This is a humble dessert which graces all the festivals and occasions in India.India is a vast country where the language and dialect changes every 100 km.So this  dish changes its name and flavor in various regions of India .In West  it is known as Basundi,in South India it is called payasam,in North India it is called kheer and East India ,payesh.
Check out this recipe

11. Kolar boda:-

These are simple and sweet banana fritters with rice flour and refined flour and sugar forming a soft dough and then deep frying them.They can be made crisp by adding baking powder.

Kolar bora

12. Dahi pakhal:

pakhal is a type of rice dish in which the cooked rice is soaked in water often for fermentation.it is extremely beneficial for digestion .Dahi pakhal is also a dish which is offered to Lord Jagannath of Puri and is a part of mahaprasad.

1 cup of cooked rice is soaked in 2 cups of water and 1 cup of curd with little salt and sugar. The seasoning is added by frying the mustard seeds and curry leaves in clarified butter.

Dahi pakhal
Dahi pakhal

13.Luchi tarkari recipe

This is a great recipe for any festival.Luchi ar alur torkari is a popular Bengali traditional breakfast from the Eastern part of the country.In other parts of India fried flatbreads involves addition of whole wheat flour and are called poories but luchi are inherently made of only refined flour and look white and fluffy. They are served with potato curries called Alur torkari in Bengali.

Luchi torkari recipe
Luchi ar alur torkari is a popular Bengali traditional breakfast from the Eastern part of the country.In other parts of India fried flat breads involves addition of whole wheat flour and are called poories but luchi are inherently made of only refined flour and look white and fluffy. They are served with potato curries called Alur torkari in Bengali.
Check out this recipe
Luchi ar alur torkari

14. Mooli kachori

Kachori is  one of the most favorite Indian snacks ,hundreds of varieties and versions of whom you can find  in the local regional sweet shops.They are essentially deep fried flat breads with a spicy ,savory or sweet filling inside. These are spicy delicacies filled with seasonal radish

Mooli kachori
Deep fried flatbreads stuffed with spicy radish filling.
Check out this recipe
Muli ki kachori

15. Chushi pitha

Pitha are baked ,fried or steamed dumplings popularly relished in the Eastern part of India and Bangladesh .They have quite similarity to handmade pastas made in Italy ,only they are egg-less in India.

Chushi pithar payesh
Chushi are small elliptical dumplings of the length of approximately two rice grains taken together.They are traditionally made of rice powder.Some people may make with flour or semolina also.They are cooked in thickened milk.
Check out this recipe

 

Aboutindrani

Indrani Sen is a teacher,lecturer in Information Technology/Computer Science for the past 12 years. She has authored 4 text books in Information Technology.
She is passionate about cooking and loves to blog about food and travel.This blog is like my baby as I have built it from scratch by myself with little help from colleagues ,friends and of course Google.

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