I didn't know what the word frittata meant until a few days ago, but that's the word I'm going to use for what was put in an offering then. Instead of eggs we got arrowroot. It came out pretty good, so I thought it'd be worth sharing
Domestic Devotion, Hare Krishna Style
dovetailing natural propensities for the service of Lord Krishna
Friday, March 28, 2025
Vegetarian "frittata"
Friday, August 30, 2024
"That System Should be Introduced"
Prabhupāda: Now there should be one rule that unless they are husband-wife, man and woman should not worship together.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: On the altar.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Strictly prohibited.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: On the same altar.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Different altars is all right, but not the same altar.
Prabhupāda: No, different quarters... They should not go to the...
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They should not be brought before the Deities.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Alone.
Hari-śauri: In the kitchen or...
Prabhupāda: Man and woman together should not worship unless they are husband and wife.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Never be alone. So just because they are married to someone else, that is not... They must be married to each other.
Prabhupāda: No, no, they must be together, the man and the woman. The husband-wife can go, not others.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In most temples that is not the system right now.
Prabhupāda: No, that system should be introduced. The husband-wife together can go to worship the Deity. If they are not related as husband, they should not go.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: What about a situation like this, where the husband and wife are worshiping but also some other brahmacārīs are also worshiping?
Prabhupāda: Still, that is some protection. The husband is there. The woman means her husband must be there.
Consequentialism Defeated
(Getting philosophical here. :))
On at least two occasions in the past, while attending morning Srimad Bhagavatam classes at a nearby temple given by two well-known sannyasi gurus, the term "consequentialism" was being explained. Basically, it was said that if we know that an action will produce unfavorable results, we should not act on it. Or as Wikipedia puts it:
"The ethical philosophy, consequentialism is a class of normative ethics, teleological ethical theories that holds that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for judgement about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right act (or omission from acting) is one that will produce a good outcome."
The prime example given in both classes was a criticism of Mahajan Bhismadeva for not breaking his vow of perpetual bachelorhood when Satyavati requested he unite with his late brother's wives and later on when Amba requested him to marry her.
But how can one really know whether the result of an action will be good or bad? And if Bhisma had not kept his vow, would he still be as memorable today? Would the battle of Kuruksetra between the Kauravas and the Pandavas really have been avoided? These are some of the questions that arose after the lectures.
And finally answered, for me at least, when this purport came up during my daily reading at home:
"Although Vrtasura was on the verge of defeat (in fighting Lord, Indra), he was not at all affected. He knew that he was going to be defeated by Indra, and he voluntarily accepted that, but since he was supposed to be Indra's enemy, he tried his best to kill Indra. Thus he performed his duty. One should perform his duty under all circumstances, even though one may know what the result will be"
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Sattvik Sambar
Over the years cooking has been quite a challenge for me, not only to make something nice for offering Krishna at home, but also something that my discriminating husband will honor. He cannot eat nightshades, among other things such as vegetable oils, and toor dahl (what is used in this recipe) itself has a flavor disagreeable to him unless it is masked with things like coconut, molasses, tamarind, etc,
So this recipe does not include chilies. And that's probably what stands out the most compared to the usual sambar recipes cooked by Indian chefs. So this version could be considered a little more sattvik. Thus the title.
(For those who desire a little more zing, however, you can always keep a shaker of cayenne pepper handy. :))
- 1 c toor dahl, washed and soaked overnight.
- water
- 1 T salt
- 1/2 t turmeric
- 1 T butter
- 1/2 c coconut, soaked overnight then finely ground
- 1 T fresh tamarind pulp
- 2 T molasses
- 2 t sambar masala powder (see recipe below)
- 2 T ghee
- 1 T mustard seeds
- 1 T fresh ginger, minced
- 1/4 t hing (the yellow kind)
- 1/4 t black pepper
- 1/4 t fenugreek seeds
- 10 curry leaves (if available)
- 1 T chana dahl
- 1/2 t urad dahl
- 1 T coriander seeds
- 1 1/2 t cumin seeds
- 3/4 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds
- 3/4 t black mustard seeds
- 3/4 t sesame seeds
- 1/8 c fresh curry leaves tightly packed
- 3/4 t white poppy seeds
- 1/4 t black pepper
- 1/2 t cinnamon powder
- 2 t fresh coriander leaves, coarsely chopped (or parsley)
- Cover the soaked toor dahl with water and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam that collects on the surface and discard.
- Add the salt and the coconut and bring to a boil again. Then cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the dahl has broken apart and looks well cooked.
- Add the molasses and the tamarind pulp. Continue to cook on low.
- In a small pot, heat the ghee.
- Add the mustard seed.
- When the mustard seed finishes popping, add the ginger and stir it around a little until it's browning.
- Add the remaining ingredients in quick succession and pour the contents into the cooked dahl.
- Stir in the sambar powder. And about a quarter teaspoon more salt or as desired.
- Garnish with the fresh coriander
- Offer to Krishna. Traditionally this is served in South India with iddli or rice. Breaking tradition, goes well with chapatis with avocado salad.
Sunday, December 10, 2023
An important life skill
Sometimes you see those lists of what people consider to be "life skills". If I made such a list, one of the skills would be knowing how to handle a bad mood!
It's so important because, looking back to the early years of my marriage, I realize that maybe half the time that we had some conflict was because myself or my spouse or maybe both of us at the same time were experiencing a bad mood.
It could be anything that triggers it. You hear something unkind someone says when you're at the workplace or the temple. It could be some kind of memory that has brought up a bad feeling. Or maybe the day just isn't going right, you didn't sleep well, or there's some stress or some kind of frustration (Yesterday, I ate something that didn't agree with me and felt so heavy and... blah). And so we get into a bad mood. But worse, we might tend to project it onto our spouse! One might snap at him when asked to help with something, or grumble when we do it.
So it's important not to take a bad mood seriously and know how to deal with it. And the same goes when dealing with our spouse having a bad mood...
Don't take it personally!
Now I can look back at the many times when I did allow his bad mood to affect me, when actually my husband just needed to process a bad mood or vice versa.
As for myself, nowadays I try to just look at it like "Oh I'm experiencing a bad mood" I just need some space to process it, to let it pass and turn it into an opportunity to practice things like patience and self control- especially controlling my tongue- so not to project it!
In other words, this is one of the perks of practicing the bhakti yoga process. We learn to see the forest above the trees, become transcendental to the inevitable happiness and distress each one of us is due. Its the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Sunday, October 08, 2023
Black Bean Soup
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup black beans, sorted and washed and soaked overnight.
- A handful of vegetables such as carrots and or celery, chopped
- Water for cooking the beans
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon basil
- 2-3 tablespoons ghee
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 t coriander powder
- 1/4 teaspoon asafetida
- 1/4 t ground black pepper
- Slices of lemon
PREPARATION:
- Bring the beans to a boil in about 6 cups of water. Cover and lower heat to a simmer and cook. To shorten cooking time, start the beans early in the morning with salt, a few hours before it's time to cook the meal. Bring to a boil, cover and let them sit until ready to prepare the meal. Then cook about 1 1/2-2 hours (unless you have a pressure cooker) until the beans are very soft.
- When the beans are nice and soft, add the molasses and the oregano and basil.
- Next, in a small saucepan, heat the ghee until nice and hot and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When the mustard stops popping add asafetida and black pepper and coriander powder and pour into the soup.
- Offer to Krishna with rice and a slice of lemon to squeeze into the soup.
Butter Making Tip
Saturday, October 07, 2023
Diy paper towels
Friday, August 25, 2023
Please sign
To all sincere followers of our beloved founder acarya Srila Prabhupada, please sign this petition:
"The GBC must take action regarding their own members who endorsed this
offensive (666 page) book..."
If you have not read the book by Kaunteya prabhu, who resigned from his GBC duties after a similar petition circulated before this one, excerpts under scrutiny can be found here:
https://iisb.co.in/2023/07/31/srila-prabhupadas-authority-in-his-books-and-other-contexts/
It's long, but the entire article is well worth the read to get the correct siddhanta that refutes Kaunteya's book.
Thank you for your kind attention AGTSP!
Ys,
Narada Priya dd
SB 11.17.27: One should know the ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Tulasi's Vacation
Usually in the spring, after all danger of frost has passed and until the first frost prediction in the fall, Tulasi gets a vacation outside.
She doesn't like indoors very much. Especially the way our house is situated, it does not get a lot of sunlight. It was designed that way because we live in a very hot climate, and it helps to keep the house cooler. But it is not very satisfactory for Tulasi Devi during the cold winter months when she must come inside.
So for the past few years I was putting some Tulasis in the ground and growing new ones from seed. That's when I noticed how huge she would get! Whenever she was out of her pot, she'd grow into giant bushes, noticeable to anyone who came by.
The only problem was her manjaris became too difficult to manage, and soon I had wild Tulasis growing all around the garden area and lawn. I was told this is an offense to Tulsi because she may get stepped on or something mow her down or they'll all die in the winter.
I had been experimenting having the original Tulasi plantings in the ground close to the house, hoping she would survive the winters because the concrete house foundation warmed up during the day creates a microclimate in the winter. That's how our curry plants have survived all these past winters. But unfortunately, not Tulsi devi. Apparently she is extra extra sensitive to cold.
So finally I got the bright idea, when I saw that Tulasi (pictured on the left) was getting pretty big while in the ground since spring, why not put her back in a pot before she gets too big to carry around the house during the cold season? She had a nice vacation and this move will spare her life (and with all those new leaves and growth, maybe she will have a easier time during the sparser sunlight in winter).
In this photo, you can really see the difference between the two Tulasis! They both were the same size in the springtime. The one on the left went into the ground then, and the one on the right remained in her pot. Now I look forward to transplanting Tulasi on the right into the ground soon for a new improved vacation, so she can get a little start on better growth before the winter comes and be happy.
Her happiness is really what this is all about.
UPDATE: Tulasi Devi, the one pictured on the right in the first photo above, had a shorter vacation than the others, but it still did her a lot of good! Here's a photo how she looks now after about 4 weeks in the ground and put back in the same sized pot:
Friday, July 21, 2023
Moong palak
Moong palak is moong dahl with spinach. I've been using a type of wild spinach called lambsquarter.
Banana paratha
INGREDIENTS :
4 overripe bananas, well mashed
2-3 T sugar
1-2 T molasses
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground cardamom
flour
ghee for frying
PREPARATION:
Combine all the ingredients together except for the flour and the ghee.
Add flour until you have a nice dough. Knead well until smooth. Then let it rest at least an hour.
Shape into parathas and fry with the ghee.
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
flower beds and curry trees
Inspired by the altar of a lady neighbor bedecked with profuse flower arrangements, the garden over here has been expanding. We decided to start growing some other kinds of flowers, so we can offer attractive vases of flowers for our home altar, too!
And behind the new floral bed are two curry leaf trees. There's two more west of here. Curry trees grow well near the south side of the house because the warmth of the house in winter provides a micro climate so that the trees don't entirely die.