Food Stories Of Braj

Braj, Spiritual City of Lord Krishna. Braj delicacies are simple, tasty and as Saatvik as people of Braj. Want to know interesting stories related to delicacies of Braj? Read here>>

BANKE BIHARI JI'S TEMPLE

Even today, stories of Leela of Krishna Radha flow on the Panghat of Braj along with river Yamuna. Temples of here are not just a place of worship; they are actually the house of Lord Gopal. Where ”Sringaar” and “Bhog” are served to Lord Krishna, 8 times a day. Like happy people and sweet language of Braj Bhoomi, their food is also very attractive and delicious.

Colour and taste spreading streets of Braj and smiling people of there made you feel like they are peoples who live with god, even today.  And thus it is not wrong to say that Braj is the cultural capital of India since decades.

Inspired art and music from here can be seen in other parts of the nation too.

Mathura, situated in Braj, is one of the 7 cities of India which is considered to be “Mokshadayni”. Other 6 cities are as follows: Ayodhya, Haridwar, Avanti(Ujjain), Kanchipuram, Kashi(Varanasi) and Dwarka. These 7 cities are holy pilgrims places present in India.

These cities are said to be “Mokshadayini”  as it is believed that here Gods had descended there as their avatars (incarnation). By saying “Mokshdayini”, people mean that people who died here or who live here throughout his whole life, his soul get salvation (“mukti”) from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

And Mathura is the place where Lord Krishna (avatar of Lord Vishnu) was born and Gokul is the place where he was grown up. And therefore, all his childhood blissful activities (“Leelayein”) was happened here, in BrajBhumi.

Mathura is one of the cities that comes under 84 miles of Braj. Where Mathura is the birthplace of Lord Krishna, Vrindavan is the birthplace of Goddess Radha Rani (beloved of Lord Krishna). One habit of people’s of these places is that they address and greet each other by saying “Radhe Radhe”, which shows their love and devotion towards Radha Krishna.

RADHA-KRISHNA

From the historical point of view also, Mathura was one of the metropolitan city of that time. According to that time, Mathura is a happy, wealthy and big city.

Mathura School of Arts is a place where whatever remanent/relics found during excavation in Mathura is stored. Statue of Buddha, which can be seen here, is very different from Buddha statue of Gandhaar School of Arts. Thus, Mathura is the center of Art and Culture.

One can find mention of Mathura, in the stories of Chinese Traveller. According to them also, Mathura was the center of education, business, art, and culture.

And where a chance of establishing a business is high/possibility of economic growth was high, respectively their food is also very rich in terms of flavour, proteins, and varieties.

In Krishna’s city, Mathura, "MATHURA KE PEDE" is as much popular as Lord Krishna Temples of Mathura.

By using Milk, Khoya, Illayche (Cardamom) and Sugar, a round shaped sweet called Pede is prepared. This peda is so popular in Mathura that you can found them in from a railway station to sweet shops to Lord Krishna’s Bhog. Peoples of Mathura say that this Peda comes under Krishna’s Bhog from his time and he just loved to eat them.

MATHURA KE PEDE

Khoya, which is used in the preparation of Mathura’s Pede, is being found in India even before 2000 years from now. And in 7th Century’s Book Shivatatva Ratnakar, one can find it’s mention by the name “Shakkar Paka”.

But when did this Khoya turns into Peda, it is a bit difficult to calculate.

Still, there is one story related to this Peda that one can hear in these streets of Mathura in one 100 years old Peda shop.And according to that story, one day a confectioner put’s milk for boiling and in meanwhile, he thinks about God’s Bhog, that what should I offer him today. And he got so involved in this thought that he forgot about Milk which he puts on fire for boiling. Then, due to excessive boiling milk get thicker and little brown in color. And when he remembered about Milk, he found its change version which has a very attractive aroma so he added sugar in it and he thinks that God made him forgot because he wants him to create this Sweet so before tasting it he offers it to God as Bhog. Also, people like its taste, so from then onwards this peda is being prepared and eaten in Prasad in Mathura.

And today it becomes an Identity of Mathura, this Peda is popular all over in India by the name of “Mathura ke Pede”.

Other than Mathura Ke Pede, there are numbers of other dishes also which are very popular which are as follows:

CHANA CHIWDA- It usually seems very common snacks but here it is prepared differently. It is not fried here instead it is cooked in sand and 64 different spices are added to it.

MOONG DAL KE PAKODE- It gets, even more, tastier with pudina chutni. People or Mathura loves this snacks as it is tasty as well as stomach satisfying snack.

KACHORI SABJI with JALEBI- It is one of the most loved breakfasts of Mathura as well as Braj.

MALAI LASSI- If we are talking about Mathura and Braj how could one forget to talk about any dishes which is related to Milk or butter. So, this Malai Lassi is also very popular in Mathura.

THANDAI- This is another version of Lassi in which Bhang is added. This one is usually in demand during Festival of Holi.

Soul and Spirit of Krishna Devotion can be easily seen on the streets and ghats of Braj, on the temples and pictures of Braj. And it's very obvious that each and every thing of Braj, is related to Lord Krishna and his blissful stories, and likewise, their delicacies are also related to Lord Krishna.

Most lovable food item of Lord Krishna is “MAAKHAN” (Butter). Many poets and songwriters wrote poems and songs about Krishna’s love for Maakhan and Leelayein that he was used to performing for getting Maakhan directly or indirectly from Gopi’s of Gokul.

One interesting story related to this is that one day when Krishna went out from his house in search of Maakhan and broke the number of Matki’s (utensil made from mud and earlier used as a storage for Maakhan) of Gopi’s of his neighbourhood.  And when Gopi’s get to know about his activity, they go to Yashoda (Mother of Lord Krishna) and told her the complete naughty activities of Krishna.As a result of which angry Yashoda tied Krishna with a big mortar(“okhal”). Then, Krishna told her mom that he hadn’t eaten Maakhan by opening his mouth.  

Food that is prepared to offer God is known as Bhog and once it is offered to God it becomes Prasad. And that prasad will further distributed among devotees of respective God. This bhog is an inseparable pillar of an Indian Culture and Religion. And the ritual of offering food to Lord Krishna is continued in the temples of Braj from ancient times. One important ingredient of Lord Krishna’s Bhog is the presence of Leaf of Tulsi. According to mythological stories, once upon a time, Lord Vishu gave boon/blessing (Boon) to Goddess tulsi that I cannot accept any bhog until and unless you are present with me. And from then this ritual of putting Tulsi in the Bhog of Lord Vishu continues. And as Lord Krishna is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu on the earth, this rule applies to his Bhog also.

From the medicinal point of view also, this plant of Tulsi is very valuable. As far as talking about the origin of this Tulsi Plant, from always it is found in India.  And maybe by seeing its benefits, it is considered as sacred. According to Hindu belief’s, this bhog is mainly divided into Shaiv and Vaishnav Mutts. And since, Lord Krishna is considered an avatar of Lord Vishu, bhog that offer to him in the temples of Mathura and Vrindavan is of “Satvik” Nature. That is pure veg even many things in veg also is prohibited to include in his bhog like Garlic, Onion, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Lady Finger, Carrot etc.

CHAPPAN BHOG

And as far as bhog of Lord Krishna is considered, other than regular bhog, special bhog is prepared on special days like on Ekadashi, Janamashtmi and on the next day of Diwali. This special bhog is called “Chappan Bhog”. ‘Chappan’ means 56 in Hindi. And therefore this special Bhog is consists of 56 different dishes. A day is divided into 8 Prehar (8 different time slots)  and with each prehar (time slot) duties of Priests (Pujaris) Changes and in each Prehar new adornment is done to God and after that new Bhog is offered.

Temples of Braj, either it is of Lord Dwarkadhish or Lord Krishna, it happens regularly there. So a week consist of 7 days and each day is divided into 8-time slots and in each time slot, a bhog is served to the God. And by this way, 56 dishes as Bhog are served to God.

This ritual is followed in other temples of Lord Krishna or Lord Dwarkadhish which are situated in other parts of the Nation.

One story is also related to this ritual, according to what, one day Lord Indra( God of Rain) trouble BrajVasis (People of Braj) due to his anger by doing rain continuously.  And then, to protect BrajVasis, Lord Krishna lifted Govardhan Mountain on his little finger, for 7 continuous days. And when rain stopped, all the BrajVasis want to show their love and gratitude towards him, by offering Bhog. And then they offered him that bhog 8 times in a day and that too for a week. Thus, by doing 8*7, which is equal to 56; this ritual of offering 56 dishes to him is started after this incident.

One dish is also made due to this incident which is “ANNA KUT”. As Krishna lifted Goverdhan for a long period of time ( a month or 40 days ), so during that period Krishna suggested everyone to use things that are available on Goverdhan Mountain itself. And then, BrajVasis cooked one dish by mixing all available vegetables. And this dish is famous by the name ANNA KUT. This dish usually cooked on the day after Diwali, also this is the day when Hindu believer’s all over the nation(especially in North India) pray to Mountain Goverdhan and Lord Krishna and his brother Balarama.

There is one more side of the coin, according to which the reason behind making this Anna Kut is that on the next day after Diwali, generally markets were closed. And because of that woman of the houses cooked this dish by mixing all the vegetables and pulses, available in the home.

Whatever the reason would be, the thing which matter is Anna Kut has its special place in the delicacies of Braj.

Another dish is “ALOO KI JALEBI”, which you will find in the region in and around Goverdhan. The specialty about this Jalebi is that it has the flavour of potatoes. And it is so popular there that whosoever came for Parikrama of Goverdhan won’t forget to have it.

Streets of Braj is believed to be the house of Krishna, and even though in the temples of Braj there is the ritual of offering 56 Bhogs but according to stories of Gokul, as much Krishna love Radha, that much he loves Dudh, Dahi, and Maakhan (Milk, Curd, and Butter) also. Otherwise, how come “Maakhan Chor” becomes one of his lovable names.

A God, whom his worshippers gave so many titles like “Anaadi” ( Eternal ), “Anant” (Everlasting/Endless), “Abhaed” ( Nobody knows his secrets ), “Subhaed” (Knows everything). That Lord Krishna agreed to do all kind of work which was said by Ahir Gopi’s (Girls and Ladies who belong to Ahir Caste) just for the sake of hand full of Maakhan.

Thus, Food has a special place in the stories of Lord Krishna especially related to Milk, Curd, and Butter. One of the names of Lord Krishna is “Gopal”, which means one who does rearing of Cows. And even today descendant of “Yadavas” does cow’s rearing as they believe that caring and rearing of Cows is their duty and religion.  

From Always, use of Milk and Butter is found in our Culture and Religion, either directly or indirectly. Even in, more than 3500 years old, Rig Veda has mention of Milk, Ghee, and Butter as one of the items used during “Havan” ( offering prayers to God in front of Fire ) as well as Satvik Food.

And 30,000 years old Caves of BhimBedika gives us proof of caring, rearing and using of Cows and Bullocks for domestic uses.

Mixing this Milk, Curd, Ghee, Honey and Sugar, a dish called “PANCHAMRIT” is being prepared which is an inseparable part of Vaishnav Bhog. Also, Gangajal and Tulsi are added to it at the end.

This Panchamrit is specially prepared on auspicious and sacred occasions. And, after offering to God, this will be served among devotees.  

The first mention this Panchamrit is found in Rigveda and it is believed that intake of Panchamrit saves an individual from Illness and Premature Death (Akal Mrityu).

By the ending of an evening, in the dim light of the sun, one can see grand/spectacular look of Braj in the Yamuna Aarti performed here on the Braj Ghats.

Braj is a land of decoration and celebration of love and colour. And this feeling of Braj reached its extreme point during an Indian Festival of Colour, Holi.

The story of Celebration of this festival Holi is also related to an incarnation of Lord Vishnu whose name is “Narasimha”. And he took this personation for his devotee Prahlad, who is the son of a King Hiranyakashyapu.

According to the story, Hiranyakashyapu wants his son to worship him instead of Lord Vishnu, but his son was the only devotee of Lord Vishnu. And when after many efforts his son continues to worship Lord Vishnu, he told his sister Holika to sit in a fire along with Prahlad. Since Holika had a boon that fire could not harm her. 

So even if, when she sits in the fire along with Prahlad, he will die but she would be safe. But due to Lord Vishu’s grace, the fire hadn’t harm Prahlad even an inch but Holika died in that fire. 

So, from that day onwards, Holika’s Puppet or collection of wood is being burned in the fire just on a night before Holi Day Celebration.

GUJIYA

Now talking about Braj, here a special type of sweet is been made, which is called “GUJIYA”. And this Gujiya is quite popular around North India and Maharashtra. Although Gujiya of Maharastra is quite different in terms of filling with which it is stuffed. In North Indian Gujiya, Khoya with dry fruits is used as stuffing material. And on customer’s demand, it is fried in Chasni at the end.

But the interesting fact which is related to this sweet is that Gujiya is not a completely Indian sweet. Pierogi and Empanada are the two similar looking sweet dishes which are famous in Europe. Another interesting part of this fact is this, that starting of Empanada took place on the basis of a dish called Samosa when Nourish People came to Europe.

Our Food is very Interesting, dishes were born somewhere and modified somewhere else but popular in the different locality with different name and taste.

Now, this Gujiya is either based on Arabian Dish or Portuguese Dish, but today its relation with Holi is equally as deep as the relation of Colour with Holi.

At last but not the least, Spicy Chat of here is also very famous. To complement the sweetness of Mathura k Pede, Jalebi, and Mawa Gujiyas, there are types of mouth-watering Chats which include "ALOO TIKKI", "DAHI-BHALLA", and "PAPRI CHAT". And not just Chats, "GOL-GAPPA/PANI PURI" with Green(Chilli) and Red(Imli / Tamarind) Chutni also increase spiciness in the cuisine of Braj.

That’s all in Food Stories of Braj. Hope you like this Trip to the City of Lord Krishna, Braj.