Foods that is offered to Lord Krishna on Janmashtami

New Delhi, Aug 24: The devotees of Lord Krishna believes preparing and offering food to the Lord shows Him their love, devotion and gratitude. Lord Krishna doesn't need to eat, of course, but He accepts the love with which they offer food to Him.

A special rules are maintained while making the Prasad or the food for the Lord. As far as possible, fresh and natural ingredients are used for cooking. Only vegetarian food is offered to the God, food has to be saatvik ie no packaged food, and no- meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic, turnip, brinjal.

Cleanliness is important in cooking for Krishna. Devotees wash hands before they begin cooking for Krishna. And they don't taste the food while cooking as the meal is for Krishna's pleasure, so nobody tastes it before it's offered to the Lord.
On Janmashtami a special menu is kept that includes favourite traditional foods of Lord Krishna. These menu includes.

1. Malpua: It is a pancake served as a dessert, another popular Janmashtami dish in the eastern part of India is used by mixing flour, water, milk and sugar along with cardamoms. It is deep fried in oil and then dipped in sugar syrup before being offered to Lord Krishna.

2. Kheer: Kheer Made with milk, dry fruits, rice, sabudana or makhana, this delicious festive desert dish has a rich taste of cardamom and saffron. Considered filling and lip-smacking, this sweet dish is offered to Lord Krishna as a part of 'Chaapan Bhog' at the midnight celebration of Janmashtami.

3. Taler bora (sweet palm fritters): Nanda Utsav is marked in Bengal with taler bora (sugar palm fritters) because this is the season for the Asian palm fruit or tal to ripen. Its golden pulp is scooped, mashed with palm candy, coconut shavings and deep fried.

4. Maakhan Mishri: It is considered to be Lord Krishna's favorite, it is made with fresh homemade butter that is mixed with rock sugar or sugar and offered to the deity.

5. Panchamrit: It is uised to bathe Lord Krishna at midnight, the concoction is made with fresh milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar, tulsi leaves and butter. Post rituals, it is distributed among devotees.

6. Shrikhand: It is a delicious soufflé of beaten curd and powdered sugar savoured during Janmashtami.

7. Panjiri: It is considered as the most important Prasad of this festival. Made with coriander seed powder, powdered sugar, desi ghee, cashew nuts, almonds, pistachios, mishri, and raisins, this healthy offering is considered good for the gut and is popular in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab region of the country.