KRISHNA BHOG KESRI KHEER / कृष्णा भोग केसरी खीर (SAFFRON RICE PUDDING using Krishna Bhog Rice)

Had wanted to share this post yesterday but due to some technical snag, was unable to upload it. Yesterday was Bhagwat Gita Jayanti day and I celebrated it like many others by chanting shlokas from the holy book and made kheer using the Krishna Bhog Rice. In fact, just a few days back while on my visit to the grocery shop I saw this very new and never seen before (at least by me) variety of rice, I knew instantly I was going to make it for the prashad for the Sri Gita parv. I am going to keep this post short and take you straight to the recipe.

1 litre Milk (I used 6% but you can use 2%)

100 grams approx. Krishna Bhog Rice

1 tbsp plus 2 tsp Sugar (adjust the sweetness to taste)

1 pinch Saffron strands

¼ tsp Cardamom Powder

Nuts of your choice (optional)

Wash the rice twice or thrice and soak in enough water. Keep it aside, while you boil the milk.

Bring the milk to boil (I boiled it on low heat to give ample time for rice to soak) and take out a tablespoon of milk in a small bowl. Add crushed saffron stands and keep it aside.

Drain the rice and add it to the boiling milk. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes and add the saffron.

Simmer and cook the rice on low heat, stirring intermittently to prevent it from catching at the bottom.

Once the rice is done and the milk begins to get thicker in consistency, switch off the heat and add the sugar and cardamom. Stir well and serve hot.

We prefer having it chilled and therefore, I allow it to cool and then refrigerate it before serving.

Garnish with nuts and raisins and enjoy!

Serves 4 – 6

Note – The rice is pretty filling and a little serving goes a long way

Note – This rice has a chewy texture even after cooking and that is what makes this kheer unique.

Note – This rice does not swell much unlike other rice therefore I have used double the amount.

Note – Swap dairy milk with coconut milk and you have a vegan dessert.

LEAVING YOU WITH SOME SIMPLIFIED MEANINGS OF SHLOKAS (श्लोक) FROM THE HOLY BOOK…

Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.

Soul migrates from body to body. Weapon cannot cleave it, nor fire consume it, nor water drench it, nor wind dry it.

Hell has three gates – Lust, Anger and Greed

Meet this transient world with neither grasping nor fear, trust the unfolding of life and you will attain serenity.

The mind is everything. What you think, you become

Set your heart upon your work, but never upon its rewards.

Perform your duty equipoised, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give as charity, whatever austerity you perform, do that as an offering unto Me. Thus shall you be freed from the bonds of karma bearing good and evil fruits. With the heart firmly set on renunciation (of actions and its fruits), you will attain liberation (moksha) and thereby come to me.

He who has no attachment, can really love others, for his love is pure and divine.

Do everything you have to do but not with greed, not with ego, not with lust not with envy but with love, compassion, humility and devotion.

For one who has conquered his mind, mind is best of friends. But for one who has failed to do so, mind is the greatest enemy.  

You came empty handed, you will leave empty handed. What is yours today, belonged to someone else yesterday and will belong to someone else tomorrow.

Whatever happened, happened for good. Whatever is happening, is happening for good. Whatever will happen, will also happen for good. You need not have any regrets for the past. You need not worry for the future. The present is happening. Live in the present.

A Karma Yogi performs actions by body, mind, intellect and senses without attachment or ego, only for self purification.

As the heat of fire reduces wood to ashes, the fire of knowledge burns to ashes all karma.

If you want to see the brave, look to those who can return love for hatred. If you want to see the heroic, look at those who can forgive.

If a thousand suns were to rise and stand in the noon sky, blazing such brilliance would be like the fierce brilliance of the mighty Self.

ALSO SHARING THOUGHTS OF SOME GREAT MEN ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH THE BHAGWAT GITA

I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad Gita. It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.” – RALPH WALDO EMERSON

When I read the Bhagavat Gita and reflect how God created this universe, everything else seems so superfluous. – ALBERT EINSTEIN

The most practical teaching of Gita, and one for which it is of abiding interest and value to the rest of the men of the world with whom life is a series of struggle, is not to give way to any morbid sentimentality when duty demands sterness and boldness to face terrible things. –BAL GANGADHAR TILAK

The Bhagwat Gita is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity. – ALDOUS HUXLEY