All
around the world when people celebrate a festival, food is the first thing on
the list of preparations. Every festival has traditional meal or dish(es)
associated with it since centuries.
The food cooked for a festival often has some religious or historical significance but at times it’s just because it’s been done that way since generations in family. The festival food associations, I can think of are til laddu on sankrant, ghevar on teej, gujiya/karanji on holi, puran poli for gudi padwa, etc.. There are a lot of other festivals but I don’t exactly know what food is traditional to them, like Lohri, Baisakhi, Pongal and Onam.
The food cooked for a festival often has some religious or historical significance but at times it’s just because it’s been done that way since generations in family. The festival food associations, I can think of are til laddu on sankrant, ghevar on teej, gujiya/karanji on holi, puran poli for gudi padwa, etc.. There are a lot of other festivals but I don’t exactly know what food is traditional to them, like Lohri, Baisakhi, Pongal and Onam.
Coming
to the current festival Diwali, which is celebrated for over 5 days, has each day
having its own history and tradition. The fourth day of Diwali is celebrated as
‘Gowardhan Pooja’ or ‘Annakut’ since over 5000 years. This day is ‘Padwa’ or
‘Varsha pratipada’
Gowardhan
puja is performed with great zeal and enthusiasm in the states of Punjab,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.
The
story of this day is narrated in Hindu
mythological literature, Bhagwad Gita.
It
is celebrated as the day when Krishna defeated Indra. Lord Krishna taught
people to worship nature, as mountains bring rains to earth and to stop
worshing Indra, controller and God of rains. This was because Indra had gotten too proud
of himself. His was the message that we should take of our nature. For Annakut
a mountain of food is decorated symbolizing Gowardhan mountain said to be
lifted by Lord Krishna to save the people from the wrath of Lord Indra, God of
rain.
In
Maharashtra it is celebrated as Padva or Bali Patipada. Men present gifts to
their wives on this day. In Gujarat, it is celebrated as New Year, as Vikrat
Samvat starts on this day.
On
this auspicious day people prepare 56 or 108 different varieties of delicious
dishes to offer Lord Krishna as ‘Bhog’. In the temples, specifically in Mathura
and Nathdwara, the deities are given milk bath, dressed in new shinning attires
and decorated with ornaments of dazzling diamonds, pearls, rubies and other
precious stones and metals. Then they are worshipped, offered prayers, bhajans, delicious sweets, fruits and eatables that are
ceremoniously raised in the form of a mountain before the idols.
Annakut
ki sabji (mixture of all seasonal vegetables), Puri and moong chawal kadhi for
annakut (Gowardhan) bhog is a must on this Special Day!!!
During
this of year in India, new vegetables are available in market like cauliflower,
peas, carrots etc.. To consume these vegetables, Annakut sabji/curry is
prepared.
Take
a little of all the vegetables available in the market to prepare Annakut
sabji. Here in this recipe, I have added almost 21 vegetables to make the
annakut Prasad.
This
curry is first offered to the deity then later it is distributed to all in the
form of Prasad. In North India this sabji is made in all of the temples/ mandir
and mostly homes.
Step by step annakut
sabji recipe:
Break the cauliflower into pieces. Cut off the ends of all the beans. Peel the carrots and radish and remove its stem. Don’t discard the radish leaves; we will need them with other leafy vegetables.
Peel
tinde, parwal and arbi. Cut its edges from both ends.
Remove
the stem of capsicum/green bell pepper. Cut into two halves and remove the
seeds as well.
Now start chopping the vegetables into medium sized pieces. Break the cauliflower florets into medium size pieces. Chop off the stem of brinjals. Peel potatoes.
Wash the tomatoes and chop them into small pieces.
Take
chopped green chilies in a grinder and add in ginger pieces. Grind them and
keep aside.
Wash
all the green leafy vegetables thoroughly till the mud and dirt is off.
Remove water and let it drain. Chop palak (spinach), methi (fenugreek leaves), radish leaves and dill leaves (shepu/suva).
Remove water and let it drain. Chop palak (spinach), methi (fenugreek leaves), radish leaves and dill leaves (shepu/suva).
At last, chop potatos and brinjals and put them in water so that they do not change color.
Making
annakut-
Pour
oil in a big heavy bottom pan and heat. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat
and put cumin seeds (jeera) and let it splutter.
Add the green chili and ginger paste and gently fry the spices.
Add hing, turmeric powder and coriander powder.
Now
put all the chopped vegetables (except tomatoes and green vegetables) in
the pan.
The vegetables that take longer should be added first to the pan.
ex) potatoes, cauliflower, radish, bottle gourd etc...
...and followed by rest.
Put salt and red chili powder. Then, mix all the vegetables with the
spices.
Cover
the pan and cook vegetables on low to medium flame. Keep stirring every 3- 5
minutes.
After
the vegetables are half cooked, add chopped tomatoes and stir. Cover and cook
for 2-3 minutes.
Now
add all the chopped leafy vegetables and combine everything.
Do
not cover the pan. Let it cook for 5 more minutes till its soft. Now
add garam masala and stir gently.
Lastly, spinkle green coriander leaves and turn off the stove.
The tasty
annakut bhog is ready. Offer annakut Prasad to Lord krishna’s deity. Then, serve it to all the family members with puri or roti.
Below
is the printable version of this recipe.
Annakut Prasad recipe
for Goverdhan puja:
Annakut
sabji – a northIndian curry made with all the seasonal vegetables, served as
a bhog/Prasad/offering to Lord Krishna.
AUTHOR:
Monali
RECIPE
TYPE: Main
CUISINE:
North Indian
SERVES:
8
INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup=237
ml)
1
small floret Cauliflower (full gobi)
A small
piece of Cabbage (gobi)
3
small Brinjal (baigan/eggplant)
1-2
medium sized Potatoes(aloo)
1-2
medium sized Raddish (muli)
100 gm
Radish beans (sangria/dingri/moongre
50 gm
Broad beans (papdi/vaal/sem)
50 gm Cluster
beans (gawar ki phali)
¼ cup
Peas (fresh/frozen)
1
Carrot (gajar)
2
Apple gourd (tinde)
1-2
Arbi
5-6
Lady finger(okra/bhindi)- optional
2-3
Parwal(pointed gourd)
3 inch
long piece Lauki (bottle gourd)
1
medium sized capsicum (green bell pepper/Shimla mirch)
100 gm
Pumpkin (kaddu)
3 to 4
small Tomatoes
Leafy vegetables
1
small bunch of Spinach(palak)
1
small bunch of fenugreek leaves
(Methi)
Fresh
Raddish leaves (leaves of raddish which we are using)
Few
stems of fresh Dill leaves (shepu/suva)
Spices
3 to 5
tbsp. Oil
3
pinch hing (asafoetida)
1 tsp
cumin seeds (jeera)
3 tsp
coriander powder (dhaniya)
1 tsp
turmeric powder (haldi)
4 inch
long piece Ginger
5 to 6
green chili
¾ to 1
tsp red chili powder
½ to 1
tsp garam masala
2 tsp
salt (as per taste)
100 gm
green coriander
DIRECTION
Preparations-
Making
annakut-
SERVING SUGGESTION
Tasty
annakut bhog is ready. Offer annakut Prasad to Lord krishna’s deity then
later serve it to all the family members with puri or roti.
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annakut recipe is great taste I have tried at my home. thanks for posting
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