(A no-cook dish made from flattened rice/Poha - Lord Krishna’s favorite!).

Shri Krishna is one of India's most popular and revered deities, who is literally an embodiment of life. I am an ardent devotee of Krishna and so I thought of sharing my site with you with a recipe that was Krishna's favorite - Gopalkala!

'Gopal' means lord Krishna and 'kala' refers to a mixture. This is an easy recipe that can be created by mixing some very simple ingredients. It is believed that Krishna and his friends used to eat this simple dish in Gokul, very often, in his childhood days. They used to make Gopalkala with the ingredients available at hand and so this dish has many variants.

The main ingredient in this dish is flattened rice - Poha (Pohe)! Who doesn't know Krishna's love for poha? Remember the anecdote of Krishna and his poor friend Sudama? How in spite of being a king, Krishna relished poha , which Sudama got for him! So it comes as no surprise that the base ingredient while making Gopalkala is poha too!

This dish is made as prasad (offering) on Janamashtami (Krishna's birthday). This is a no-cook dish that is not only healthy but also delicious. Personally, this is the kind of food I love - easy to cook, nutritious, tasty, and uncomplicated.

Gopalkala is a one-pot meal and is a great breakfast option too.

Ingredients

For Gopalkala-

• 1 cup flattened rice (poha)

• 1/2 cup curd (dahi)

• 1/2 cup coconut freshly grated

• 1 cucumber peeled and chopped

• 1/4cup pomegranate arils (anardana)

• salt as per taste

• 1/4 tsp sugar

For tempering –

• 1 tbsp clarified butter

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (rai)

• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

• 1/2 green chili chopped or slit

• 2 tbsp peanuts roasted (singdana)

• 6-7 curry leaves (curry patte)

• 1-inch ginger grated (adrak)

For garnish –

• fresh coriander leaves chopped (dhaniya)

  
  

Method

• Take flattened rice in a sieve, and wash it with water. Let all the excess water drain. There are two varieties of flattened rice - thick (jada poha), and thin(patla poha). You can use either of them.

• In a small pan/kadhai, heat ghee on a medium flame. When the ghee gets hot add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add cumin seeds, green chilies, curry leaves, peanuts, and ginger. Turn off the heat. Let this tempering cool down a bit.

• Beat the curd and add salt and sugar to it. Mix well

• Transfer flattened rice(poha) to a bowl. Add the tempering, pomegranate arils, cucumber, grated coconut, and curd. Add the tempering and mix well.

• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

GOPALKALA IS READY TO SERVE!!

Notes -

• Cool the tempering before adding to the bowl. The curd is cool and adding hot tempering might spoil its taste.

• I prefer adding the roasted peanuts to the tempering. You can add them directly to the flattened rice too.

• Do not soak the poha as they tend to become soggy.

  
  

DID YOU KNOW?

When we heat any oil/fat, after a point, we see smoke. This smoke is an indication that the fat is breaking down! Breaking down fats is not a good thing. For one, it can ruin the taste of the food, and second produce free radicals, which are very harmful to health. So, it’s best if we avoid this smoke.

The temperature at which we see this smoke varies for different oils.

A low smoking point means the oil/fat will break down at a low temperature - CAN NOT BE USED FOR COOKING.

A high smoking point means oil/fat will only break down at higher temperatures - CAN BE USED FOR COOKING AND FRYING.

Pure clarified butter(ghee) has a smoking point higher than most oils! The smoke point of ghee is 250°C. This is why ghee can be used for frying too!

So go on and make this simple dish with pure ghee.