Krishna at the table

In the pastoral Hindu tradition at the heart of which is Krishna, meals are not ordered as starter-main-dessert but revolve around the bhog: first the dishes are prepared to offer to the deity, then redistributed as prasad (blessed food) to all, without hierarchy. The core of this cuisine is dairy-based and sattvic (pure, without meat, onion or garlic in the ritual context): the milk of Vrindavan's cows, fresh butter, ghee, yogurt, sweetened with jaggery (brown cane sugar), fruits, sesame and mild spices. During great festivals like Govardhan Puja, this principle culminates in the Annakut, the “mountain of food”: dozens of dishes piled up as an offering.

Krishna as a child is nicknamed Makhan Chor, the “butter thief”: he would steal freshly churned butter from the pots of the milkmaids of Vrindavan. Hand-churned butter and its clarified gold, ghee, are the absolute signature of his pastoral cuisine — nourishing fat and symbol of divine sweetness.