10 Easy Prasad Recipes That Even New and Inexperienced Cooks Can Make & How to Serve This Divine Offering Correctly (2019)

• It is believed that food offered for temples imparts divine energy present in the temple’s structure to the food. This pranic energy enables one to experience god’s divinity and to obtain his blessings.


• During puja, the five elements such as fire, air, earth, wind, and space are evoked during the recital of divine mantras. This invocation is believed to be imparted into the food that is placed as offering to God.


• Promotes a sense of fraternity irrespective of religion, caste, gender, status, language, and creed.


• To attain positive vibrations from god and to invoke his blessings.

Offering prasad to god is a ritual and there are certain things to be kept in one’s mind before offering prasad to god.

• The prasad offering is typically strictly vegetarian as food that consists of animal sacrifices is not encouraged as the norm.


• The prasad offered to God is primarily satvik food with no traces of onions, garlic and mushrooms. According to Vedic texts, it is believed that these foods impart passion to humans and the presence of the items should be avoided while making prasad.


• The prasad offered to god should not be tasted by anyone before serving it.


• One should be in a calm and divine state of mind before making the prasad that is offered to god.


• While making prasad strict hygiene measures should have adhered. The utensils must be clean and the prasad has to be prepared freshly using fresh ingredients.


• The prasad must always be served with one’s right hand with humility to other devotees.

The prasad can be offered to god by following a set of customs and rituals to please God and to invoke his blessings.

• A portion of the freshly prepared prasad is placed in the clean special utensil that is reserved for god.


• Along with the prasad, a glass of clean water has to be placed as offerings to the god.


• Once the prasad offering is placed, puja is done for the lord by chanting mantras.


• Once the chanting of mantras and hymns are performed, the aarti is shown to god and prasad is left untouched for a certain amount of time.


• Afterwards, the prasad offered to god is merged with remaining food and finally offered to others with humility and grace.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour or atta – 1 cup
• Sugar – 1 cup
• Ghee – 1 cup
• Water – 3 cups

Steps

• Take 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan with 3 cups of water on a medium flame.
• Stir the solution until the sugar dissolves and starts to thicken.
• Once the sugar solution begins to boil switch off the flame.
• Place a heavy-bottomed pan and add the whole wheat flour to the pan.
• Stir the whole wheat flour and gradually add ghee into the mixture until the flour gives out a dark and nutty flavour.
• Once the flour turns dark and nutty flavour and gradually add in the sugar syrup.
• Keep on stirring the mixture until it thickens and the mixture will start releasing the ghee.
• The mixture will gradually start to thicken and will start thickening.
• Serve the prasad hot.

Ingredients:

• Khoya – 1.5 cups
• Ghee – 1 cup
• Sugar – 0.5 cup
• Nuts – 0.75 cup
• Cardamom powder – 1 spoon
• Saffron – few strands

Steps

• Crumble the khoya, add it to a non-stick pan.
• Add sugar and milk to the crumbled khoya mixture.
• Add cardamom powder and saffron to the khoya mixture and stir well.
• Once the mixture starts to heat up, it will turn mushy and harden again.
• Once the mixture hardens, switch off the flame and let the mixture cool.
• Once the mixture is cooled, grease your palms with ghee and make small balls from the khoya mixture.
• Flatten the balls and place the nuts in the centre of the peda.
• You can add silver foil on top of the peda and serve them.

Ingredients:

• Basmati rice – 1.5 tablespoons
• Full fat milk – 2 cups
• Sugar – 1 cup
• Cardamom powder – 0.5 teaspoon
• Chopped nuts – 1 cup
• Saffron – few strands

Steps

• Wash the basmati rice and soak in water for 1 hour.
• Add 2 cups of milk in a pan and boil gently.
• Once the milk starts to boil, add the rice into the milk and stir gently.
• Once the rice is cooked, add sugar, powdered cardamom, and saffron to the mixture.
• Once the mixture is done, add the nuts and switch off the flame.
• The mixture will begin to thicken.
• Serve the rice kheer hot as prasad.

Ingredients:

• Black chickpeas – 1 cup
• Grated coconut – 1 tablespoon
• Red chilli – 1
• Urad dal – 2 teaspoon
• Green chilli – 1
• Channa dal – 2 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Curry leaves – 1 sprig
• Salt – To taste

Steps

• Soak the black chickpeas overnight or for 8 hours.
• Once they are soaked, wash the chickpeas and pressure cook them with a cup of water for 4 to 5 whistles.
• Heat a pan, once the pan is hot, add a teaspoon of oil.
• To the oil add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, red chili, green chili and salt.
• Once the seasoning is ready, add the boiled chickpeas to the mixture and mix well.
• Finally, add the grated coconut to the seasoned chickpeas and mix well.
• Now the black chickpeas are ready to be served.

Ingredients:

• Rice – 0.5 cup
• Moong dal – 0.25 cup
• Water – 2 cups
• Jaggery – 0.75 cup
• Ghee – 4 tablespoon
• Cashews and raisins – 0.5 cup
• Cardamom powder – 1 teaspoon
• Edible camphor – one pinch

Steps

• Wash the rice and moong dal and soak them for 1 hour.
• Once the rice and moong dal is soaked, add them to pressure cooker and cook until they are ready.
• In a pan add 0.75 cups of jaggery and 0.25 cup of water.
• Stir the jaggery in water till it completely melts.
• Filter the jaggery mixture to remove impurities and add it to the cooked rice mixture.
• Add the remaining water to the mixture and mix well until all the ingredients are combined.
• Add the ghee to the mixture until the Pongal is ready.
• In a pan, add a teaspoon of ghee and fry the cashews and raisins until they are golden.
• Add the cashews and raisins to the Pongal along with edible camphor to enhance the taste of sweet Pongal.

Ingredients:

• Rice – 1 cup
• Tamarind – lemon sized ball
• Jaggery – 2 tablespoons
• Salt

Seasoning ingredients:

• Mustard seeds – 0.5 teaspoon
• Peanuts – 3 tablespoon
• Channa dal – 0.75 teaspoon
• Urad dal – 0.75 teaspoon
• Green chillies – 2
• Red chilli – 1
• Oil – 3 tablespoons
• Curry leaves – 1 sprig
• Asafoetida – 0.5 teaspoon

To Roast and Grind Ingredients:

• Channa dal – 0.75 teaspoon
• Urad dal – 0.75 teaspoon
• Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon
• Cumin – 0.5 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds – 0.5 teaspoon
• Peppercorns – 0.5 teaspoon
• Sesame seeds – 1.5 teaspoon
• Dried coconut – 3 tablespoons
• Fenugreek seeds – 0.5 teaspoon
• Red chillies – 3
• Asafoetida – 0.5 teaspoon

Steps to make it

• Wash the rice and cook until it is ready. Once the rice is cooked, spread on a plate and cool it completely.
• Soak the tamarind in half a cup of water and squeeze the extract once it turns mushy.
• In a pan, dry roast the channa dal, urad dal, red chillies, cumin, mustard, sesame seeds, and until they are a golden colour.
• Finally add the asafoetida ad switch off the flame.
• Heat oil in the same pan, add oil and mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, peanuts, green chillies, red chillies and curry leaves.
• Once the mixture splutters, add the tamarind extract, jaggery, and salt to the pan.
• Add the puliyogare powder to the tamarind mixture and mix salt and mix gradually until the mixture thickens.
• Once the mixture thickens, add the cooled rice to the mixture and stir well.
• Allow the rice to absorb the flavour of the tamarind extract before serving.

Ingredients:

• Dry coconut flakes – 2 cups
• Milk powder – 0.5 cup
• Condensed milk – 0.5 cup
• Cardamom powder – 0.5 teaspoon
• Nuts – optional

Steps

• Take a mixing bowl, add the dry coconut flakes, milk powder, condensed powder, and cardamom powder into the bowl.
• Mix the ingredients in the bowl well.
• Start making balls from the mixture and roll the balls into dry coconut flakes.
• You can add nuts to the mixture before making balls with the mixture.
• Now the malai coconut laddus are ready to be served.

Ingredients:

• Sabudana or sago – 0.5 cup
• Boiled potato – 2
• Fresh coriander – 3 tablespoon
• Green chilli – 2 teaspoon
• Roasted peanuts – 0.25 cup
• Salt

Steps

• Wash and soak the sago in water for around 8 hours.
• In a bowl, add soaked sago, fresh coriander, green chillies, and coriander and roasted peanuts.
• Mix them well, add the boiled potatoes to the mixture and mix well.
• Make patties out of the mixture, drop the vadas in to hot oil and fry them until they are golden brown.
• Serves the vadas hot and crispy.

Ingredients:

• Besan or gram flour – 2 cups
• Sugar – 3 cups
• Water – 4 cups
• Milk– 0.5 cup
• Ghee – 3 cups
• Cardamom – 1 teaspoon
• Food colour – 0.5 teaspoon
• Baking soda – a pinch

Steps

• Add sugar to a pan, add water to the sugar and bring it to a boil.
• Add cardamom powder and edible food colour to the sugar syrup.
• In a mixing bowl, add besan, milk and baking soda to the mixture.
• Heat ghee to the pan. With the help of a perforated ladle add the batter into the ghee and fry them well.
• Soak the fried boondis into the sugar syrup until the sugar syrup is absorbed.
• Once the mixture is cooled, shape them into small sized laddus and serve them.

Ingredients:

• Flattened rice – 1 cup
• Jaggery – 0.75 cup
• Fresh coconut – 0.5 cup
• Nuts (cashew and raisins) – 0.25 cup
• Ghee – 1 teaspoon
• Cardamom – 1 pinch

Steps

• Wash and soak the flattened rice in water for a few minutes.
• In a mixing bowl, add the soaked flattened rice, jaggery, and freshly grated coconut.
• In a pan, heat some ghee and lightly roast the nuts.
• Once the nuts are roasted, add the nuts to the poha mixture.
• Add cardamom powder and mix all the ingredients well.
• The poha prasadam is ready to be served.