EKABARNI means cooking together meal in one pot. Ekabarni is a special mahaprasad offered during the pousha month (mid Dec- mid Jan) in the Jagannath Temple , one of the char dhams nested in the coastal town of Puri in Odisha. Ekabarni is a type of khichdi mahaprasad cooked during the auspicious pousha month in which rice, dal and vegetables are cooked with all aromatic spices and herbs together in clay pot and then offered to the deities lord Jagannath, lord Balabhadra and Maa Subhadra following sodasha upachara or sixteen rituals.
Here, is my humble try to recreate the EKABARNI Mahaprasad. Jai Jagannath.
HOW TO MAKE JAGANNATH PURI MAHAPRASAD EKABARNI – STEP BY STEP RECIPE
- Wash and Soak the Rice and Dal
- In a bowl, take one cup of Rice, one-fourth of Moong Dal and two tablespoons of Chana Dal. Wash the rice and dal with water and discard the water. Repeat this process for two to three times.
- Soak the rice and dal in water for thirty minutes to one hour.
2. Vegetables Required :
- 1/4th cup of diced Radish (Mooli)
- 4 to 6 Spine Gourds (Kankada or Kantola), cut into cubes
- 6 to 8 Pointed Gourds(Parwal or Potala), cut into quarter cubes
3. Cooking the Ekabarni :
- Like the Jagannath Temple kitchen, we are using earthenware or a clay pot to cook the bhog.
- Next, add the mentioned ingredients into the clay pot
- Soaked rice and dal without the water
- 1/4th cup of grated Coconut
- 1 tablespoon of grated Ginger
- Vegetables mentioned in step 2
- a handful of chopped Coriander Leaves
- Salt as per taste
- 1/2 tsp of Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp of Cumin Seeds
- 4 cups of Water
- Cook the Ekabarni till rice, dal and vegetables are completely boiled.
4. Final Touch
- When the rice and dal are almost cooked, add 1/4th tsp of Asafoetida (Hing). Cook for few minutes till rice and dal are completely cooked.
- When the rice and dal are completely cooked, add 1 tsp of lemon juice and a generous amount of ghee.
Ekabarni, the winter special Jagannath Puri temple mahaprasad cooked only during the pousha month (mid Dec to mid Jan) is ready!!
HOW TO MAKE JAGANNATH PURI MAHAPRASAD EKABARNI – WATCH VIDEO
