Spiritual Sak
This is a favourite side dish of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It is popular in North, West and East part of India. It goes well with hot steamed rice. It is mentioned several times in Sri Caitanya Charitamritha.
A. Blanch
Spinach - 1/2 Kg
Water - 3 tablespoon
B. Seasoning
Butter - 2 tablespoon
Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds - 1/5th teaspoon
Chillies - 1 teaspoon or as per taste
Ginger - 2 teaspoons
C. Coating
Nutmeg - a pinch
Salt - as per taste
Lemon - 1 teaspoon
Sugar - 1 teaspoon
Let's cook for Sri Krishna -
- Blanch spinach. Sprinkle some water and place spinach in a heavy pot. Cook until softens but not paste. Remove all the liquid in spinach.
- Add seasoning. Heat butter and add "B" ingredients. Fry till aromatic.
- Combine "A" "B" "C" in moderate heat till 3 minutes.
- Ready!
Draining water from spinach after semi-cooked is very important.
Wash as many times as possible. Spinach is a very muddy leaf.
Be careful to not burn spinach. Use heavy pan.
This is a basic recipe. It can be practically used the same for any indigenous edible green leafy leaves of Bengal or Orissa.
Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakur, esteemed 19th century Vaisnava saint and profuse author, writes in a song glorifying the relishng of food offered to Krishna before partaking (prasada):
Verse
heno sak-asvadane, krsna-prema aise mane,
sei preme koro asvadana
jada-buddhi pari-hari’, prasada bhojana kori’,
‘hari hari’ bolo sarva-jan
TRANSLATION
“O brothers! One day at Santipura, in Sri Advaita’s house, Lord Caitanya and Nityananda were seated at prasada. When Lord Caitanya tasted the green vegetables, He said, ‘My devotees, this sak is so delicious! Lord Krsna has definitely tasted it. At the taste of such sak as this, love of Krsna arises in the heart. In such love of God you should take this prasada. Giving up all materialistic conceptions and taking the Lord’s prasada, all of you just chant ‘Hari! Hari!'”
Furthermore, Chaitanya Bhagavata, a much loved and respected Medieval devotional text composed in classical literary Bengali states:
VERSE - CB Antya 4.279, 293, 295, 298
TRANSLATION
“Mother Saci knows that Lord Caitanya is greatly satisfied with sak, therefore she cooked twenty different varieties. The vegetable known as sak is more fortunate that any other preparation, for the Lord eats it again and again. Slightly smiling the Lord takes His meal, speaking, the glories of sak to everyone.
The Lord says “this sak is called Acyuta, by eating the sak attraction for Krsna develops (at the time of eating, Lord Caitanya would call different kinds of sak different names of Krishna) by eating patala, bastuka and kala sak, one gains the association of the vaisnava’s life after life. If one eats salinca or helanca sak, he remain free from disease and gets devotion to Krishna”.
Hare Krishna
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