Kids Recipes List - Lunch box Ideas, Breakfast - Indian, Vegetarian

My sister Radha’s Son – My chella kutty Krish Karthik :)

For the past few months I have been getting requests from my readers to share a collection of breakfast recipes and lunch box ideas for Indian kids. Some people specifically asked me to share recipes excluding the usual idli , dosa , poori , pongal. Not just by mails, some of my new friends who visit my blog for the first time asked me whether I have a collection of kids lunch box and after school snacks ideas. At that moment,I realized there are many people like me worrying and thinking about what to prepare for kids breakfast,what to pack for their school lunch box,snack box,how to make them eat healthy foods etc etc. 

When I told about my readers request to my friend Shalini, she helped me to frame this list of recipes for kids. Most of these recipes are the ones we usually make for our childrens breakfast & lunch box and can be prepared easily in busy mornings. We took nearly 2 hours over phone to prepare this exhaustive list. I should thank my readers for insisting me to do this list. And Many Many thanks to you my dearie Shalini. But for your help,this post would not have come up. 

In this post, you can find the list of Indian style sandwich varieties, North Indian Paratha recipes, pasta & Noodles recipes, rice varieties, wraps & rolls, Salad & milkshake recipes that are generally liked by kids. I have given the links for recipes that are already available in my blog.I will share the remaining in my upcoming posts. Nowadays most of the kids are picky eaters. 

So Friends, please take this list as a reference, make your own variations if you are a non-vegetarian and plan your kids breakfast, lunch & dinner recipes based on their liking. Do share your ideas & mention the names of recipes that are left out in this list. I will add them up. I hope this list would be useful to all the moms landing on this page. 

I have also shared a picture of Sample daily menu of my daughter’s healthy meal program catered by Amrutha Caterers in her school. Many working women have opted this meal program for their kids to give a balanced diet.+919036060369 is the contact number of Amrutha caterers.

You can also frame a table like this and follow it.

A very special thanks to my sister Radha for sharing her son Krish Karthik’s picture as a cover photo for this post.Once she had made my badam halwa and clicked a pic while he was eating .When I told about this post,she happily shared this picture with me.Thanks dear,Love you.

I will start posting Ganesh Chaturthi Festival recipes from Saturday.Lets check out the list of kids recipes below.

General Ideas for food decoration

Basically kids love colorful dishes and food that look small in size( mini). So you can try to present the food more colorful and make small sized poori , paratha , idli & dosa for them.For example, we can make mini uttappam kind of dosas by adding vegetables like carrot,coriander leaves & onions.

When my daughter was young, I used to make dosas like alphabets, numbers & in different shapes. Buy some cookie cutters in various shapes and cut the idli, dosas, poori in those shapes. It would be attractive for them. While making sandwich,make bite sized or finger like pieces for them to hold easily. You can add ghee, cheese, nuts & choco syrup in the dishes to fascinate the kids but remember to use them in moderate quantity. Try to google search for various decoration ideas and make the food attractive to the kids.

Here is the picture of sample healthy meal menu from my daughter’s school. Right click & save the image to view the actual size of this picture.

Sample menu by Amrutha caterers, Bangalore

Sandwich Varieties

1. Veg raw sandwich
2. Grilled Cheese sandwich
3. Tomato cheese sandwich
4. White sauce sandwich
5. Spinach & corn sandwich (Grilled with cheese (optional))
6. Peanut butter banana sandwich (grill)
7. Peanut butter jelly sandwich
8. Eggless French toast
9. Spicy French toast
10. Nutella banana sandwich(grill)
11.Veg Cheese toast sandwich
12. Chilli garlic toast
13. Nutella Chocolate sandwich
14. Avocado sandwich
15. Green chutney Cheese sandwich
16. Paneer sandwich
17. Subway style sandwich
18. Veg burger
19. Grilled potato sandwich
20. Finger sandwich
21. Yogurt sandwich
22. Corn cheese sandwich
23. Iyengar bakery style open sandwich

24. Veg mayonnaise sandwich

Bread Recipes

1.Bread butter jam sandwich
2.Bread uttappam
3.Masala bread sandwich
4.Bread upma
5.Bread Veg omlette
6.Bread pizza
7.Pav bhaji


Paratha Recipes

1.Paneer paratha
2.Gobi paratha
3.Hara bhara paratha
3.Cheese paratha
5.Aloo paratha
6.Spinach paratha
7.Onion paratha
8.Methi paratha /Thepla
9.Mixed veg paratha
10.Dal paratha
11.Carrot+mint paratha
12.Mooli Paratha
13.Masala chapathi
14.Thalipeeth
15.Missi roti
16.Crunchy Chocolate chapathi (Apply choco chips,crushed nuts along with nutella)
17.Nutella chapathi
15.Broccoli Paratha
16.Chapathi+jam roll
17.Plain Paratha
18.Sweet paratha
19.Cabbage Paratha
20.Lachha Paratha
21.Avocado Paratha
22.Tofu Paratha
23.Malaysian paratha

Noodles Recipes
1.Veg noodles
2.Veg Hakka noodles
3.Schezwan noodles
4.Veg Quesadilla recipe
    
Pasta Recipes

1.White sauce pasta
2.Pasta Arrabiata
3.Tomato pasta
4.Penne Pasta – Indian style
5.Brocolli pasta
6.Mac n cheese
7.Spagetti ( with tomato sauce or white sauce)
8. Easy Garlic Spaghetti
 
Other Breakfast


1.Sago kichadi
2.Ragi puttu ( make small balls & serve)
3.Idli tikka
4.Baked idli fry
5.Mini Sambar idli
6.Mini Podi idli
7.Stuffed Vegetable idli 
8.Carrot+onion+cheese uttappam
9.Mixed veg dosa
10.Wheat flour eggless Pancake
11.Podi dosa
12.Mini poori (versions: spinach,masala,beetroot)
13.Dhokla (kaman)
14.Semiya upma
15.Lemon sevai
16.Spinach paniyaram 
17.Pizza dosa
18. Lemon Poha
19. Tomato poha
20. Batata poha
21. Kanda poha
22. Instant poha idli
23. Tamarind poha

Porridge
1.Ragi malt
2.Rice porridge

Milkshake recipes



1.Banana smoothie
2.Mango milkshake
3.Strawberry milkshake
4.Apple milkshake
5.Hot chocolate
6.Vanilla milkshake with Ice cream
7.Chocolate milkshake
8.Pistachio milkshake
9.Rose milk
10.Avocado milkshake
11.Sharjah shake
12.Fruits+Veg Milkshake

Wraps & rolls
1.Potato,paneer,onion,tomato masala (roll in chapathi)
2.Kathi roll
3.Veg frankie

Rice varieties



1.Bisibelebath & Sambar sadam (add more ghee)
2.Carrot rice
3.Veg Fried rice
4.Veg pulao
5.Ghee rice
6.Peas pulao
7.Jeera rice
8.Lemon rice
9.Tamarind rice
10.Tomato rice using rice cooker
11.Curd rice
12.Biryani varieties
13.Coconut rice 
14. Poriyal, kootu sadam ( Rice mixed with dry curries & gravies topped with ghee)
15.Karnataka style chitranna
16.Tawa pulao
17.Corn pulao
18.Cauliflower rice

Salad

1.Sweet corn salad
2.Carrot cucumber salad/Kosambari
3.Fruit salad
4.Fruits + Veg Salad
5.Simple Veg Salad
6.Watermelon salad

Thanks for visiting this page.Happy cooking !
Disclaimer : I have made this post based on my own idea. Please give credits to this post & do not copy it without my permission. Thanks for understanding.

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Very Good Recipes Tags: Kids recipes indian, Kids recipes for breakfast, kids breakfast recipes, Kids lunch box ideas indian, kids lunch box ideas south indian, Kids recipes, Kids breakfast ideas, kids lunch box ideas, Kids lunch box ideas vegetarian, kids lunch box ideas for picky eaters

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Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe without condensed milk - Moist, Spongy Vanilla Cupcake Using Oil

Here is an Eggless vanilla cupcake recipe without butter (with oil) and without condensed milk. It comes out super soft, spongy and moist in texture. Yesterday my daughter Raksha told me to bake a cake using Vanilla essence as its her favorite flavor. She told ” Mummy, when I come back from the school, I should see a cake in your hand”. Its been months since I baked a cake in my kitchen.

For the past few months, I have been making only microwave mug cake recipes(refer side bar) for her after school snacks very easily within minutes. I think she got bored of them. So she badly wanted me to bake a regular cake this time. As I had already bookmarked some good cake recipes, I quickly browsed through them and tried this eggless vanilla cupcake. This recipe uses simple ingredients.

The cake raised beautifully and tasted great with moist, soft and spongy texture. I couldn’t feel its a no egg, no butter, no condensed milk cupcake. You can dare to try this recipe even if you are a beginner in baking. I have used choco chips in this cake to attract my daughter. You can add chopped nuts or even decorate the cake with simple chocolate frosting or buttercream frosting if you are interested. 

Lets see how to make this super moist cupcake from scratch.

Check out my eggless, butterless Chocolate cupcake recipe & Banana walnut muffin recipes too !

If you are eager to know the differences between a cupcake & muffin, here you go

• Cupcakes tend to be sweeter than muffins; there are savory muffins such as cornbread.
• Cupcakes are often iced or frosted, whereas muffins tend to have no topping, or a simple crumb topping.
• Cupcakes usually have a head or top no larger than the body of the cupcake; muffins are often encouraged to overflow their baking cup, so that their top is larger in diameter, giving them somewhat of a mushroom shape.
• Cupcakes are almost always, well, cupcake shaped; muffins can be made as just muffin tops.
• Cupcakes are almost never crispy or crunchy; muffins are often encouraged to brown and develop texture, especially on the top.

Eggless vanilla cupcake recipe

Eggless,moist cupcake recipe - Easy to make n bake !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Baking

Serves: 8 

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml Maida/All purpose flour - 1.25 cups ( 1 + 1/4 cup) Baking powder - 1 tsp Baking soda - 1/4 tsp Sugar - 3/4 cup Milk - 1 cup Refined oil - 1/3 cup  Vanilla essence - 1 tsp Vinegar - 1 tbsp ( synthetic vinegar) Salt – a small pinch Choco chips – 2 tbsp

HOW TO MAKE EGGLESS VANILLA CUPCAKE - METHOD

In a wide bowl sieve maida, baking powder & baking soda and a pinch of salt. Add choco chips to it. Mix well and set aside. In another bowl,mix the vinegar & milk. It will curdle slightly (U can replace vinegar with lemon juice. But I used vinegar).To this add oil,sugar and vanilla essence. Mix well till sugar dissolves.  Add the sieved flour to it and mix in one direction. It will become a thick batter. It should flow like a ribbon. If you feel, the batter is too thick, add 1-2 tsp of milk. Do not add more milk because cake will become sticky. Line a muffin tray with muffin papers. Pour the batter till 3/4th of the cup. Preheat the oven in convection mode at 180c. Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes at 180c. Remove and check it with a tooth pick. If the tooth pick comes out clean, cake is done else keep it for 1-2 minutes more. Do not over bake. Remove the cake from the tray and enjoy with tea !

Note

Add 1-2 tbsp more sugar & extra vanilla essence for more sweetness & flavor. You can bake this as a regular cake instead of cupcakes. I guess it will work. Do not over bake the cake because the outer layer will turn chewy. You can use lemon juice if you don't have vinegar in hand.

Enjoy this easy, spongy cupcake recipe with tea ! Tastes yum !!

Technorati Tags: Eggless vanilla cupcake recipe,Eggless cupcake recipe,Vanilla cupcake recipe,eggless vanilla cupcake,eggless vanilla cupcake without condensed milk,cupcake recipes,cake recipes,baking recipes

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Matar Paneer Recipe-Paneer Recipes

Matar paneer(in Hindi) / Green peas cottage cheese gravy(in English) is a classic Punjabi style masala gravy that is served as a side dish for Roti, Naan, Kulcha & Pulao varieties.I have been making it for years following the recipe of”My dhaba”. Recently I came across this low fat restaurant style recipe in “Saffron Trail” blog.I combined both the recipes & came up with this version.I prepared it for Sendhil & Raksha’s lunch box and packed with chapathi.It came out very well.As it is a low fat version,I have not fried the paneer pieces or used fresh cream here.I loved this gravy a lot.I am sure you will like it too.Do give a try.Lets see how to make this yummy Paneer recipe – Mutter Paneer Masala.

Matar Paneer Recipe

Punjabi Matar paneer recipe - Side dish for roti,naan,kulcha & pulao

Cuisine: North Indian

Category: Side dish

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Paneer/Cottage cheese - 100 gms ( 1/2 cup) Green peas - a handful Big onion - 2 nos Green chilli - 1 no ( slit) Tomato - 3 nos Cashews - 5 nos Whole garam masala-(Cinnamon - 1 small,Cloves - 1 no,Cardamom - 1 small )  Ginger - 1 inch Garlic - 5 cloves Red chilli powder - 1.5 to 2 tsp Dhania powder - 1 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp Garam masala powder - 1 tsp Salt & water - as needed Curd - 2 tbsp Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1/2 tsp Sugar - 1/8 tsp Kasoori methi - 1/2 tsp ( crushed)

METHOD

Boil a cup of water and immerse the paneer pieces till use.Make sure the water is not too hot.Cook the peas in required water.If you are using dried peas,soak it overnight and then pressure cook it before adding to the gravy.Chop the onions & tomatoes.Peel garlic & chop ginger. Heat 2 tsp of oil and saute the cashews,ginger,garlic,whole garam masala like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom ,onions & tomato pieces. Saute everything until tomato turns mushy.Cool & grind them to a smooth paste adding enough water.  ( If you wish, you can add red chilli powder, dhania powder and garam masala powder along with tomato while sauting. But make sure you don't burn the spice powders.) I added all the spice powders in the next step. Now heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and splutter cumin seeds, saute slit green chilli.Add the ground paste.Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, dhania powder & saute until the paste turns thick.Add the boiled peas.Add some water and let the gravy boil till it leaves oil. Lastly add the paneer pieces,sugar , curd & crushed kasoori methi. Boil for a minute & switch off the flame. Do not make the gravy too thick because this gravy thickens over time.So make it semi thick.Serve with roti/naan/kulcha ! Enjoy !

Note

You can skip the whole garam masala while sauting onion,tomato if you don’t want spices to be dominant.It tastes good in either ways. Add more chilli powder to make a spicy gravy.I used medium spice here. You can add fresh cream at the end to make this gravy more rich.You can also fry the paneer pieces in little oil till golden brown and add to the gravy.

Yummy & colorful Matar paneer is ready to serve with roti !Enjoy !

Technorati Tags: Matar paneer,Matar paneer recipe,Green peas cottage cheese gravy,Paneer recipes,Green peas masala,Peas paneer masala,Side dish for roti,sidedish for naan,Sidedish recipes,Gravies,North Indian recipes

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Pot Biryani Recipe/Matka Veg Biryani/ Manpaanai biryani -Vegetarian Version

I think most of you would have heard about or tasted pot veg biryani @ Matka veg biryani / manpaanai biryani in Restaurants. I came to know about this biryani from a friend recently. I browsed few recipes & watched you tube video to get some idea. Most of them were non-veg versions using marinated chicken. But as usual, I replaced chicken with paneer pieces, made few changes in the actual recipes and came up with this post. I guess most of the people in India must be having a clay pot at home. Some people might be making gravies/Vatha kuzhambu/Sunda kulambu with it. 

Do try this layer biryani using earthen pot/Matka for a change.You will love its flavor. The layered rice & the gravy cooked in slow fire lends an awesome taste. This is my 29th biryani recipe in my Sunday Lunch Recipes series. I am planning to finish this series with 2 more posts & thinking to start some other useful series for beginners. Do leave your suggestions in the comment box if you expect/need anything to be shared in this blog. I will surely try to implement them. Thanks for showing your continuous support & love across this series ! Lets check out how to make Vegetarian Matka biryani/Pot biryani recipe with stepwise pictures.

Click HERE to see my other biryani recipes of this series !

Matka Veg biryani/Pot biryani recipe

How to make flavorful biryani in mud pot/Matka

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch ideas

Serves: 2-3

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 50 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Basmati rice - 1 cup Water - 5 cups Whole spices- 1 cinnamon,1 clove,i cardamom,1 black stone flower,1 bayleaf Salt - as needed For gravy Cooking oil - 3-4 tbsp Bayleaf - 1 no Big onion - 1 no G&G paste - 1/2 tsp Tomato - 2 nos Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Dhania powder - 1.5 tsp Garam masala powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Curd - 1/4 cup Salt & water - as needed Paneer pieces or mixed vegetables - as needed To garnish Fried onion - a handful Saffron milk - 2 tbsp Mint + coriander leaves - few Ghee - 1 tbsp

HOW TO MAKE MATKA VEG BIRYANI - METHOD

Wash & soak basmati rice for minimum 30 minutes. Boil 5 cups of water adding whole spices & the required salt. When the water comes to boil,add the rice.Cook the rice till its 75% done. Cooked Rice should break into two but not mashed. Drain the excess water & remove the rice in a plate. Let it cool. Boil some water in a bowl. Add the chopped paneer pieces. Let it be in water till use. Chop the onions & tomatoes.Fry one sliced onion till its golden brown and remove in a plate. Heat oil in a mud pot and saute bayleaf, onions. Saute well. Add G&G paste. Add chopped tomatoes & saute till mushy. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder & garam masala powder. Saute well adding some salt. When it becomes thick,add 1/4 cup of curd & mix well.When it becomes a semi gravy, add the paneer pieces. Mix well.Remove half of the gravy in a bowl. Make sure there is some water in the gravy. Take the mud pot with some gravy and spread a layer of rice. Now layer the gravy with the remaining rice.Spread the mint+coriander leaves & fried onions on top.Sprinkle the saffron milk. Drizzle the ghee. Close it with a thermal foil and close it with a plate. Keep a bowl full of water over the plate. Put the mud pot in DUM under very low flame for 5-8 minutes. If you keep it for long time, there are chances for the bottom layer to be burnt. Suppose if you want to put this mixture in DUM for long time, heat a dosa tawa in high flame for 10 minutes & place the mud pot with thermal foil arrangements on top of the tawa. Let it heat in low flame for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy !

Note

Adjust the quantity of spices as per your taste.. You can replace paneer with mixed vegetables. But pressure cook the veggies before you add them in gravy. Make sure there is some water content in the gravy else biryani would burn.

Try this easy,flavorful pot biryani.Enjoy your Sunday Lunch !

Technorati Tags: Pot biryani recipe,Pot biryani vegetarian version,Matka biryani,Layer biryani,Vegetable layer biryani,clay pot biryani,earthen pot biryani,biryani recipes,biryani varieties

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Aval Ladoo / Poha Laddu Recipe - Easy Janmashtami Recipes

Poha ladoo/Aval laddu is one of the easiest laddu recipes that can be prepared in minutes. If you are looking for a simple , kids friendly sweet recipe for this Gokulashtami/Krishna Janmashtami prasad, you must try this laddu. It is prepared with just 3 main ingredients and you can do many variations in this recipe. For healthier options, you can use Red poha/Red aval and Jaggery. 

You can also add roasted coconut, rava, fried gram dal along with poha to get a good yield and make this ladoo. When I gave this laddu to Sendhil, he told its tasting the same like Rava ladoo. Yes the method of preparation and its taste are very similar to Rava Laddu. Do try this easy recipe for tomorrow’s festival and share your feedback with me. Wish you all a very happy Krishna Jayanthi celebration !! If possible I will share an interesting seedai recipe tomorrow as my last minute entry.

Lets see how to make this easy aval urundai with simple steps.

If interested check out my other easy ladoo recipes.

Paneer ladoo

Coconut ladoo

Moong Dal ladoo

Rava ladoo

Besan ladoo

Millet ladoo

Aval laddu/Poha ladoo recipe

Aval laddu/Poha ladoo recipe - Easy Gokulashtami Recipes

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 10

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 200 ml Thick Aval/Poha - 1 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Cardamom - 2 nos Clove - 1 no Melted ghee - 1/4 cup Roasted cashews - few

METHOD

Dry roast the thick aval/Poha in a kadai for 3-4 minutes in high flame with constant mixing. Please stay nearby and do this else aval may burn. So do it patiently till aval starts to puff up slightly with a nice smell. Its color will be slightly golden brown. Remove & let it cool ( you can roast 2 cardamom & 1 clove along with this. But I powdered it with sugar without roasting them.) Powder the sugar along with cardamom & clove. Take in a bowl. Powder the poha and mix with sugar powder. Mix them well. Heat the ghee and roast the chopped cashews. Add this ghee to the mixture. Mix well with a ladle till it turns warm. Now make balls and arrange them in a plate. Aval laddu is ready ! Enjoy !

Note

You can replace thick poha with thin poha. You can also use powdered jaggery instead of sugar. If you want more yield,u can powder fried gram dal or roasted rava along with poha and make this laddu. Check out some easy ladoo recipes below.. Paneer ladoo Coconut ladoo Moong Dal ladoo Rava ladoo Besan ladoo Millet ladoo

Make this easy laddu recipe and enjoy this festival !

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Krishna Janmashtami | Krishna Jayanthi Celebration At Home - Pooja Procedures

Yesterday I got a request from a reader to make a post on Krishna Janmashtami celebration / Gokulashtami celebration at home. So I have discussed how to celebrate Krishna Jayanthi/Gokulashtami/Krishna Janmashtami at home by Indians especially South Indians in a very simple way. I have also shared a video on how to draw Krishna feet using rice flour paste. Pooja procedures I have given here is based on my family's tradition. It may vary from place to place. So take this as a reference and get the guidance from your family elders.

As you all know,  Krishna Jayanthi is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Krishna. It’s a most important and sacred day for Hindus. People pray to Lord Krishna on this day and seek his blessings for a happy and good life.Krishna Janmashtami is observed on Ashtami – the eighth day of Krishna Paksha month/Shravana month i.e between mid August & early September. This year 2023, it falls on September 6th Wednesday evening. It is celebrated all over India. 

In Tamil nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and North Indian temples, Gokulashtami is celebrated in a grand manner. Festivities begin before dawn and extend all day until midnight, the exact moment of the anniversary of Krishna’s appearance. Many people observe fasting on this day till midnight and worship Lord Krishna. After Janmashtami pooja, they break their fasing by eating sweets and prasad offered to God. As a fasting rules, people consume only fruits, milk and drink lots of water. In my house, we don't have the practice of fasting on this day.

At home, we do a simple pooja in the evening i.e after 6 pm. On those days, my MIL used to do the pooja around 11 pm at night. So its better to do the pooja anytime after 6 pm till midnight. Midnight is the exact time that Krishna appeared on this planet, so it is the most auspicious and spiritually inspiring time to perform pooja.

Temples prepare at least one hundred and eight different food dishes on Janmashtami. At home, Tamil people do the pooja by offering flowers, neivedyam recipes like seedai , murukku, laddu, appam, payasam/Kheer etc and  performing Mangala aarti to Lord Krishna Idol or photo. If you are not able to prepare all these dishes,don’t worry - Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, “If you offer me with love a leaf, flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” So offer whatever you can - it’s just your love and devotion that matters.

Please click here for the full collection of Krishna Janmashtami recipes of my blog ! I have also shared a No cook Aval panchamirtham recipe with fruits to make a simple neivedyam.

Visit my in-laws blog for kolam ideas.

NEIVEDYAM RECIPES

Please click here for the full collection of Krishna Janmashtami recipes of my blog.

• Sweet seedai/Vella Seedai

• Uppu Seedai/Salt seedai

• Kai murukku

• Rice murukku, thattu vadai

• Thattai

• Sweet appam (Deep fried version)

• Sweet appam using paniyaram pan

• Poha Kheer/Choora kheer

• Butter murukku

• Paal payasam

• Vermicelli payasam

• Paal kesari/Milk sheera

• Microwave Rava Kesari

• Home made rice flour

• Homemade urad dal flour

• Ribbon pakoda

• Rava ladoo

• No cook aval panchamirtham

• Aval Payasam

• Aval/Poha Ladoo

• Besan ladoo

• Easy paal kozhukattai

• Gopalkala

• Atta ladoo / wheat flour ladoo

• Paneer kheer

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR POOJA and NEIVEDYAM

• Krishna Idol or photo frame
• Flowers/Garland for decoration
• Fruits like apple, pomegranate,Orange,banana, guava etc
• One coconut for neivedyam
• Betel leaves and nuts (Vetrilai paaku)
• Oil and ghee to light the lamp
• Rice flour and colors for drawing  Rangoli and Krishna feet.

To offer in front of GOD

• A small cup of milk, curd, butter, Poha/Aval mixed with jaggery or sugar.

These offerings are must and should even if you don’t prepare sweets and snacks.

Ingredients for making neivedyam recipes

• Raw rice and Rice flour ( for making seedai , murukku and paal payasam )
• Sesame seeds or cumin seeds
• Coconut
• Jaggery ( For vella seedai and appam)
• Banana ( for appam)
• Sugar ( for Milk payasam)
• Milk ( for payasam/Kheer)
• Urad dal and Roasted gram dal ( Pottukadalai ) ( For making seedai, murukku)
• Butter/Ghee for snacks
• Cooking oil ( to deep fry)

HOW TO CELEBRATE KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI

• Do the shopping two days before the festival and finish making the deep fried neivedyam recipes like vella seedai , Uppu seedai , Kai murukku etc on the previous day of festival. Store them in an air tight box after everything cools down completely else they may turn soggy. DO NOT TASTE IT UNTIL YOU FINISH POOJA.
• Wash the lamps and other pooja vessels on the previous day night and keep the turmeric, kumkum dots.Put the threads and oil the lamp. Suppose if  you don’t have enough time, you can do this job the next day morning or afternoon as we are going to do the pooja only in the evening after 6 pm. So its your choice.

On Gokulashtami afternoon, mix the ingredients for sweet appam and make payasam in cooker. Cook the appam around 5.30 pm. Around 4 pm in the evening, sweep the house and entrance. Draw Rangoli in the entrance and in front of the Pooja room. Draw the krishna feet from entrance till pooja room. Decorate the krishna idol by keeping flowers and garland. Make him ready for celebration :)

HOW TO DRAW KRISHNA FEET

In many houses in South India, people draw footsteps of Lord Krishna from the entrance of the house to the Puja room. These footsteps are drawn with rice flour paste and drawing these footsteps is a sign of welcoming Lord Krishna to home. Women draw patterns of tiny footsteps like those of infant Krishna. I have given a video below on how to draw krishna feet using rice flour. Please watch it to draw easily.

How to draw Krishna Feet - Video

Take a broad plate such that your hands should fit in. Dilute the rice flour adding enough water and make the paste. Do not make it too thick or too thin. Its consistency should be like dosa batter. Now fold your hands as if you are punching someone😉. Dip your side of the hand in the rice paste. It will be coated with the paste. Now make the impression on the floor. Keep 5 dots for fingers. Draw the right leg first. Repeat the same procedure using your left hand for drawing left leg. Do this alternatively. Draw both the legs together near the entrance and pooja room. 

Refer the stepwise pictures for clear understanding. For drawing legs of baby Krishna, fold your hands tightly and make the impressions as shown in pics. If you want to draw slightly bigger legs, watch this video. Alternatively, you can ask your kids to make impressions on the floor. They would enjoy doing this and help you out .

POOJA

After you finish the decoration and neivedyam preparations i.e after 6 pm, place the decorated Krishna on a plank/Peeta. Offer all the neivedyam recipes, fruits, curd, milk, butter in front of the God. Light the lamp and do the pooja, perform Mangala harathi. You can sing Krishna songs or read Bhagavad Gita/Sri Krishna Ashtakam OR simply chant “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya “means “Om, I bow to Lord Vasudeva or Lord Krishna’'in front of the GOD.

To perform a simple pooja without any special neivedyam recipes, just garland the Krishna idol, garland it. Light the lamp, Place a small cup of milk, curd, butter, Poha/Aval/rice flakes mixed with jaggery or sugar. Do the pooja and mangala harathi. Please check the picture below for reference.

The next morning, do the pooja with a simple neivedyam like dry grapes or candy (kalkandu). Remove the idol at a good time of the day ( Avoid Rahu kalam and Yama kandam ).

DISCLAIMER : The details I have shared here is purely our family’s method of celebration. It may vary from place to place based on your traditions. So please take this as a reference, consult the elders of your family for more guidance.

Thanks for visiting this page. Wish you all a very happy Gokulashtami :)

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