15 Janmashtami Recipes – Easy Traditional Dishes for Krishna

Come, the auspicious Shravan month, it is time for everyone to enthusiastically exchanges Janmashtami wishes. Krishna Jayanthi images fill the mind as one thinks about the celebrations of the birthday of one of India’s favourite God and mythological characters, Sri Krishna or Lord Krishna, or simply and lovingly known as Krishna. Krishna Janmasthami or Krishna Jayanthi is a festival celebrated with great affection, joy, devotion, and fervour throughout India. Like all other festivals, food is an integral part of Janmasthami too and Janmasthami recipes are much sought after to prepare with love Krishna’s favourite food.

Temples and houses across the country start preparing Janmashtami recipes days before the festival. Read on to know more about the popular and traditional Krishna Janmashtami recipes, the story of Krishna, the important temples, and places associated with Krishna.

Janmashtami Recipes – Lord Krishna’s Favourite Food

Janmashtami is a festival that is a favourite of adults and kids alike. Kids scout for material to write Janmashtami essays, while entire families scour for Janmashtami recipes which they then prepare with great enthusiasm and offer to God. Krishna’s fondness for Butter, milk, and other milk products is legendary and hence most Janmashtami recipes are rich in these ingredients. Lord Krishna is offered 56 varieties of food which is known as Chappan Bhog.

Apart from that, various other sweets and savouries are prepared in homes across the country. There are slight variations in the Janmashtami recipes based on the different regions of India. With the advent of the Shravana month, the fifth month of the Hindu calendar, the question Janmashtami kab hai, or when is Janmashtami is on top of everyone’s mind. Read on for some of the most popular Janmashtami recipes and dishes which will help you prepare the जन्माष्टमी प्रसाद थाली ( offerings to Sree Krishna ).

Janmashtami Recipes – 15 Special Traditional Dishes for Lord Krishna | Janmashtami Prasad | Sweets For Janmashtami

Shri Krishna Jayanthi or Krishna Janmashtami is a popular Indian festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna. Here is a list of 15 popular Janmashtami recipes – prasad for Janmashtami that you could prepare at home to offer to Lord Krishna. Check out these quick and easy recipe ideas for Janmashtami – Gokulashtami recipes.

Kheer

Kheer is a traditional and auspicious dish that is mandatory in all festivals and other festive occasions. Across the country, it assumes different forms and names but is essentially a sweet dessert that marks the auspiciousness of the day. Whether it is Kheer or Payasam, this dessert occupies the prime spot in any festival menu and hence is one of the most important of Janmashtami recipes.

Kheer can be made with rice, vermicelli, lentils, etc., but milk and cream are the constant in any Kheer recipe. Check out this Sevaiyan Ki Kheer recipe.

Taler Bora

One of the popular dishes that is especially an integral part of Janmashtami recipes in Bengal is the Taler Bora. It is a sweet dish which has been deep-fried like fritters and is made from Palm fruit. Check out the recipe of Taler Bora, popular Janmashtami recipes from Bengal, here:

Malpua

Malpua is a pancake-like dessert that is a popular preparation made during festivals, especially in the north of India. It is one of the popular Janmashtami recipes. It is interesting to note that Malpua is also a favourite sweet dish eaten during the holy month of Ramzan. Check out this recipe to make your own Malpua this Janmashtami.

Maakhan Mishri

A traditional offering to Krishna is Maakhan Mishri, which is then distributed as Prasad. Maakhan Mishri is a concoction that blends fresh white butter with coarse sugar cubes known as Mishri. This is believed to have been loved by Krishna and hence this simple dish is a significant part of Janmashtami recipes, Make your Maakhan Mishri with love by checking out the recipe below:

Panjiri

Panjiri is a popular sweet from Punjab that packs loads of nutritional value as it is full of dry fruits. It is essentially made of whole wheat flour, sugar, dry fruits, and herbal gum. Do Check out the Panjiri recipe, one of the important Janmashtami recipes below:

Shrikhand

Another favourite milk-based preparation that caters to Krishna’s love of milk products is Shrikhand. It is made from strained curds with added sugar and flavours. Here is a recipe for preparing Mango Shrikhand which is one of the best flavours of Shrikhand.

Panchamrit

Panchamrit is essentially the holy liquid preparation that is used for the worship of Hindu Gods and Goddesses during Puja rituals. Panchamrit literally means “5 Nectars”, and is a mixture of 5 ingredients namely Milk, Curd, Honey, Ghee, and coconut water. There may be slight variations in the ingredients based on regional preferences. Panchamrit is used to bathe the idol of Krishna and then is served as holy tirtha to devotees. Check out the method of preparing Panchamrit here.

Chakli/Muruku – Janmashtami Special

Chakli or Muruku is a popular snack in the southern states of India and is an essential dish that forms a part of the Janmashtami recipes. Here is a quick recipe to make crispy chaklis for Janmashtami.

Poha

The association of Poha or beaten rice with Krishna is legendary. Everyone knows the story of how Sudama took a handful of Poha as a gift when he went to meet Krishna at Dwarka. Krishna accepted this humble gift and relished the Poha lovingly. Poha is an important and auspicious part of the offering to Krishna on Janmashtami. Poha is prepared in different ways, however on the occasion of Janmashtami, all preparations including Poha ( salt version ) are made without the use of onions or garlic, and only sattvic ingredients are used. Here is the recipe of the Poha – sweet Poha which can be offered to the Lord and then distributed as Prasad.

Peda

Peda is another popular sweet made from milk. Across India, there are different types of Pedas. It is beleved that the Peda originated from Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna. Pedas are available at sweet shops across the country, but they can also be made at home, check out how you can make Mathura Ka Peda at home:

Besan Laddoo – Gokulashtami Recipes

No festival or festive occasion is complete without the presence of the ubiquitous Laddoo. These spheres of ecstasy can take various forms like Motichoor Ke Laddoo or Besan Ke Laddoo. Here is a recipe of Besan Ke Laddoo which can be easily prepared at home and offered to the lovable Krishna on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami.

Kodubale

Kodubale is a very popular snack in the southern states of India. It is also made during festivals and especially so during Krishna Janmashtami. These are made from rice flour. The rice flour dough is mixed with salt, chilly powder, etc., and shaped into rings that resemble bangles, and these are deep-fried. Check out this Kodubale recipe for your Janmashtami spread.

Ghiya Halwa / Lauki ka Halwa

A very delicious sweet preparation using the most unlikely ingredient is Ghiya Halwa or Lauki Halwa or Dudhi Halwa. Yes, the humble Bottle Gourd assumes a heavenly avatar in the form of the dessert. The best part is that this sweet can be easily prepared at home and in quick time too. Check out this recipe and reach out for the bottle gourd.

Coconut Barfi / Nariyal Barfi – Janmashtami Prasad Recipe

A sweet dish with minimal ingredients that can be made quickly and easily at home is Coconut Burfi. This sweet essentially uses the goodness of coconut to give a creamy and sweet taste which lingers for a long time. You can please Krishna with this sweet dish prepared from coconut and lots of love. Check out one of the easiest and simplest of the Janmashtami recipes below:

Basundi – A Quick and Easy Recipe

Another milk-based dessert which is the star of many festivals is Basundi. It is a lovely preparation made from condensed milk and sugar, a great addition to Janmashtami recipes. Check out this quick recipe for details of how to make this dessert. Lord Krishna loves milk and Basundi is one of the best dishes that you can prepare and offer to Shri Krishna to please him.

The Krishna Story in Brief

Now that the sweets and savouries are ready to be offered to Krishna, it is befitting to recall the story of this multi-faceted God who was an avatar of Lord Vishnu. Most of us have been enthralled by the stories of Krishna that we listened to on our mothers or grandmothers laps. We have written paragraphs on Janmashtami as part of Janmashtami essays in school. But here are 10 lines on lord Krishna to fill our beings with his divine love.

Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudev in Mathura while they were imprisoned by Kamsa. Kamsa was Devaki’s brother who haunted by a prophecy that the eighth child of Devaki would be the reason for his death, was killing all of Devaki’s children.

However miraculous circumstances ensure that the infant Krishna is left in Gokul where he is brought up by his foster parents Nand and Yashoda. Krishna grows up as a cowherd and soon leaves for Mathura where he kills Kamsa and crowns his imprisoned grandfather Ugrasen as the king of Mathura.

Krishna later established the city of Dwarka and played a neutral but important role in the Kurukshetra war. As the charioteer of Arjun, he delivered the famous Geetopadesha or the message of the Gita.

Krishna who is acknowledged as the avatar of Vishnu ended his avatar at a place called Bhalka Tirth near Somnath in Gujarat. While resting underneath a tree, an arrow shot by a hunter who mistook him for a deer, lodged in his heel and he left the mortal body. The last rites of Krishna were done by Arjun at a place called Dehotsargh Teerth.

But Krishna was not a mere mortal, he is worshipped as an avatar of Vishnu, descended on earth to destroy evil and deliver the message of the Bhagavad Gita. His message of love and devotion is immortalized in the celebration of Janmashtami which commemorates the day of his advent on earth. Some see Krishna as a mischievous and innocent child, while some worship him as an avatar.

Go ahead and celebrate Krishna Janmashtami with joy, spread out a repertoire of dishes for Krishna, but remember, what matters most for him is the offering of love and devotion.

patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah

If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit a water, I will accept it.

Bhagavad Gita-Chapter 9

Important Krishna related places in India are Dwarka, Udupi, Nathdwara, Mathura, Guruvayoor, Vrindavan, and Puri

Janmashtami Shopping

If you are looking for Janmashtami decoration ideas or doing Janmashtami shopping and want to buy some puja items for Lord Krishna, we have it covered here. Go ahead and do your Janmashtami shopping.

We hope you liked our post about Janmashtami recipes and that you try them out if you are not already doing so during this Janmashtami. Do share with us any of your own unique Janmashtami recipes, through the comments section. We leave you with Janmashtami wishes. May the smile of Krishna always be with you. 

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