48-59 Cooking for Krishna II

Verse 48
"Hey Shashimukhi! You can carefully make sweet dadhi-bataka. Hey Sumukhi! You prepare sharkarapatti. Oh Manimati! You prepare a variety of pishtaka.

Rasa-tarangini Tika: Dadhi-bataka are sweet balls floating in yogurt. Sharkarapatti is sweet-rice made with date molasses. Pishtaka are rice-cakes cooked in ghee adding various kinds of flour and sweeteners in different sizes and shapes. Sumukhi is a priya sakhi who serves under Lalita.

Verse 49-50 
"Oh child Kanchanavalli! Make laddus using thin strips of white flour that are fried in ghee. Hey Manorama! You can make manohara laddus. Hey Ratnamala! You can prepare mauktika laddus.

"Hey Madhavi! Using huskless fried sesame seeds, you prepare tila-kadamba. you can also add molasses to the sesame seeds and cut them into squares."

Rasa-tarangini Tika: Madhavi is a priya sakhi who serves under Vishakha.

Verse 51-54 
"Hey Bindhya! Make three types of sweet balls from flat-rice, puffed rice and mung dahl powder. First fry them in ghee, and then boil them in sugar water.

"Oh Rambha! Prepare karambha by mixing ripe bananas and sugar with yogurt and cornmeal in a golden bowl. Oh Manojna! Make fresh mango juice, adding sugar and thick milk.

"Hey Kilimba! This morning we milked the cow named Sugandha and churned the milk into butter. You can use this special butter to make ghee.

"Oh Ambika! Vraja Raja Nanda has personally milked Dhabali and sent her milk for Krishna and Balaram's consumption. Can you slightly stir this milk!"

Rasa-tarangini Tika:
Kilimba and Ambika are nurses who breast feed Krishna. Yet Ambika is Krishna's foremost nurse and Mother Yashoda's closest friend. Dhabali and Shabali are amongst Krishna's dearest cows.

Verse 55-56
"Oh daughters! Quickly go to the milk storehouse that is wiped with cow-dung. There you will find the sifting spoons, clay pots, wooden bowls and many cooking stoves.

"Hey Dhanishtha! You should go there and supervise to help collect all of those utensils from their respective storage areas.

Rasa-tarangini Tika:
Rambha, Manojna and Dhanishtha are Mother Yashoda's maidservants. Yet amongst all of the dasis at Nandalaya, Dhanishtha is the chief. She is also a priya sakhi grouped with Lalita's assistants.

Verse 57
"Hey Ranganmalika! Go with Tulasi to the storeroom and help the dasis bring everything needed for the cooking."

Rasa-tarangini Tika: Ranganmalika (or Ranganmala) is another name for Sri Rupa Manjari.

Verse 58-59 
"Hey Indumukhi! Gather amra for chutney, mangoes, pomegranates, teti (a small round fruit), kula (berries), pilu fruits and ginger, placing them in golden bowls. You can also bring tamarind, amala, mango, kula and other types of delicious acara (pickled items) which have been preserved in sugar, salt and oil.

"Oh daughters Shande, Shudhe, Bharani, Pibari and Mishtahasta! Quickly bring the best milk that the servants brought from the goshala. Place it on the oven and begin stirring it."