Sabudana Wada, and an attempt to return to cooking

This is two posts in one, but both somewhat related...

On Ekadashi, some people abstain from taking food (a total fast); while some others abstain from eating grains and pulses. Recently, I've started the second type of abstinence. Although I try not to consume grains / pulses, I can hardly get along without eating something. So, I consume some fruits and something made out of sabudana (sago). Some people do believe that sabudana is not a good thing to consume...but we shall let that be for the present.

Sabudana wada and sabudana khichadi are two preparations that are often prepared in some Maharashtrian homes during fasting. Outside, in restaurants, sabudana wada is hardly prepared well. I've yet to come across some restaurant that makes nice sabudana wadas (even the usual suspects (Panshikar, etc.) fail to impress here). But, there is one place I know which makes out-of-the-world sabudana wadas. The Hare Krishna temple at Juhu has a stall that sells samosas, and batata wadas. This stall also sells sabudana wadas (only on Ekadashi days). Those sabudana wadas are the tastiest I've ever had in my entire life. Sometimes, the wadas are all sold out before I reach the stall...in which case, I've to get along with the wadas dished out in regular Udipi restaurants.

To understand the complexity of getting the sabudana wadas / Khicadi right, take a look at this article (sabudana pilaf) by Kurma Dasa.

Recently, inspired in part by Govinda's tasty dishes (one wonders how they could make it taste so well without using onions and garlic), and part by Kurma Dasa, I am attempting to return to cooking. The last time I cooked was when I was away from home. That time, cooking meant frying onions in oil, adding garam masala, and then adding whatever was to be cooked. This time, however, I'm going to do things differently. Kurma Dasa's excellent collection of recipes do not include onion and garlic (and obviously no meat / eggs). I hope to get close to the taste offered by Govinda's. Of course, all cooking is to be done with devotion to the Supreme Lord, and offered to the Lord first before eating, since, in the Bhagavad Gita (Bg. 3.13), the Supreme Lord says:

The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.

And, in Bg. 9.27, the Supreme Lord says:

O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.