Geeta jayanti is celebrated on the 25 th of December.  It is on this day about 5000 years back, Geeta was ‘Given out’ to Arjun by Lord Krishna himself.

Arjun was a Hindu prince who had to face his own relatives in a battle. The dusty plains of Kurukshetra, India was the battlefield. His charioteer, Lord Krishna himself in a dialogue discusses the three important threads, namely, the nature of divine, Yog ( to connect ) or the various ways of making the connection with the divine, and the eternal conflict between renunciation and action.

The western world has been fascinated by, ” The songs of God “, as Geeta is also. known. as.take for example Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem, “Brahma”, to T.S Elliots’s Four Quartets, John Adam’s Doctor Atomic. Henry David Thoreau described ‘Geeta” as a “stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy in comparison with which our modern world and literature seem puny and trivial”.

In the 11th chapter Krishna gives a mystic vision to Arjun to realize god’s true self, for it is impossible for the normal eye to see that. It is glorious and ghastly at the same time. Robert Oppenheimer the lead scientist with the nuclear bomb quoted Krishna to describe the fierceness and power of the detonation.

Sesame seeds are rich in fibre, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, support healthy bones. Both these and jaggery help keep the body warm in winter months. It is a common  combination for many snacks or desserts in the winter months.

Recipe; About 30-35 pieces depending on the size.

Ingredients;

Sesame seeds                                     1 cup

Jaggery pieces                                      1 cup

Ghee                                                     2 Tbsps

Milk powder                                          1 Tbsp

Cardamom powder                                1/2 tsp

Almonds                                                1/3 c

Pistachio slivers                                     1 Tbsp

Goji berries                                            1 tbsp

Method;

Dry roast the almonds, cut them in large pieces.

Dry roast the sesame seeds till they pop, very slight change in colour, a few minutes. Let it cool completely. Add the milk powder. Coarse grind the mixture, add the cardamom powder and set aside.

On the counter top, set a silicone baking sheet or Silpat, grease a pizza cutter and a parchment paper.

In a non stick pan take the ghee on high heat, let it melt. Add the jaggery pieces with one table spoon of water. Crank the heat down cook until all the jaggery melts, bubbling all through. Take a small bowl of water, pour a small spoon full of the melted jaggery in it. It should set hard and break in pieces, when tried with fingers.

Put the gas off. Pour the sesame seed mixture and the almond pieces. Mix carefully and completely. Transfer this mixture to the Silpat. Cover this with the greased parchment paper, roll with a rolling pin till about a 1/4 inch thickness. garnish with the dried berries and slivered pistachios. Use the pizza cutter or a knife to cut pieces to your choice.

These store well in an air tight container for about three weeks.