Manbhog for puja

Manbhog is one of the most important food items used in puja for making the religious offering. It is similar to halwa or halva. However, rather than semolina or carrot, it is made out of wheat flour and is especially used during the holy offerings. The pujas like Bishnu-Laxmi puja, Satyanarayan puja, other Laxmi pujas and other pujas are incomplete without manbhog in Nepal. One of the most popular sweet offerings used in puja, manbhog can also be made at home for other purpose like for having as a sweet snack. It is simple to prepare and does not require much time, ingredients or efforts.



Here is one of the ways of making manbhog:

Ingredients:

Wheat flour, ghee or clarified butter, milk or hot water, sugar, cashew, raisin, coconut, date and almond.

manbhog

Procedure:

First of all, take a blender and grind cashew, raisin, coconut, date and almond together forming rough powder. Now, take a pan and put milk or water (as you desire) to heat. Then, take another pan and heat ghee in it. When the ghee is heated, add the wheat flour into it and stir fry it. Keep stirring it in order to avoid it from burning. When the color of the flour begins to look like red, then add the hot milk or water into it. Then, add sugar according to your taste and add the powdered dry fruits to it and stir it to mix thoroughly. When the milk or water evaporates and you have a thick chunk, switch off the heat and put it in a bowl. Your manbhog is ready to be used in the holy offering as a Prasad or simply serve it as a snack.