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Publicity was the topic of conversation on many devotees' lips that morning. And there was yet more to come.

Duncan McLay: It was a hive of activity at the Hare Krsna shop in Little Lonsdale Street. Devotees were working furiously on the accessories for the chariots for Saturday's Ratha-yatra parade. Some were sewing the colourful canvases, and others were carving life-size polyurethane foam horses. I was helping Dhaumya on the finishing touches of the huge statue of Lord Caitanya.

I started to notice the smell of smoke. Suddenly, we heard: "Help! Help!" and many cries from Little Lonsdale Street. We rushed out and saw a life and death scene. There were ladies standing on the first floor balcony of the photographic studio two doors up, screaming that the building was on fire. One of them looked very pregnant, and there were flames and smoke billowing from the windows. They had been trapped and they couldn't get down. Myself and other devotees, hearing the commotion, rushed back into the shop. We grabbed the huge canopy for the tower on Lord Jagannatha's chariot, and we raced outside. Myself and three others held the canopy very tightly and we encouraged the ladies to jump. In this way, three ladies actually jumped and were saved from being burnt to death.

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While all this was going on, Srila Prabhupada entered the kitchen around mid-morning to show Dipak how to cook lunch. Despite Melbourne's cold winter, the sun shone brightly through the windows of the little kitchen. Prabhupada stood without his shirt, his soft, golden skin glowing. He looked serious; his mood was that of an instructor. Forewarned, the devotees were peering in through the back screen door and peeping through the windows to witness the historic event.

Prabhupada expertly directed the whole event. Step-by-step, he demonstrated the timeless art of cooking: "Cut like this, add this much, fry like this .. " All throughout, Prabhupada cooked with silent concentration, cleaning the stove and sink after each step, and periodically checking his wristwatch.

The crisp, white cauliflowers and potatoes were cut to size. Next they were placed in one compartment of Prabhupada's gleaming, three-tiered brass cooker, the same one that he had brought to America in 1965, which sat on the small square stove. The rice and water were placed in the second compartment; mung beans, water and turmeric for the dal in the third.

"Turmeric," Prabhupada pointed out, "is a blood purifier".

Today he would show Dipak a special rich vegetable dish. He directed Dipak to cut eggplants into very large cubes -- almost five centimetres square. Panir cheese -- which Dipak had made earlier -- was cut into similarly sized chunks. The potatoes were cut only slightly smaller. All were deep-fried in small batches in the pan of fresh hot ghee. Prabhupada stressed that the panir cheese had to be cooked until very dark brown. There was no joking and no talking other than these serious instructions.

Dipak's chapati dough had been too dry and hard, so Srila Prabhupada made another batch which he had subsequently submerged in a bowl of water. Draining off the water and kneading in a little more atta (whole-wheat flour), Prabhupada indicated the correct consistency: "As soft as your ear-lobe", he said, squeezing his own left ear to demonstrate.

When the vegetables and panir cubes were all fried, Srila Prabhupada heated some ghee in a saucepan and deftly sprinkled in cumin seeds and crushed red chillies. As the spices darkened, he added a sprinkle of asafoetida and turmeric, and a small amount of finely cut fresh tomato. The pan sizzled, especially when Prabhupada poured in a few cups of fresh whey, the liquid residue from the panir cheese. He slid the potatoes and panir cubes into the pan, followed by the eggplant and salt, and simmered them slowly.

Next he heated another small pan, added some ghee and spices and the cooked potatoes and cauliflower from the steamer, and briefly sauteed them, pouring in a little water to form a gravy which thickened and stuck to form a sizzling crust. Ghee was heated in a third little pan, and cumin, chilli and whole coriander seeds were heated, browned, and thrown crackling into the smooth, yellow dal soup. Srila Prabhupada finally spooned off the whole spice seeds from the simmering dal, then left for his massage and bath.

After bathing, he re-entered the kitchen and cooked the first few chapatis which all obediently ballooned, emitting little puffs of steam as they reached bursting point.

Everything was done in exactly one and a half hours, including the massage and bathing. Srila Prabhupada finally sat down, the cooking class completed, and prepared to take his lunch.

Pointing to the large, rich, dark chunks of fried panir cheese, now puffed and juicy from slow simmering in seasoned gravy, he smiled and looked up at Dipak. "You should cook this for the meat-eaters. They will very much appreciate. It is a 'meat-eater's delight'."

For the cooks at the Melbourne branch of Srila Prabhupada's International Society for Krishna Consciousness, this was an historic culinary moment.


- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu