During some of the “Be in the Temple” satsangs that have taken place thus far in 2020, the pujari—the person performing puja—has offered naivedya; they have made a sacred offering of food to Bhagavan Nityananda. As part of this food offering, the pujari has often offered to Bade Baba a very special beverage,… Read more a beverage that has become beloved on the Siddha Yoga path—and that is Siddha Coffee.
Siddha Coffee was created by Baba Muktananda in homage to Bade Baba, his Guru. Bade Baba was from South India, where coffee plants are cultivated and coffee is a traditional beverage that many people drink.
Baba made Siddha Coffee for the first time in 1975 in the kitchen of the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland. Originally, it was known as “Baba’s Coffee,” and it was distinct for its addition of Indian spices—cardamom and nutmeg—to the sweet, milky coffee. It was an instant hit! But that was not unusual with Baba’s food.
Baba was masterful with cooking, and he loved to feed people. In the course of his travels across India as a young seeker, Baba had helped with the cooking in Siddharudha Swami’s Ashram. Later, when Baba became the Guru and embarked on his World Tours, he would feed people wherever he went.
It was a great joy and privilege to witness Baba when he was in the kitchen, to see how he treated food with such reverence, and how he guided everyone else in holding the awareness that Food Is God. Baba cooked with exuberance, efficiency, and incredible ingenuity. He would mix flavors that we might not have expected to go together, but inevitably, they would—and more wonderfully than we could imagine. He would always know when a dish needed more of a certain spice, or another squeeze of lemon. And with Baba, nothing edible was to be wasted—not even broccoli stalks.
The sum total of all of this was, of course, greater than its component parts. In Baba’s food you could not only taste ambrosial flavors, you could experience his grace, his love. Baba’s recipes did not just satiate the stomach; they satisfied the soul. Truly, in Baba’s cooking, there was divine alchemy.
This recipe for Siddha Coffee represents the best efforts of those people who cooked with Baba over the years to translate his spontaneous creation into written form. The addition of the spices is for flavor, as well as to support digestion. You see, Baba had an extensive knowledge of Ayurveda and knew how to craft food as medicine, how to select and adjust spices to aid in the digestion of specific foods, according to Ayurvedic principles. So it was with this coffee, his coffee, Siddha Coffee. Nourishing, in all ways.
I have spent the day reading on the Siddha Yoga path website, including the shares after each article, photo gallery, or talk. It was after reading the recipe for Siddha Coffee and the shares that followed that I felt happiness and joy in myself and in my memories. This is because I love offering seva, and one of my favorite ways to offer is through kitchen seva. Cooking at a Siddha Yoga Ashram is sublime, fun, rewarding, and full of grace; I am so filled with gratitude when I can offer this. So seeing a new Siddha Yoga recipe made my heart sing!
This recipe and the shares that followed reminded me of the experiences I have had over the years offering cooking seva at Siddha Yoga Ashrams. And from the way Baba came alive in stories I was told by other sevites about his approach to cooking, I learned that truly, food is God—and God is food for our soul.
Zeehan, Australia
I am grateful for this recipe for Siddha Coffee. I have fond memories of drinking Baba’s intoxicating Siddha Coffee in the early 1980s, especially when I was offering seva on the advance crew in Santa Monica. It is a special treat to make Siddha Coffee according to this recipe, while repeating the mantra and thinking of Baba!
Oklahoma, United States
When I saw the picture of the Siddha Coffee, at first my computer screen showed only the beautiful tray on which the Siddha Coffee had been served. I was admiring every facet of the arrangement: the peacock-design wares, the beautiful white flowers…. Then I thought, “Hmm, looks like an offering to the Highest.” And then I thought, “I wonder how one really makes Siddha Coffee…” And to my pleasant surprise, voilà! There it was—the recipe—when I scrolled down the page. What a gift!
What stood out for me as I read Swami Kripananda’s introduction was how Baba treated food with such reverence. I feel that practicing this consciously and consistently will also remind me that I am offering the food I eat to the Highest.
California, United States
Finding this recipe for Siddha Coffee feels like prasad to me. As I read the introduction by Swami Kripananda, I was reminded of some things my father used to share about Baba ji, as well as what I’ve heard from some elders who had served Baba ji at Gurudev Siddha Peeth, about how strict Baba was in discipline, especially concerning food.
Now when I visit Gurudev Siddha Peeth, I always look at Baba ji’s picture in Annapurna Hall when I am eating—the picture in which Baba ji is standing with his hands on his waist. That in turn reminds me of Baba ji’s teaching, "Food is God."
These memories have given me a new direction for my sadhana. When I cook at home after work, I can practice remembering this teaching of Baba ji’s, “Food is God,” and repeating it as I cook.
Valsad, India
I literally jumped up from my seat when I found this recipe! I have not enjoyed the smell and taste of Baba Muktananda’s Siddha Coffee since my last visit to Shree Muktananda Ashram more than twenty-five years ago. Reading about it now brings back all the wonderful memories—the sounds in the Ashram, the chanting, the Amrit, the aromas… I am grateful to have received this recipe in written form.
