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A Fixed Recipe, Cooked While Praying, Shared Without Exception

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A Fixed Recipe, Cooked While Praying, Shared Without Exception

Karah Prasad is made to a specific fixed ratio, equal parts wholemeal flour, clarified butter and sugar, with water, cooked together in a large iron karahi, and the cooking itself is treated as a ritual act rather than ordinary food preparation, carried out while reciting specific prayers rather than in silence.

Who prepares it, and under what conditions

Volunteers, sevadars, prepare Karah Prasad in the gurdwara's langar kitchen, and preparation is expected to be done in a state of ritual cleanliness, having bathed beforehand, with some traditions calling for five people, echoing the five baptized Sikhs of the Panj Pyare, to stir it together. There is no ordained priesthood in Sikhism, so this is a service role open to trained community volunteers rather than a clergy function.

Distribution without restriction

Once blessed, Karah Prasad is distributed to every person present at the end of a service without exception, regardless of caste, religion or status, a deliberate statement of equality that stands in contrast to the tighter handling restrictions placed on some consecrated substances elsewhere in this list. It is meant to be consumed in full at each serving rather than stored, so there is no leftover or disposal question to address, what is prepared is what is shared.

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