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By Madhava Smullen<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Few prasadam stories from New Vrindaban\u2019s history are as legendary as those of the late Amburish Dasa\u2019s sweet rice and Pitambar Dasi\u2019s ice cream.<\/p>\n Straight from the cow barn and prepared by the cowherd couple with deep love and devotion, they were much-craved treats in the austere lives of New Vrindaban\u2019s early devotees.<\/p>\n Neither Amburish nor Pitambar had any cooking or cow-care experience before becoming devotees. Amburish, a city boy from Denver, Colorado, stopped at New Vrindaban on a road trip in 1971 just after high school, and instantly knew he was home. He moved to New Vrindaban and was initiated by Srila Prabhupada that same year.<\/p>\n Pitambar met devotees chanting at a craft show while living as a hippy in California\u2019s Santa Cruz mountains. When one of the devotees told her all about New Vrindaban, she was similarly drawn to the place \u2013 she stayed over night at her first visit on Radhastami 1976, and never left.<\/p>\n Soon after, she received the service of caring for the calves, and met her husband-to-be Amburish in the barn, where he was in charge of the cows.<\/p>\n Amburish leading a Bahulaban Kirtan early 1980s in New Vrindaban<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Amburish made an instant impression. An excellent kirtan leader and pujari, he was well known for his dedication, hard work and enthusiasm. \u201cHe could often be seen running from one service to another,\u201d recalls his long-time friend Advaita Das. \u201cHe did not walk, he ran.\u201d<\/p>\n But most of all, Amburish loved serving the cows.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were his heart and soul,\u201d Pitambar says. \u201cThey weren\u2019t just cows, they were like mirrors of his family. There were hundreds of them, and he named them all, and remembered their names. He involved our children, too \u2013 when our first son was born, he sat him on a cow when he was just two hours old. And our three sons \u2013 Nitai, Acarya and Anandamaya \u2013 were always playing in the barn while we were milking.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Amburish kept meticulous records of all the cows\u2019 activities, births, deaths, names, locations, and milk production amounts. He worked in the barn from early morning till late at night. He attended veterinarian school, so that he could deliver and breed the cows, and take care of all their medical needs.<\/p>\n Amburish showing Prabhupada new calves at Bahulaban Barn 1976 in New Vrindaban<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And he saw Krishna in all of it. \u201cHe would tell us, \u2018When you clean the barn, clean it so nicely that Krishna will want to bring Radharani here to take a walk through it,\u2019\u201d Pitambar says. \u201cHe would blast out the Govindam prayers to call the cows in from the pasture. And he always chanted while milking them.\u201d<\/p>\n The fresh, whole milk from cows protected with such love and devotion was an essential part of Amburish\u2019s legendary sweet rice.<\/p>\n But so, too, was the way he applied that same care and devotion to preparing the dish.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst he would go take a shower, and get dressed in his dhoti and brahmana thread, as if he was getting ready for pujari work,\u201d says Pitambar.<\/p>\n Then Amburish would carefully measure out all the ingredients, which at different times included spices like bay leaves, camphor, and cardamom but eventually were reduced to a pure blend of just four items: fresh milk, rice, sugar and raisins.<\/p>\n Cooking outside over a wood fire in a huge 30 gallon pot, he would alternately scrape the bottom of the pot to keep the sweet rice from burning, and aerate the milk with a one gallon ladle. Consistency was king, and Amburish wanted it to be perfect. Meanwhile, he chanted bhajans the entire time without cessation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just so magical to watch,\u201d says Pitambar.<\/p>\n Depending on the time of year, Amburish would then cool the sweet rice in a stream, a root cellar, or a snowbank. The resulting dish was a Sunday or festival treat that inspired feverish devotion in a New Vrindaban community that lived on an austere diet during the week. One tradition on Balarama Rasayatra saw Amburish hiding the sweet rice out in the pasture for Lord Balarama and his Gopis, which the devotees would hunt desperately for at night, to no avail.<\/p>\n \u201cI had experienced sweet rice before, but Amburish\u2019s sweet rice took the experience to a new level,\u201d says Advaita. \u201cTo this day I have never tasted sweet rice anywhere \u2013 at any other temple or restaurant \u2013 that even comes close.\u201d<\/p>\n\n![](\"http:\/\/www.brijabasispirit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Amburish-leading-a-Bahulaban-Kirtan-early-1980s-in-New-Vrindaban.jpg\")
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