Ganapati Bappa Morya

Ganapti Bappa Morya.

May lord Ganesha Give you Intelligence (as he is the deity of Wisdom and knowledge),Happiness,Prosperity and finally Peace(most important these days!).

Today is beginning of Ganeshotsava.

For the next 10 days my city will be filled with enthusiasm,joy and auspiciousness and inevitable crowd coming from nearby suburbs also.

My city is now full with many 'Mandaps' made for decorations on the road and in residential areas also.

There is no any other better way to channelize youth's tremendous energy than to give them chance for working in Ganeshotsava. Be it Doing Decorations,Dancing and playing our musical instruments like lezim and dhol in Anant Chaturdashi(Last day of our festival) parade. 

I will share some of the snaps of this festival with you all.

As today marks Birthday of  Lord Ganesha; Son of Lord Shankar and Goddess Parvati,it is our traditional custom to make his favourite dish 'Modaka's and offering  him Hibiscus flowers and durvas.The ritual is to offer our Lord Ganesha 'Naivedya' of 21 modaks and then have it for us as his 'Prasad'.

There are various types of 'Modak's made. I will share recipes of  few of them.

1. Ukdiche Modak(Indian-Maharashtrian Sweet Momos):

 Ukdiche Modak with 'Durva'

What you need:

For the covering:

½ cup Rice Flour

½ cup Water


2 tsp Ghee


A pinch of Salt






For the filling:


1 cup Coconut, shredded


½ cup Jaggery, grated


1 tsp Poppy Seeds, roasted


1 tsp Cardamom Powder






How to make:

For the filling:

1) Heat a pan and put jaggery in it


2) When jaggery starts melting, add 1 tsp Ghee and coconut to it


3) Mix well and cook on medium heat for 5-6 mins


4) Add cardamom powder and roasted poppy seeds

5) Filling is ready, keep aside to cool

Filling looks somewhat like  above

For the covering:


1) Boil ½ cup water, add ghee to it

2) Add rice flour to boiling water and mix well stirring continuously


3) Add salt, mix well and cook covered for 2-3 mins


4) Remove from heat and knead well into a soft flour when its hot


This dough is called Ukad and hence the name!

Putting it all together:

1) Make small balls of 'Ukad'.

2) Roll each ball to size of puris

3) Place this on the palm and add some filling to it(Take ball on your left hand,then put your right hand's thumb into it while rolling both hands.)

4) Bring together the ends in form of plates and form a tip and seal.Take Care that the outer 'Ukad' doesn't get broken in between. Otherwise It will spread out the whole mixture while steaming.

5) Repeat the procedure for rest of the modaks

6) Put these modaks in a steamer/cooker (do not put weight/whistle) and steam for 15-20 mins. The above ingredients make 7-8 modaks

7) Serve hot modaks with Ghee on it.Offer it to lord Ganesha and then ...no need to say the next procedure.....

2. Fried OR 'Talniche modak':

This is somewhat easier as compared to the first one.

What you need:

1 cup maida(wheat flour will also do for health conscious people)

Salt

Oil for deep frying

Filling:

3/4 cup coconut

1/2 cup jaggery

1/2 tea spn cardamom powder


1 tea spn cashews(optional)


4-5 saffron strands(optional)

How to make:

1. Heat 1 tbl spn of oil and add it to maida. Mix it very well till all the maida gets the oil. Add salt and water to make it a very stiff dough. Keep aside the dough for around 1/2 an hour.

2. Heat jaggery and coconut together till jaggery melts and forms a uniform mixture with coconut. Remove from fire and add cardamom powder, saffron strands and cashew pieces. Mix well.

3. Take small balls of the dough, roll it into small puris (if the puri becomes too thick, the modaks get a rubbery texture.) Then repeat the procedure as done in for 'Ukdiche Modak'

4.Heat oil and deep fry the modaks.

Happyy Ganesh Chaturthi to all...Ganpati Bappa Morya.

(Thankful to various sources from Internet for images and some tips)