7 Traditional Desserts or Sweet Recipes for Ganesh Chaturthi Festival

7 Traditional Desserts or Sweet Recipes for Ganesh Chaturthi Festival

7 Traditional Desserts or Sweet Recipes for Ganesh Chaturthi Festival

Ganesh Chaturthi is a 10 day festival that starts on the 4^th day of the Hindu calender month of Bhadrapada and falls on 13^th September 2018 this year. One of the biggest festivals celebrated all over, in Maharashtra, especially the festival is like a 10 day celebration. Mumbai welcomes Bappa, as he is fondly called in Marathi with much enthusiasm and fervour. Numerous pandals (temporary stages or mandaps that are installed) in every nook and corner of the city, welcome and house the deity for 10 days until Visarjan. The Visarjan i.e. carrying the idol to a nearby pond or lake for immersion process is carried out usually on 1.5 days, 5 days, 7 days and then 10^th day. Commonly all the home Ganpatis are immersed on either the 1.5 day or 5^th day with Gauri visarjan.

During these 10 days, the entire city is lit up and everyone is busy either visiting family and friends to seek darshan of the Lord at their homes or pandal hopping throughout the city. Needless to say, this is an experience in itself and most Mumbaikars like me, await the arrival of Lord Ganesha with joined palms and praying lips.  

Bappa Or Lord Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and is also known as the Lord of New Beginnings and that is the reason, any pooja at home should always begin with a small Ganesh pooja followed by other deities. For commencing any new project or work, a Ganesh Pooja is a must as he is also referred to as Vignahartha or the Remover of Obstacles.

“Om Ekadantaya Vidmahe Vakratundaya Deemahi, Tanno Danti Prachodaya” is a Sanskrit Shok that requests the Lord to remove all the obstacles and help one succeed.

Ganesha is a food lover and his favourites are Ladoos and Modaks. The 10 days are no less a feast and every house hold churns up variety of meals for neivedya or the lunch  dinner meal that is served to Bappa on all the days along with his favourite sweets.

When it comes to Ganesh Chaturthi, I fast for all the 10 days until Visarjan, don’t consume onion and garlic meals at home and celebrate this festival with dedication and devotion.  Why this festival is so special to me? You can read it here – My last year’s blog post depicting the festival, a little bit about my connection with the Lord and his blessings that he showers on me and family every single day.

This blog post has combined 7 desserts or sweets recipes from the blog, which can be offered as prasad or simply gifted to family friends whom you plan to visit for these 10 days.

Kozhukattai / Ukadiche Modak or Steamed Dumplings with Rice Flour, Coconut and jaggery that are utmost special to Lord Ganesha. They are made with gluten free rice flour and filled with jaggery and grated coconut and steamed. Served with a dollop of fresh tup or ghee, this is a sheer delight and made in odd numbers like 7, 11, 21 etc and offered to the Almighty as Prasad or Neivedya.

Semiya Payasam is a quick Vermicelli kheer that is made with milk. This is one of the easiest dessert recipes to make and serve as prasad as it takes very less time and few ingredients.

Holige, Puran Poli is yet another speciality from Karnataka and Maharashtra. It is made with whole wheat flour, filled with jaggery and chana dal, aromatics and cooked with generous amount of ghee and served hot with some more ghee and warm milk. This is generally made and served as part of bhog thali or the lunch thali to the Almighty.

Sugar Free Basundi is a dessert speciality in both Maharashtra and Gujarat. My version uses dates to sweeten the basundi which otherwise uses sugar. A healthy twist to the usual basundi, this one is absolutely delicious and can be served with hot pooris and some Batatyachi Bhaji (no onion and garlic) on the side.

Nariyal Barfi or Coconut Barfi is a dessert common in Maharashtra and South India. Freshly grated coconut with a one string sugar syrup and some cardamom powder is all you need to make this barfi and serve Lord Ganesha. You can make this in advance and store for a couple of days, in case you are running short of time and have too many guests at home.

Rava Ladoo is a simple easy dessert or sweet recipe that can be made and stored in advance like the Nariyal barfi. Few ingredients, ghee makes this a delicious prasad option.

Mysore Pak and more specifically the Shree Krishna Style Mysore Pak which is the South Indian dessert variety that again, can be made in advance requires a good amount of ghee, sugar and gram flour or besan. This can be made and packed as gifts to friends and family too when visiting their home.

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi. May the Lord bless you and your family with wisdom, generosity and remove all obstacles. 

If you try any of the recipes above, please give me a shout out on any of my social media handles.

Vidya Narayan