Feast with Ganesha

If Lord Ganesha is here, can traditional dishes and festivities be far behind? Come Ganesh Chaturthi and the homes get ready to welcome the elephant  god in true festive spirit and with  great fanfare.

At Vaidehi Vinod Khole’s residence, it’s time to prepare the steamed modaks and khoya sweets. “Traditionally, one cooks around 16 varieties of vegetables for Ganpati. If that’s not possible, then at least  five dishes are cooked,” says Khole, who is an auditor at the Indian Meteorological Department.

On the first day when goddess Gauri (mother of Lord Ganesha) is brought home, moong dal khichdi is served. As Khole explains, “It is believed that when Gauri enters the home, she is hungry and so one should prepare food as fast as possible to serve her.” Puranpolis and dalia kheer are made as naivedya (offerings made to god) on Gauri visarjan day.

The Ganesh Chaturthi day is a fasting day, especially for women. “We do not eat rice on this day and food is cooked without onion, garlic and tomato,” explains Aparna Sthalekar, a pre-primary school teacher. A ground spice mixture made of dried red chillies, coriander seeds, turmeric, mustard seeds and tamarind is used in all the vegetable preparations along with a garnishing of coconut. Of importance is a vegetable preparation made up of five leafy vegetables — spinach, colocasia leaves and lal bhaji to name a few.

“Another special dish is the khatkhatem — a mixed vegetable dish that includes lady’s finger, pumpkin, corn and is eaten with puffed puris,” adds Sthalekar. For sweets, besides the modak, seviyan kheer, sabudana kheer and til ke laddoo are also served.

Harun Sonone, executive chef, The Resort, Malad and also a Maharashtrian, cooks a variety of chiwdas and modaks during Ganesh Chaturthi. Hailing from the Vidharbha region of Maharashtra, Sonone recalls celebrating Ganpati attending pujas at all the neighbourhood houses.

“Sheera (sweet semolina) and basundi (sweet, flavoured yoghurt) are the favourites during this time, since they are the cheapest to prepare,” he says. Since it’s a fasting day, he prepares dishes using potatoes, sabudana (sago), dry fruits and peanuts.

The festive season is celebrated with great fanfare and is a big affair even at South Indian homes. They prepare a huge meal that is freshly cooked and avoid using onions and garlic, but have liberal sprinklings of coconut.

Reetha Balsavar, a Manglorean, lists traditional dishes like khotte (idli batter steamed in jackfruit leaves), patrado — made from colocasia leaves with a coconut tamarind and chilly paste and kairas — peanuts and capsicum in a tamarind, coconut, red chilly and jaggery sauce as traditional favourites.

“There are favourite dishes which vary according to every household. At our place, we prepare tendli (gherkin) cashew curry speciality” adds Balsavar.

Chaklis, laddoos, karanji, modaks (all deep fried) are eaten as snacks and the sweet dish is usually Madgane — a lentil pudding made of chana dal, jaggery, coconut milk and cashewnuts and flavoured with cardamom.

The favourite modak, said to be Lord Ganesha’s favourite food is a must in every home. Wrapped in a rice flour dumpling, the coconut and jaggery filling is steamed and served hot and is a delicacy not to be missed at all.

So, this Ganesh Chaturthi, welcome the benevolent elephant god with traditional and sweet tidings such as these.