Seek the Blessings of Lord Ganesha and Feast on Delicious Food Items on the Auspicious Occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi 2019

Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations include four rituals.

• Pranapratistha: It's the first step or ritual of the Ganesh Chaturthi. During this, a statue or figurine of Lord Ganesha in brought at the center of the pandal around which people celebrate by singing and dancing and playing with colors all around.
• Shodasopachara: The second ritual involves worshiping Lord Ganesha by singing various aartis and chantings.
• Uttarpuja: After the above two rituals are concluded, the idol of Lord Ganesha is moved from his original position and is moved around by people for everyone to take his blessings.
• Ganpati Visarjan: The final stage is of Ganpati Visarjan in which Lord Ganesha is visarjit into a water body such as a river, sea or the ocean. It is believed that Lord Ganesha gets united with his family after travelling across seas.

Following are the snack options for Ganesh Chaturthi:

• Panchakajjaya: It is an offering made to Lord Ganesha during this festival in parts of Karnataka. It is a mixture of crushed coconut, roasted Bengal gram powder, sugar, ghee, and sesame. Different versions of panchakajjaya are made.
• Coconut Rice: This dish is one of the most common offerings to a god or goddess in South India. It is prepared by soaking white rice in coconut milk . The delicious dish makes for one of the most loved bhog items.
• Karanji: A traditional Maharashtrian sweet snack recipe. It also has sweet coconut stuffing with crispy crust.
• Puffed Rice: Lord Ganesha is as benevolent and loving towards the poor as he is to the rich. Rice, which have are delicious and cheaply available, are turned into modaks with jaggery and served to Ganesha.
• Batatayachi bhaji: It is dry potato dish made with boiled, cubed potatoes with very minimal spices.
• Poori: The very popular Indian deep-fried and puffed bread made from whole wheat flour, salt, and water.
• Poori Bhaji: Made with dry potato vegetable and served with puffed pooris. This is a very popular food for Maharashtrian’s as they consume it for breakfast.
• Matki Usal: It is made from sprouted moth beans, boiled potatoes and also flavored with goda masala.
• Batata Poha: A quick breakfast dish made out of flattened rice with potato.
• Batatayachi bhaji: It is dry potato dish made with boiled, cubed potatoes with very minimal spices.

Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations are incomplete without including these sweet items:

• Varan Bhaat: It is a maharashtrian style dish, Healthy, delicious dal recipe made from toor dal and served with cooked rice.
• Goan Varan Bhaat: It is yet another simple dal made with toor dal and coconut. This is also served with cooked rice.
• Sabudana Thalipeeth: This is a savory pancake made from tapioca pearls. It is also eaten during fasts.
• Basundi: This recipe is made with Sweetened and thickened milk with chopped nuts, along with that it is flavored with cardamom and saffron.
• Srikhand: It is made with strained yogurt and sugar and flavored with saffron, cardamom and garnished with nuts. It is popular across Maharashtra and Gujarat.
• Shankarpali: A form of biscuits which is sweet, crispy yet melt in your mouth texture, deep fried, whole wheat flour biscuits.
• Panchamrut: It is a traditional drink used as offering to God from a long time. It is believed to be nourishing and purifying and later given in form of prasad. The name signifies that it is a nectar like substance made with five ingredients including dairy products and honey. It has an amazing aroma as well.
• Puran Poli: This dish is also favorite in the list of bhog offered to Lord Ganesha on Ganesha Chaturthi. Puran Poli is a flat bread made out of maida stuffed with sweet lentils and jaggery.

Want to try other delicious recipes for Ganesh Chaturthi? Here are the options:

• Moong Daal Khichdi: This dish is made with moong dal and rice with very minimum whole spices.
• Amti: This is a flavorful dal recipe made from toor dal with a touch of sourness and flavored with goda masala.
• Sabudana Vada: This dish is made from tapioca pearls, peanuts, and potatoes. They are shaped into small discs and then deep fried.
• Medu Vada: Medu Vada is a traditional South Indian dish that is commonly prepared in almost every South Indian household. On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, devotees offer the delicious medu vada to their God as a part of the offering or bhog.
• Banana sheera: Banana Sheera is an easy to make sweet dish , which is one of the common offerings to Lord Ganesha. It is made of mashed bananas, semolina and sugar.
• Rava pongal: Rava Pongal is prepared with a lot of ghee and is a delicious breakfast snack in South India. Made with rava (sooji) and moong dal, and topped with flavourful seasonings, the pongal is an absolute treat.
• Satori: Satori is a Maharashtrian sweet flat bread, and one of the most loved festive recipes of Maharashtra. It is a rich delicacy made from khoya or mawa, ghee, besan and milk.
• Payasam: No kind of offering to god is ever complete with India's favorite festive dish - Payasam. Payasam is a traditional South Indian dish(kheer). Rice is cooked in milk along with jaggery, coconut and cardamom is a hit all over the sub-continent. One can also experiment with Payasam, and cook your God’s interesting many versions of it like Pineapple Payasam, Carrot Payasam etc.
• Apple Kheer: Kheer is an intrinsic part of every Indian celebration. The milk and rice pudding goes back years in time and is perhaps one of the oldest traditional recipes linked with the festival.
• Karjikai or Karigadubu: Karjikai or karigadubu is made with ingredients such as maida, sugar, poppy seeds, fried gram (or any nuts) and coconut. It is popularly known by different names like karanji, gujiya and kajjikayalu. Karjikai recipe is easy to make and also it is very tasty and because of these two qualities the recipe is prepared during ganesha festival. Karjikai is also famous by the name of karigadubu in Karnataka.

When it comes to Modak or laddoo, some the types are mentioned below.

• Fried Modak: It is a variation where modaks are fried rather than steamed. In this the outer covering is made from whole wheat flour and hence it is bit dense as compared to the ones made out of finely milled flour (also called maida).
• Boondi Laddoo: This type of modak is bright orange, moist and filled with ghee, Boondi ladoo is a festive favourite. Boondi ladoo is also known as motichoor ladoo in many parts of the country. The word 'motichoor' means 'crushed pearls' in Hindi. This ladoo, dipped in sugar syrup, is very easy-to-make at home too.
• Dark Chocolate Nutty Laddoo: This type unique modak contains the richness of a dark chocolate teamed with amazingly nutritious nuts.
• Ragi Modak: It is modak which is prepared using finger millet flour, jaggery, ghee and desiccated coconut. Ragi laddu is a very easy to prepare and healthy laddu.
• Kesari Modak: This is one of the most famous Modaks. It is prepared by mixing Kesar in milk and then cooking the milk till it thickens and then preparing the Modak laddos.
• Chocolate Cheese Modak: When the traditional and classic modak gets a makeover of chocolate along with cheese filled inside, it has a completely different taste and looks mouth watering as well.
• Dry fruit modak: It is prepared with dry fruits, coconut and ghee which makes it is super-delicious and nutritious.
• Coconut modak: Peanuts and coconut stuffed rice flour modaks. They are anything but difficult to make and absolute delight to taste.
• Malai Laddoo: Malai modaks are made by adding consolidated milk, disintegrated paneer or chenna and cardamom among others. The amazing taste of these desserts has changed over them into favorite modaks for people as sweet dish as well.
• Besan Laddoo: It’s the most basic type of laddoo or modak you can make. This is very easy to make Ladoo, made from gram flour, powdered sugar and ghee.