lord ganeshas favourite offerings

Of Lord Ganesh
Lord Ganesh accepts whatever His devotees offer him with love and devotion. But we as devotees know what our Lord loves the most. With the advent of Ganesh Chaturthi, devotees start preparing His most preferred sweets to be offered to Him and then later distributed as Prasad (Sanctified Food). Food becomes divine when offered to the Lord and when consumed by mortals, it purifies their mind, body and soul.
Following are the most favorite food of Lord Ganesh. We have listed the ingredients and methods how to prepare them so that every devotee can offer it to their Lord and feel uplifted in joy and devotion.
Modak
Ingredients Needed To Prepare Modak
Rice – 1½ cup
Salt – A pinch
Pure Ghee (Clarified Butter) – ½ teaspoon
For Stuffing
Fresh Coconut Grated/Scraped – 1½ cup
Jaggery Grated – ¾ cup
Green Cardamom Powder – A pinch
How To Prepare Modak
Wash and drain the rice thoroughly. Spread it evenly on an absorbing cloth so that the rice gets thoroughly dried. After it dries, grind it to a fine powder in a mixer. To ensure the thoroughness of the grinding process, pass the powdered rice through a sieve. In a pan boil one and quarter cup of water, adding salt and ghee into it.
Slowly start adding the rice flour, constantly stirring it so that there are no lumps formed. After the entire mixture is added, remove the pan from heat and keep it covered for the next 10-15 minutes. Grease your palms with a little bit of oil. Knead the cooked rice mixture to soft dough. When done, cover it with a moist cloth.
Take a pan and cook the mixture of the scraped coconut and jaggery on medium heat until it turns into a light golden brown color. Make sure that it is not overcooked. Then add the cardamom powder, remove it from heat and allow it to cool a little. Then divide the coconut mixture and divide it equally into 10-12 equal portions. Grease your palm with oil. Now divide the dough of the rice flour into 10-12 equal portions into lemon sized balls. Then flatten the ball in your palm to form discs with a diameter of three inches. Press the edges of the disc further to reduce the thickness.
Next, place the semi cooled coconut and jaggery mixture in the centre of this disc and form 8-10 pleats with your fingers. Then gather them together in the shape of a bundle with its tip being conical. Seal the edges. To understand the shape better, take a look at the picture with this recipe.Steam these balls in a steamer for 10-15 minutes. Serve the hot modak with a bit of ghee.
Modaks are also available in sweet shops. They are usually made of Khoya/ Mawa resembling the same pleated shape. They come in various shapes and sizes with various flavorings like Kesar (Saffron) Modak, Chocolate Modak, Triranga (Tri colored) Modak, Pista (Pistachio) Modak and so on. Each year the sweetmeat vendors find innovative ways to redo the same traditional sweets, adding more variety to the celebrations.
Another favorite sweetmeat of Lord Ganesh is Ladoo/Laddu/Laddoo. Laddoo denotes that the shape is round. This again has several varieties. There are Boondi Laddos, Besan Laddoos. Rava Naral Laddoo (Semolina Coconut Laddoo), Dry Fruit Laddoo and many more combinations.
Boondi Laddoo
Ingredients Needed To Prepare Boondi Laddoo
Gram Flour (Besan) – 300 grams (This should be slightly coarse)
Milk – ½ Litre
Sugar – 300 grams
Cardamom Powder- A pinch
Water - 500 ml
Saffron – A pinch
Food Color – Orange (This is optional)
Oil For Deep Frying.
An important tool needed to prepare Boondi is a strainer. The fineness of the holes in the strainer gives the desired shape of the boondi. There is no specific size that it is needed. It is totally dependant how you would like it. Its size and shape doesn’t affect the taste of the Laddoo.
How To Prepare Boondi Laddoo
Add sugar to the water and start boiling it for the next 3-4 minutes.The scum of the sugar will be floating on the top. Remove the layer of scum. Continue boiling till it thickens. Add the cardamom powder to it and keep it aside. Mix the gram flour with milk and make it into a smooth paste without any lumps.
Heat sufficient amount of oil in a deep frying pan and heat the oil.Pass the gram flour batter through the strainer. Tap the strainer so that the flow is even and smooth. The oil should be very hot so that the frying is done rapidly. When the color turns golden brown take it out. Complete doing this till all the batter is over. Next dip the boondis in the sugar syrup that was previously prepared. After soaking them for few minutes, spread them on a plate evenly. Sprinkle hot water over this mixture and cover it with a cloth and leave it for 10 minutes.
Moisten your palms with water and roll this mixture into small balls. The size can be rolled as per your choice but make sure that all the balls are of equal shape and size.
There is another sweet that is commonly offered to Lord Ganesh is Peda. This again has plenty of varieties like Kesar Peda, Mawa/Khoya Peda, Apple Peda, Malai Peda (Malai- Cream) and many more. The basic way of preparing it is with Mawa/Khoya. To this, various flavorings are added to create varieties.
Peda
Ingredients Needed To Prepare Peda
Fresh White Khoya/Mawa – ½ kg
Powdered Sugar – 2½ cups
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Cardamom seeds semi crushed - 1 tsp
Crushed pistachios - 1 tbsp How To Prepare Peda
Grate khoya with a steel (not iron) grater. Add powdered sugar and mix well. Put mixture in a large heavy or nonstick pan. Heat the mixture initially on a high flame for few minutes and then simmer it until it is done.
Stir constantly. When mixture thick and gooey, add cardamom and mix well. Then remove it from the cooking range.
Allow it to cool, gently churning the mixture occasionally. Make oblong shaped pedas with palms or you can be innovative and use cookie moulds. Sprinkle pistachios and cardamom seeds on top and the pedas are ready to serve.
©Nayna Chakrabarty, 2007. All Rights Reserv