In pictures: Modak gets a makeover with paan, gulkand, rasmalai, caramel, strawberry & more ganesh chaturthi visarjan ganpati 30stades
During the 11-day Ganapati festival, the biggest celebration in Maharashtra, the elephant-headed god is offered sweets every day. And modak is one of Lord Ganesha’s favourite sweets.
Legend has it that once Anusuya, wife of Rishi Atri, invited Lord Ganesha and his parents, Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, at her home. When food was served, Lord Ganesha continued to eat a variety of dishes for a long time but was not satiated. It was then that Anusuya thought of serving him sweet modaks. After eating them, Ganapati burped 21 times, indicating that he was full.
He is, hence, also called modakpriya (one who likes modak).
On Ganesh Chaturthi, 21 modaks are offered to the elephant-headed god as people bring his idols home for one, three, five, seven or 11 days before immersion in a nearby pond, lake, river or sea.
In Tamil, modak is called kozhakattai, kadubu in Kannada and kudumu in Telugu. The modaks offered to Lord Gajanan are served as prasad to the devotees.
Traditionally, modaks are made using rice flour with a stuffing of coconut, jaggery, cardamom and poppy seeds.
Called ukadiche (meaning steamed in Marathi) modak, these dumplings are steamed and drizzled with ghee before making an offering to the God. They can also be fried.
With changing times, people have been experimenting with modaks at all levels – baking instead of steaming, making an outer covering of khoya or mawa, infusing it with various flavours and adding a variety of stuffing. Like the rasmalai modak in the picture on top (courtesy Delightful Dine) has an outer covering of sweetened khoya and is stuffed with rasmalai. And gulkand modak is all about the fragrance of rose petals infused with sugar.
Though modaks have changed, what hasn remained the same is the spirit of the festival, the devotion towards Ganpati and a love for food. Here are some new-age modaks in flavours of paan, strawberry, caramel, gulkand, chocolate and more:
Paan Modak: Made by adding pureed paan leaves to the outer covering of coconut and condensed milk. Stuffed with dry fruits, fennel seeds and tuti-fruity. Pic: FlickrGulkand Modak: Outer covering of rice dough flavoured with rose water and stuffed with gulkand, mixed nuts, sugar-coated fennel and coconut. Pic: Flickr
Caramel Modak: Made for chocolate lovers, this one has an outer covering of chocolate with gooey caramel filling. Many home chefs have been making this Modak during the festive season. Pic: FlickrKhajur Modak: Made by grinding seedless dates and adding roasted, finely-chopped nuts, poppy seeds and cardamom, these are sugar-free modaks. Pic: Flickr
Khajur Modak: This steamed modak has an outer layer of rice dough with a stuffing of coarsely blended dates and roasted dry nuts. Pic: FlickrStrawberry Modak: The outer covering is made of mawa and sugar with strawberry essence and stuffed with reduced strawberry crush. Pic: FlickrChocolate Modak: Combining both dark and white chocolate, this modak is stuffed with roasted nuts. Pic: Flickr
Coconut Modak: Made using desiccated coconut, condensed milk, cardamom and stuffed with jaggery and roasted fresh coconut. Pic: FlickrUkadiche Modak: The traditional steamed modak with an outer covering of rice flour and stuffed with jaggery, coconut, poppy seeds etc. Pic: Flickr
Fried modak: Instead of being steamed, the traditional modaks can also be fried. Pic: FlickrBaked Modak: With an outer covering of wheat flour, this modak is stuffed with boiled chana dal, jaggery, coconut and cardamom. Pic: Flickr