The Modaka

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The Modaka

 

Ganesh is the foremost God and worshipped first on all auspicious

occasions by all the Indians, as he is a remover of all 'Sankat'

or 'Vigna' (obstacles). Also called Vignaeshwar, Vignanaashaka,

SankatMochana and many other names

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated all over India with great pomp and

splendour. Especially in Maharashtra, people celebrate Ganesh

Chaturthi with much gusto. Offerings of ' Moodak ' and '

Karigedabu' - Lord Ganesh's favorite sweets, along with bunch of

grass sheaves('Durva' in Sanskrit), red flowers, etc mark this

festive occasion.

 

Ingredients:

===============

For Cover:

Plain Flour(Maida) 3/4 cup

Wheat Flour 3/4 cup

Oil 2 tsp

Rice flour as required (for dusting)

For Filling:

Coconut 1 cup grated finely

Sugar 1 cup

Cashewnuts 1 tbsp broken into small pieces

Almonds 1 tbsp sliced into small pieces

Raisins(Dry) 2 tbsp

Poppy seeds 1 tbsp roasted

Cardamom powder 1 tsp

Milk 1/2 cup

Oil for deep frying

 

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Procedure:

 

Mix flour, oil, salt and make a stiff dough by adding water as

necessary. Cover and Set aside.

Bring milk to a boil . Add the coconut and sugar, stir and cook over

a low flame stirring constantly till the mixture thickens further.

Add poppy seeds, cashewnuts, almonds, cardmom powder and raisins and

cook till the mixture is almost dry. Remove and cool.

Take a small portion of dough(a small lime sized) and roll it into a

5 cm diameter circle, dusting with rice flour, if necessary.

Take it on your left palm and place a small portion of coconut

mixture in the centre of the circle.

Now bring the open edges together, pinch and shape this stuffed ball

like a whole garlic.

Prepare all the modaks from the remaining dough in this fashion.

Heat oil and when it's real hot deep fry each modaks till golden

brown in color.

Remove, drain on a paper towel and serve as a special sweet on the

occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.

 

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Ingredients

• 100 gms almonds, chopped fine

• 100 gms pistachios, chopped fine

• 200 gms sugar

• 700 gms sugar, powdered

• 1 kg khoya

• 10 cardamom, powdered

 

Method

 

• Mix khoya, powdered sugar and cardamom powder. Knead to a soft

dough.

• Add sugar to the nuts and mix thoroughly.

• Lightly grease hands with ghee (clarified butter). Divide the

khoya into lemon-sized balls.

• Place a spoonful of the nut mixture in the centre of each cup.

Gather the edges to form a conical shape.

• A modak mould may be used to get perfect shapes.

 

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Religion in India is still a living force and Indians appreciate and

cultivate the festival spirit even in this age of industrialisation

and political upheavals. May be Ganesh festivals bring people

together and make the nation move forward and grow. Ganesh Festival

is very popular in our country.

 

The birth of Lord Ganesh is on the 4th day of the bright half of

Bhadrapad (August/September). This festival is celebrated for 10

days from Ganeshchaturthi - birth -date-to Anantchaturdashi - the

final 10th day of his immersion. Everyone loves this deity with his

curving trunk, pot-belly and big glappy ears. He is the benevolent

protector of the innocent, yet the ruthless destroyer of evil. His

mount is a rat.

 

In several states of India, but specially in Maharashtra clay idols

of Ganesh in varying sizes are made and sold. The idols are

purchased and brought home the day previous to Ganesh Chaturthi

which is the day of Hartalik when women keep fast and invoke the

blessings of goddess Parvati, who is Ganesh's mother.

 

In streets and commercial establishments community worship is

offered to a life-size or even a bigger image, installed on an

erected platform. This Lord Ganesh is very fond of sweets and hence

khir, panchamrit, fruits and sweets and specially modaks are placed

before him as "Naivedya" or "Bhog". After the ritual worship

this "Bhog" is distributed as "Prasad".

 

On the day of immersion which is either 3rd, 5th, 7th or 10th day

after performing "Puja" the idol is taken out in a procession by

people who dance and sing. On the 10th day - the Anantchaturdashi

day the sea fronts are packed with surging mass of humanity as the

idols of Ganesh are carried towards their watery rest among shouts

of "Ganapati Bappa Moriya", Pudhachya varshi lavkar ya" (Return

early next year, oh Victorious Lord Ganesh).

 

Many interesting legends about the birth and the greatness of Lord

Ganesh are found in old ancient religious texts. He is considered to

be the god of wisdom, prudence and prosperity. The worship of this

god is coming down to us right from the vedic times. Every religious

ceremony is completed even today with invoking his blessings at the

very beginning with the solemn recitation of "Om Ganeshaya Namaha"

(I bow to Thee Lord Ganesh). It is believed that Lord Ganesh put

down on paper the slokas of our great epic Mahabharat as they were

dictated to him by Maharshi Ved Vyas. Sant Gyaneshwar's Gyaneshwari

starts with praise of Lord Ganesh.

 

Since the days of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj the founder of the

Maratha empire this Ganesh Festival was celebrated on a grand scale

in Pune and later on the Peshwas themselves participated in this

festival as Ganesh was their family deity. Today this festival is

the most colourful and happy event in the religious, social and

cultural life of India specially that of Pune. With the end of the

Peshwa regime this festival lost its glamour and came to be observed

privately in households only. Thus many years passed.

 

At the crucial juncture of India's history when the nation indeed

under the yoke of slavery of the British, Lokmanya Tilak, who

proclaimed "Swarajya is my birth-right and I'll have it" realising

the importance of the massive popularity of this festival initiated

its nationwide celebrations in 1893. Then it became a platform for

political awakening and uprising among people to gain freedom from

British imperialism. Ganesh Festival thus played a very important

role in our Freedom Struggle.

 

In Maharashtra there are eight famous Ganesh temples which are

places of pilgrimage and are visited by countless number of people

every year with the faith that these visits wipe away all the sins

and lead man to the ultimate truth, the Moksha.

 

Lord Ganesh's images and pictures not only are seen presiding over

the lintels of the doorways of many Hindu homes as hartingess of

good luck out in hospitals private Nursing homes and clinics.

 

Ganesh is looked upon as the god of good harvest and hence after his

immersion clay is brought from the waterside and sprinkled into the

farms and store-rooms for luck & plenty.

 

During the last 5000 years of history in the pre-Vedic era, the

concept of Ganesh had reached all over the world and idols of Ganesh

in various forms have been found in Java, Indo-China, Nepal,

Combodia, Tibet, Thailand, Vietnam and Srilanka where He is regarded

as the protector and saviour of mankind from the menace of ghosts

and demons.

 

The most popular and colourful Ganesh festival is a wholesome

occasion for ritual worship prayers, celebrations and hospitality.

It also means cheer, goodwill and home-made sweets, spicy snacks and

a variety of delicious preparations!

 

One of the sweet dishes prepared during this festival is Modak

 

Modak is a ritual sweet dish, specially prepared on the day of

Ganeshchaturthi which lasts for 10 days. For all these ten days,

every day a special sweet dish is prepared in offering to the god

and then distributed as `prasad' to the members of the family and

friends. Ganeshchaturthi is the first day on which Modaks are

prepared. All the same, they can be prepared any day as sweet dish

for the family.

 

Following is the recipe for preparing this recipe.

 

Ingredients

=============

 

100 gms. almonds

100 gms. pistachios

200 gms. sugar

1kg. powdered sugar

1 kg. khoya

4 drops of rose essence.

 

Method

----------

Put the khoya in a big and deep metal plate.

Add the powdered sugar and drops of essence of rose.

Mix together and knead together to make a soft dough.

Without blanching the almonds and pistachios, chop them into small

bits.

Rub them and husk them.

Mix 200 gms. sugar in the chopped bits.

Lightly grease the palms, take out a small lump from the prepared

dough of khoya, roll it in between the palms and shape into a ball.

Make a hollow in the middle of the ball and place about a

teaspoonful of the almond-pistachios mixture.

Carefully pull up the sides and gather them at the top, giving it a

conical shape.

When ready the modak should resemble a fresh fig, thus make all the

modaks

 

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