Ganesh Chaturthi, the joyous festival celebrating Lord Ganesha’s birth, is marked with devotion, cultural rituals, and of course, mouth-watering delicacies. Food plays an essential role in the festivities, as many recipes are prepared as offerings (naivedyam) to Lord Ganesha—who is fondly known as “Modakpriya” (the one who loves Modaks). These traditional recipes are not just about taste, but also about the spirit of togetherness and devotion.
Here are some Ganesh Chaturthi special recipes by Swapnadeep Mukherjee, Executive Chef, The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa, which you can prepare at home to make the celebration extra delightful
SAVIYA KHEER
Ingredients Quantity
Vermicelli 100 gm
Ghee 1 tbsp.
Raisins 4 tbsp.
Sliced Almonds 4 tbsp.
Full Cream Milk 2 1/2 cups
Sugar 1/2 cup
Powdered Cardamom 1/2 tsp.
Method
- Break vermicelli into finger-sized pieces.
- Take a thick-bottomed saucepan and add vermicelli, raisins, almonds and put it on low heat while stirring continuously. Keep heating until it gets light brown.
- Then, add milk. Stir well and bring the heat to medium. Bring it to a boil.
- Then simmer vermicelli, add sugar and cardamom and further heat for a minute. Turn off the heat
- Serve either Hot or chilled
SABUDANA TIKKI
Ingredients Quantity
Sabudana (sago) 250gm
Potato, boiled and peeled 100gm
Peanuts roasted & crushed 50gm
Ginger, finely chopped 10gm
Green Chilli, finely chopped 10gm
Coriander gree,n finely chopped 10gm
Cumin powder 5gm
Salt to taste
Black Pepper powder to taste
Desi Ghee/ Ref oil 50ml
Method
- Soak sabudana in a large bowl for at least ½ hr, then squeeze water from sabudana and keep aside.
- Take another large mixing bowl, add boiled and grated potato, add peanuts, ginger, chilli, coriander leaves, cumin powder, salt and black pepper. Combine, mix well.
- Now, prepare small flat patties. Roast the sabudana tikki (patties) on medium-hot tawa. Spread a few tsp of ghee for even roasting. Flip over once one side turns golden brown.
- Spread ghee again and roast both sides to a golden and crisp.
- Finally, serve sabudana tikki with your choice of chutney.
STRAWBERRY CHOCOLATE MODAK
Ingredients Quantity
Sooji/ Samolina ¼ cup
Ghee 1 tbsp
Milk Powder 1 cup
Strawberry Paste/ Melted strawberry chocolate/ strawberry syrup 1 tsp
Chocolate paste/ melted chocolate/ chocolate syrup 2 tbsp
Finely chopped dry nuts like kaju, kishmish, chironji 2 tbsp
Ghee ½ tsp
Method
- Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan
- Add sooji to the ghee and roast on low heat. Until the sooji cooks completely, but it should not change colour.
- Then add milk powder and mix well, cook for 2 minutes
- Then add strawberry paste and mix well, cook for 2 more minutes.
- Now add milk and mix nicely, cook on low heat, stirring continuously, until the mixture becomes like a dough. Let the mixture cool down
- In a mixing bowl, combine the chocolate paste and chopped dried nuts and mix well.
- Now, make equal sized balls from the strawberry dough
- Flatten each ball and place some chocolate mixture in the centre
- Place each ball in the modak mould and press it
- Modak is ready to be served. Garnish with chocolate syrup and dry nuts. Enjoy!
ANJEER KI TIKKI
Ingredients Quantity
Anjeer (fig) 50g
Potato (Boiled) 200g
Chilli Green (chopped) 2-3
Fresh Coriander (chopped) 25gm
Garam Masala 3gm
Chaat Masala 4gm
Cumin powder 4gm
Roasted channa powder 20gm
Salt to taste
Refined Oil 100ml
Method:
- Take figs and soak them in warm water until soft
- To make filling, take soaked figs, finely, fresh coriander, green chilli and a pinch of salt, mix well all together. Now filling is ready
- Take a boiled potato, mash and add garam masala, cumin powder, chaat masala, fresh coriander, green chili, salt and roasted channa powder. Mix well to prepare the dough. Make small balls/ tikki from the dough.
- Put one tablespoon of anjeer filling in each ball and flatten each ball
- Take a nonstick pan, add cooking oil and heat the oil for shallow frying. Put flattened balls/ tikki one by one in the pan.
- Fry until they turn brown. Tastes well when served with mint chutney and tamarind chutney, or as per your choice.
