Sweet Celebration

The auspicious day every Maharashtrian looks forward to is here! Ganeshotsav, one of Maharashtra’s most celebrated festival has now begun. The ten days of joy also involves preparing age old recipe of Modak and offering it to Lord Ganesha as it is supposed to be his favourite food . And of course people eat it too as it is their favourite as well.The soft rounds of joy-filled to the brim with sweet fillings are a much enticing treat for one and all regardless of age. It is said that modak is the favorite sweet of Lord Ganesh, so of course, all of us love it equally.

Like every other food item, modak have also undergone a tremendous change in the last few years to suit the tastes of everyone. Let us take a look at all the different types of modak we can feast on, from the traditional ones to the more modern ones.

1) Ukadiche Modak: One of the most traditional types of modak, Ukdiche Modak look exactly like well-folded dumplings . They are stuffed in a covering of rice flour dough with jaggery or sugar and coconut, and then steamed. A variety of these made with different fillings like Gulkand or Mango are prepared at home as an offering, and for people to eat.

2) Fried Modak: This is another traditional and most common way of making modak. Most of us have eaten these since childhood. The fried modak, as the name suggests are fried instead of being steamed. The filling in both is primarily the same. Frying makes these modak last longer. The dough is made mostly from wheat flour .

3) Dry Fruit Modak: Also known as the mawa modak till a few years ago, dry fruit modak have evolved a lot. They used to be available in many sweet shops and contained a generous filling of almonds, cashew, pistachio and even more recently, dates. These modak are the tastiest as they are sometimes made out of khava. Currently, dry fruit modak with a Choco-walnut filling has gained popularity.

4) Chocolate Modak: These are attractive little bite-sized amounts of chocolates that look like the traditional modak. Sometimes they contain dry fruits or white chocolate in them. As is obvious, they are most popular amongst small children as prasad. A variety of these in gift baskets are also sold across stores.

5) Coconut Truffle Modak: This is a no cook recipe. There are only two ingredients used and one more which is optional. The combination of desiccated coconut and condensed milk tastes really delicious and loved by every member of the family. The optional ingredient used is melted semisweet chocolate. The coconut truffle small sized modak dipped in the melted chocolate also tastes superb.

In our part two of the blog, we will see more different types of lip-smacking modaks.