Ganesh Chaturthi has special significance in India. This festival is celebrated with great pomp across the country. During the 10 days of this festival, devotees make various types of sweets and offer them in bhog to worship and please Ganesha, the first deity among all the gods. Though modaks are said to be Lord Ganesha’s favourite, you can also include a few more bhog recipes in addition to modaks!
If you’re looking for what to offer on Ganesh Chaturthi, we can help you with some healthy options. Make your Ganesh Chaturthi prasad special with some nutrition-recommended bhog recipes from nutritionist and wellness coach Avni Kaul.
Explaining the significance of the bhog, Kaul tells Health Shots, “Every year, the 10-day festivities are celebrated with great fervour and joy across Maharashtra and several other parts of India. Huge pandals are set up across the state, and devotees bring Ganpati idols home, perform pujas and prepare decadent sweets and other delicacies to offer to the deity. The festival ends with ‘Ganesh Visarjan’ on the 10th day. But until that time, Bappa is treated to all kinds of sweets and savories.”
Here are 5 Ganesh Chaturthi bhog recipes for prasad
1. Modak with dry fruits
Filled with the goodness of dry fruits, this modak recipe is free of sugar. It contains dry roasted nuts consisting of cashews and almonds, which are added with ghee-roasted khajoor and raisins, and molded into healthy, wholesome, and tasty modaks.
Ingredients (For dry fruit modak recipe for 8 people)
1/4th cup each of almonds, cashews, and raisins, half piece bowl grated dry coconut or have a dry coconut and cut it into, and 2 teaspoon ghee
Modaks are available in a wide variety in the market. Here’s one with almonds and pistachios. Image courtesy: ACTIVeat
Procedure
Dry roast the cashews and almonds. Place them aside, then dry roast the coconut powder until the color changes.
Then heat 1 tsp of ghee, add the chopped khajoor, and stir it constantly to avoid burning. Once it becomes soft, add the raisins and stir them for 2 to 3 mins. Then put off the gas and let it cool down.
Have a chopper, add in the cashews and almonds, and chop them coarsely. If you are using coconut pieces, then include them too while chopping.
Now add the entire ingredients into the khajoor and mix it properly. Heat it on the flame again for around 1 minute. (Let it cool down properly to handle with bare hands).
When convenient to handle, grease the modak mold. Add the remaining ghee to the dough.
Prepare the modak using the molds and it is ready for bhog.
2. Satori
It is a Maharashtrian sweet flat bread, and one of the most sought-after festive recipes in Maharashtra. It is a rich delicacy prepared from khoya or mawa, ghee, besan, and milk.
Ingredients
2 cups of khoya
1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
1 tablespoon of dry dates powder
A cup of caster sugar (date sugar is a healthier alternative)
Half a cup of ghee
Maida or besan
Milk
Preparation
To start preparing the Satori recipe, make a thick dough of maida, or besan. Keep it aside for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile you can make the stuffing. Using a shallow pan add ghee and fry the khoya until it begins leaving ghee on the sides, this could take around 5 to 8 minutes.
Stir it repeatedly as the khoya might burn very easily. Place it aside to cool.
Add some extra ghee and fry the poppy seeds, dry dates powder one after another. Keep the poppy seeds and dry date powder separately.
Once the poppy seeds cool down, grind them into powder.
Mix the khoya, dry dates powder, poppy seed, and powdered sugar and prepare the filling for making the Satori. Grind the mixture to create a homogeneous mixture. If the filling is far too dry add some milk. (perhaps 2 to 4 tablespoons or as required to make it moist)
Prepare a small ball from the dough, roll it to create a small puri, and put the stuffing inside the puri, simply the way one would make a stuffed paratha or Puranpoli.
Using a rolling pin, roll the Satori into a thick chapati of 1″ thickness and 5″ in diameter.
On a medium flame, fry the satori from each side, using ghee. The satori must puff up when you fry them.
Keep the satori to cool on a kitchen towel, you could store them for around 7 to 10 days in an airtight container.
Serve Satori.
3. Coconut rice
Coconut rice is one of the common offerings to the deity in South India. Coconut rice is a dish made by soaking white rice in coconut milk or cooking it using coconut flakes. The tasty treat makes for one of the most loved bhog items to the deity.
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Have cloves, cinnamon, cashew nuts, sliced onions, and chopped chilies and fry till onion turns transparent.
Then put in tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes.
Now add the rice and mix all the things properly.
Then put the coconut milk, water, and salt.
When the water is boiled, close the pressure cooker and cook around for 15 minutes using a low flame.
Once done, it’s ready to serve.
4. Shrikhand
Shrikhand is an Indian sweet dish obtained from strained yogurt and is quite popular across Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is topped with raisins and nuts, This is another one of favorite dishes that is offered to the god.
Ingredients
500 grams of thick or hung yogurt
150 grams of jaggery powder instead of sugar
A bit of cardamom powder
Saffron
A couple of rose drops essence
10 ml milk (optional)
Dry fruits chopped.
Preparation
Dissolve the saffron in 10 ml of milk.
Mix together all the ingredients with yogurt and set in a bowl.
Garnish using nuts and dry fruits.
Serve.
5. Payasam
No puja or celebration is complete without India’s favorite treat – Payasam. Payasam is a traditional South Indian kheer (it is also made in several other states with slightly similar sounding names and other names). Rice cooked using milk along with jaggery powder, coconut and cardamom is a hit across many parts of India.
Satiate your sweet cravings with this payasam. Image courtesy: Shutterstock
Ingredients
Rice
Milk
Jaggery
Cardamom
Saffron
Cashew
Almonds
Raisins
Procedure
Wash and soak the rice for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Cook the rice in milk until it turns soft.
Add cardamom powder, and jaggery powder and stir until it is dissolved.
Heat some in a pan and add the nuts and cashews.
When the nuts are slightly golden, add the raisins and saute them for a minute.
Aayushi Gupta is a health writer with a special interest in trends related to diet, fitness, beauty and intimate health. With around 2 years of experience in the wellness industry, she is connected to leading experts and doctors to provide our readers with factually correct information. ...Read More
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