It is particularly a joyous time for the country. While a string of festivals - Teej, Rakhi, and Janmashtami - have gone by, the festive fervour is far from fizzling out. And why should it, we still have a couple of big ones to go. Ganesh Chaturthi is right around the corner. The 11-day festival is celebrated with much pomp across West and some parts of South India.
Lord Ganesha is known by many names such as Gajanan, Vighnaharta, Vinayaka etc. Many bring small idols of Lord Ganesha to their homes, perform all pujas and rituals for a couple of days and then immerse the clay idol in water. While some go to Ganesha temples to offer their prayers. And since no festival in India is quite complete without the festive feast, during Ganesh Chaturthi too, various delicacies are offered to the god, chief among which is the offering of Modak.
Modak is a sweet dumpling that may or may not be filled with coconut, khoya or jaggery-based filling. Lord Ganesha, a foodie himself, is also known as the ‘Modakpriya’ or the ‘lover of Modaks’. It is said that Lord Ganesha’s mother Parvati, would make heaps of Modaks for Lord Ganesha, but alongside Modaks, he was also very fond of Laddoos. In fact, to date, in many pictures, Lord Ganesha is seen holding a laddoo in one of his hands.
Various types of laddoos are also prepared on this auspicious day. But if you wish to celebrate the day in an authentic fashion, you should try the Raghavdas Laddoo. The Maharashtrian laddoos are known for their ultra-soft texture. It is made with rava or semolina, scraped coconut, sugar, cardamom powder, and raisins. In addition to Ganesh Chaturthi, these laddoos are made on various other festive occasions too. Here’s a simple recipe you can try soon.
Preparation time: 8-10 mins
Cooking time: 35-40 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 3 cups fine semolina
- ¾ cup scraped coconut
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup scraped coconut
- 1 tsp green cardamom powder
- 3 tbsps raisin
- 2 tbsps chopped almond
Method:
- In a kadhai, heat ghee and roast rava on low heat until it is brown.
- Transfer it in a bowl.
- In another pan, heat sugar, add one and a half cups of water and make sugar syrup until you get one string consistency. To find out, put a spoon inside the syrup and lift the spoon. The syrup should form one string.
- Take another pan, roast scraped coconut on low heat and continue until the coconut is slightly reddish brown.
- Transfer it in another bowl and let it cool.
- Now, take a pan with the rava you roasted, add coconut and mix again.
- Add the syrup and raisins to the rava mixture and mix.
- Cover and keep it aside to cool.
- Divide the mixture into 20-25 equal portions.
- Shape each portion like a laddoo and serve.