Vinayagar Chathurthi Celebration and Sweets :)

Ganesha Festival, popularly known as Ganesh Chaturthi, or Vinayaka Chaturti, is the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu God of wisdom and auspiciousness. The elephant-faced Hindu god Ganesh is one of the most popular deities in Hinduism and is today worshipped around the world. Lord Ganesha is slowly becoming the face of Hindu religion. In 2009, the date of Ganesh Festival is August 23. The Ganesha Festival ends with the immersion of the idol on Ananta Chaturdasi day on September 3.





Since I have a really huge collection of Ganeshas at home, I love to arrange them all as a golu and celebrate it on a grand scale.

Guess what....??? I have place 108 idols of Ganesha in my Golu :):):)

Ganesha Festival is observed on the fourth day of the Shukla Paksha (Waxing Phase of moon) in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada (August - September).

The josh is spread all over the house on the festival day. Starting from a grand kolam in the entrance. Then maa yelai(mango leaves) as thoran. All of us dressed in traditional wear of our culture and so on..




The puja starts with prayers to lord Parvathi - mother of lord Ganesha.

We have a tradition of making parvathi's face by mixing turmeric powder with water. This year I made it all by myself, and was so happy with the outcome. :)





Then comes the puja for the hero of the show or the birth day boy. :) The Ganesha idol is made out of clay and is decorated with flower garlands, arugampul(grass) garland etc. Various ashtothrams are read and puja is performed.




Now coming to the important part of the pooja. The neivithiyam or prasadam. :) A long yummy list of items are made for the lord.

* Kudumu(idly)
* Udhu untallu(Steamed Dhall balls)
* Undrallu Sundal(steamed rice balls mixed with channa sundal)
* Modakam(modak - Steamed rice flour dumplings stuffed with coconut jaggery filling)
* Jillidikayalu(Another form of modak but semi circle in shape with three types of fillings - cashew filling, sesame filling and coconut filling)

Kudumu and udhu untallu(idly and steamed dhall balls)

Sweet Dumplings/Modakam/Jillidikayalu

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/4 cup
Salt - a Pinch

Method:

Heat the water in a bowl adding some salt to it. When it boils, simmer the stove and add the rice flour and mix quickly. Immediately switch it off and keep it aside for ten min. Then kneed the dough smoothly adding little cold water and 2 tsp of oil to it.

To make modak either use the mould if you have one, else make small balls from the dough and press it to make cup shape, add the filling to the center and close it to make the drop shape.

To make the semi circular ones, make small balls out of it and press it to make a flat circular disk(you can use your chapathi press or simply a greased cup to press the ball). Put a spoon of filling in the center and seal the corners by pressing.

To make filling:

1) Coconut jaggery filling for Modak

Ingredients:

Coconut scrapping - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - a pinch

Method:

Take coconut and jaggery in a heavy bottom pan and heat it until the jaggery mixes and comes to a sticky consistancy. Now switch off the flame and add the cardamom powder and mix well.
Use this to stuff in modakams.





2) Coconut sugar filling for Jillidikayalu(kolukattai/Dumpling)

Ingredients:

Coconut scrappings- 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cashews - few(optional)

Method:

Take coconut scrappings and sugar in a heavy bottom vessel and heat it till the sugar melts and the coconut gets cooked. Finally add broken cashews to it and use as filling.


3) Sesame Filling for Jillidikayalu(Kolukattai/Dumpling)

Ingredients:

Sesame - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 1/4 cup

Method:

Fry sesame in a pan adding little water to it. Once the water eveporates and the sesame crackles, switch off the flame and let it cool for a while. Once it is absolutely cool, powder it along with jaggery and use it as filling for kolukattai.


4) Cashew Filling for Jillidikayalu(Kolukattai/Dumpling)

Ingredients:

Cashew - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup

Method:

Fry cashews adding few spoons of ghee to it. Once it turns goden brown switch off the flame and let it become absolutely cool. Finally powder it in the mixie along with the sugar and use it as filling for kolukattai.

All of them taste absolutely yummy.. :) I am crazy for the modak shape and also for the cashew filling. :) Happy celebration :)

Modakam(modak - Steamed rice flour dumplings stuffed with coconut jaggery filling)

Jillidikayalu(Another form of modak but semi circle in shape with three types of fillings - cashew filling, sesame filling and coconut filling)

Wish you all a very happy Vinayagar Chathurthi :)

My collection at the pooja

I am sending this post to Purva's FF event.

Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com