It is common to make sweets for Vinayaka Chaturthi since Lord Ganesha is fond of them. Modak, a sweet dumpling made of fresh grated coconut and jaggery, is his favourite and is prepared in almost every household. Apart from that, modak ladoos, panchamrut, sooji halwa, coconut burfi and sundal are also dishes commonly prepared during the festival.
Here are three other easy-to-prepare sweet delicacies.
KESARI MODAK
Ingredients:
2.5 bowls gram flour
2 bowls sugar
1 bowl water
8-10 saffron strands
Few almonds, chopped
Ghee for cooking
A Pinch of saffron for colour
Method:
Make a thick syrup of water and sugar. Add a pinch of saffron and the saffron strands; keep aside.
Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan, add gram flour and fry on low flame till it turns golden brown. Add sugar syrup to this mixture and knead well.
Now, take a small quantity of this mixture in your hand and shape it to look like modak.
Decorate with chopped almonds.
POORAN POLI
Ingredients:
500 gm wheat flour
150-200 gm ghee
200 gm split Bengal gram
50 gm jaggery, grated (adjust to taste)
2 tsp coconut, grated
10 cardamoms, powdered
Salt to taste
Method:
Soak Bengal gram for 4-5 hours.
Sift flour, add 1.5 tablespoons of ghee, some salt and mix well. Knead into smooth dough with warm water. Cover and keep aside.
Boil Bengal gram in pressure cooker with 3-4 tablespoons of water. Turn off flame after one whistle. Let the lentils cool, and then grind finely in a mixer without water.
Heat ghee in a pan and add grated jaggery. When the jaggery melts, add the lentil mixture. Fry for five minutes. Once it cools, mix powdered cardamom and grated coconut.
Make a small ball of dough, flatten and stuff it with a little mixture. Seal and press between your palms. Smear this stuffed ball with flour and roll it into a round shape. Put on a heated griddle and cook both sides using ghee till it turns brown. Repeat procedure with remaining dough-and-lentil mixture.
DRY FRUIT RAVA LADOO
Ingredients:
1 cup rava semolina
1 cup dry coconut, shredded
1 cup water
8-10 saffron strands
1/2 cup ghee
2 cups sugar
3 tbsp cashews and almonds, chopped
2 tbsp raisins
1 tsp cardamom, powdered
Method:
Heat ghee in a thick-bottomed pan, and fry cashewnuts and almonds until they are light brown. Drain and transfer to a plate. Fry raisins in the same ghee until they puff up; drain and transfer them to the same plate. Add rava to the remaining ghee, and roast it until the colour changes to light brown and you can smell the aroma of the rava. Add shredded coconut and mix well. Turn off the flame and transfer to a plate to let it cool.
Heat water and sugar over a medium flame, until sugar melts into syrup. Add saffron strands and cook until it is of one-string consistency. Slowly add rava, shredded coconut and mix in the syrup; stir continuously to avoid lumps. Turn off the flame.
Add cashewnuts, almonds, raisins and powdered cardamom; mix well. When it is still warm, shape the mixture into round balls (ladoos) with your palms.
