Ganpati Bappa Moriya!!!

Growing up in India we had the great opportunity of witnessing wonderful festivals and celebrations  throughout the year, one such is the celebration of the birthday of Lord Ganesha,a hindu god who is known for  his knowledge and is often worshipped first before starting any new venture for success. This festival is celebrated all over India with different names.. as 'Vinayak Chaturthi' or 'Vinayaka Chavithi',Ganesh chathurthi and many more. For 10 days the clay model of lord ganesh is worshipped and sweets and snacks are offered as prasadam and on 11th day the idol is taken on a procession with people dancing and playing with colours and the idol is immersed in water.This year it is on 17th September.

In India each and every festival or celebration has its own special food. The celebration is never complete without preparing the special sweet or snack for the day. As far as Ganesh chaturthi is concerned Modak (also known as kolukattai) and ladoo are believed to be lord ganesha’s favourite. In some places the clay model of lord ganesh is made with a big ladoo in his hand and on the last day the ladoo is distributed as prasadam.

On this occasion we are sharing one of bappa’s favorite and  simple sweet  moong dhal ladoo. Try making this and get in the festive mood!!!

Moong Dhal Ladoo:

Prep Time: 20 min,Cooking time:10 min

Makes 10 medium  ladoos
Ingredients:

Moong dal (split and husked) - 1 cup (200 grams)
Sugar  – 1 cup (200 grams)
Ghee – 1 cup (200 grams)
Almonds – ¼ cup (50 grams)
Cashews – ¼ cup
Green cardamom – 3
Pistachios – 8 to 10

Method:

1. Blend cardamom  and sugar together in blender to fine powder.
2. Heat 2 tsp ghee in deep pan and roast broken nuts till slight golden brown. Keep aside.
3. In same pan heat on medium low flame  Add moong dhal and roast well till it gives aromatic flavour and becomes golden brown. It will take about 15 Minutes. Keep aside and Let it cool down, powder it in a mixer to fine powder.
4. Heat a pan,add remaining ghee  add moong flour and mix it well for 5 min. Add sugar mixture, roasted cashews to moong flour.
5.  Allow it to cool down and when you can handle the heat,Shape into lemon sized balls when the mixture is still warm. Add 1 tsp of hot ghee gradually if the mixture cannot be easily shaped.
6. Enjoy the Moong Ladoo when its Warm or cold.

Tips

• Increase or decrease the sugar depending on how sweet you want the ladoo.
• The dal can be ground to a finely coarse powder similar to fine sand.
• For a richer flavor and melt in the mouth texture, add 1/3 cup milk powder and increase ghee by 3 to 4 tbsps.
• If the laddu has developed cracks and is dry, add more melted warm ghee.
• For variation, you can add 1/4 cup dessicated coconut powder.
• You can prepare ladoo with whole green gram by following the above recipe. Just replace yellow moong dal with whole green gram.

Traditionally the ganesh Idol is made with clay and painted with beautiful colours,but we wanted to share a more eco friendly way of doing it from your kitchen ingredients a DIY ganesha.

All you need is :

• 2 cups Flour (all purpose )
• water
• 2-3 Salt
• a bowl to mix
• Food colours  (optional)
• Acrylic paint or spray paint (optional )

• Mix flour, salt & water in a bowl. If the dough is too dry, kneady in a tbsp of water.
• Dough can be coloured by dividing into several parts and kneading in few drops of food colour in each part .
• Roll the dough give it a shape of ganpati.

We have used this method as it’s easy to immerse the idol in a bowl of water or any water body as it dissolves quickly.

Far away from home we all celebrate this festival in our own special way with flowers sweets & arthi song on a device ;). Its almost time to welcome Lord Ganesh at home. May bappa bring happiness in everyone’s life.

Happy Celebration!!!