Sunday, August 23, 2009

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

54 comments:

Shama Nagarajan said...

beautiful decoration dear.....nice pictures

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

Nice modakams with stripes in ite.

Purva Desai said...

Nithya, I am spell bounded seeing ur enthu to celebrate each and every festival. Everything looks divine.
Thank you for the lovely entry for the event

Sailaja Damodaran said...

ur pooja is always very grand & inviting...nice presentation....

Sevapuri said...

Hari Om Nithya, We saw your beautiful Ganeshji puja on Twitter, Thank you for sharing your devotion with us. Sevadevi and Sevapuri

Rekha shoban said...

nice presentation nithya....happy vinayaka chathurthi.

Menaga Sathia said...

பில்ளையார்,பார்வதியின் முகம்,நிவேதனங்கள் என அனைத்தும் சூப்பர் நித்யா.ரொம்ப அழகாயிருக்கு!!

Indian Khana said...

Wow dear you have a very gud collection of ganpati...nice way to celebrate it....feast looks awesome

Anonymous said...

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi Nithya..great pictures and modak..!!

Parita said...

WOW nithya, great pictures and I feel like visiting you and take part in this wonderful celebration! Modak's have come out fantastic, so perfect! All ganesha idols look unique! Happy ganesh chaturthi, may lord ganesha shower his blessings on you!

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi dear..devotional environment with tempting sweets recipes...

Doloncookbook said...

Happy Ganesh chaturthi dear ... I alaways love Modak , now I will try them at home ...

Sushma Mallya said...

happy ganesh chaturti....lovely pictures of lord ganesha...nice dishes as well

Gita Jaishankar said...

Happy Ganesh Chatudhi Nithya...thats a wonderful collection of Ganesh idols...wow you have a big collection :) The puja clicks looks awesome and divine!

Shri said...

The decoration is absolutely stunning,Nithya! Happy Ganesh Chaturdhi.Modakam is beautiful.Intially, I thought they were coated with white chocolate:P

Nima said...

wow...beautiful decor....awesome collection of Ganesh...

Aps Kitchen said...

Oh my so many ganeha's tht too 108...luks gorgeous nd each nd evrything is inviting

dsdsds said...

108 idols.. thats quite a collection.. Nice spread Nithya.. Miss all those moments.. The kolam looks amazing

Pari Vasisht said...

Beautiful decoration dear and yummy modak.

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Nice one nithi.. amavaru came out good dear..keep up ur good work. Keep rocking

ST said...

Happy ganesh chaturthi to you & your family dear :)
Pooja looks Divine....What a lovely spread .
Soup 'N Juice Event is goin on in my blog.Please do participate in it.

Anupama said...

Wow wow wow... great job!!!! I simply love the design of your modhak :-)

Unknown said...

Happy Vinayaka chaviti you are so creative dear looks so beautiful.

Divya Kudua said...

108 Ganeshas..???Awesome..:)

All the prasadams look wonderful..I love the Modaks,they look so pretty.Did you use a mould for that??

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Great collections and well decorated. Your prasadham are great treat for Ganesha.

Priya Suresh said...

Wow great Nithya....Such a divine post..

PriyaRaj said...

Wow u got a great collections of vinayakas....nice presentations dear....

PriyaRaj said...

ur kolam also looks Awesome dear.....

Unknown said...

Very lovely post, nice recipes and beautiful Ganeshas.

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Preety said...

happy ganesh chaturthi, i really liked the first pic of ganesh ji, nice recipes you did quite a work haan..

Vijitha said...

Awesome display nithya! yummy kozikattai. You got the shape so well.

Chef Jeena said...

You always make fantastic Indian sweets, they all sound and look really delicious!

GEETHA ACHAL said...

Good job..Goddess Idol is really nice...U r reaaly great..

So much collections of Pillayars...


You kolam is nice..

All together...Everything is nice...Hope u had great time doing all this by your self..

Panchpakwan said...

Hi Nithya,

Haapy Ganesh Chaturthi to you and your family dear...
Nice collection of Ganeshji..
Modak looks tempting!

Anu said...

Beautiful decoration. Nice pictures....
"Happy Vinayakar chathurthi"

Vidhya said...

that was so cute. I love your modaks. How could you do all that nice curvings... Well nice decorations too

Vidya said...

awesome collection of ganeshas nithya.... :)

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Wonderful collection of Ganeshas. Lovely post and lovely presentation. Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi.

Uma said...

Wonderful Nithya!! You've great talent. Wow, I really wonder how you made Goddess Parvathi's face with just turmeric and nothing else! Simply fabulous. You've quite a collection of Ganeshas. Keep it up. Hope you had a wonderful Ganesh Chaturthi.

Thanks for dropping by!!

Chitra said...

WOw, ganesha statues are superb !! also the kozhukattai pics are awesome.. u made me drool.I too used mould and got the same shape like urs..Looks nice :)

USA Trip said...

Hey!! Absolutely fantastic decoration! Goddess looks very pretty and beautiful!

Panchpakwan said...

Wow what a dish and presentions! These will be super hit on the event !

Hey u got new follower...:)

Anu said...

Happy Vinayakar chathurthi.. Awesome display nithya! yummy kozikattai. Keep rocking...
Thanks for coming by and commenting in my blog.

priya said...

Hi yaar,

I ve a tag for u in my blog,..plz collect it.

Roochi said...

Very very nice. I Love your collection of Ganeshas. I too am a big fan of Ganesha and love collecting them.

Hari Chandana P said...

WOW... chalaa bagundi Nithya.. soo sweet of you.. keep rocking!!

Unknown said...

wow, I am awestruk by your collection. wonderful. The parvati pooja is interesting to me. I am bookmarking your site.

notyet100 said...

lovely post thanks for visiing,...and awesome collection of Ganeshas,..

lata raja said...

Hey you have done so beautifully Nithya. The Swarna Gowri also is divine.Do I even have to comment on your dishes...no words are adequate dear.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

First time on your site...loved the Ganesha idols as I am also a collector. I also loved the face of Goddess Parvathi. The shape and the eyes are so perfect. Keep up the great work on the neivedhyams.

Anu Nandu said...

Now I know why God gave you that extra brain just for creativity! Hahahh! Everything is just sooooo good! Keep collecting more Ganeshas!

Rajan said...

Very Good Collections of Lord Ganesha - Nithya
i have a blog by name
www.rajandraws.wordpress.com
where you can see lot and lot of Lord Ganesha Sketches with different and Various forms of him
regards

Rajan

ramya ganesh said...

Hi Nithya,

Very Nice pic and lovely Kolam. You have lot of patiences to do so much of things.

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