By Samar Kaur
New Delhi [India] August 31: Lord Ganesha loves 'Modak' and is also called 'Modak Priya'.
Since Ganesh Chaturthi is just around the corner, no one can move past the idea of including Modaks on their platter for Vinayaka. As per religious traditions, this celebrated festival concludes with an offering of 21 Modaks to Lord Ganesha and is eventually served to all the devotees.
Modaks are sweet stuffed dumplings, made in different shapes in accordance with the beliefs, tradition, and culture of the region.
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The traditional Maharashtrian style Modak, which is prepared at home to offer during prayers, are made of rice flour, with a delicious stuffing of coconut and jaggery. However, nowadays, the trend has taken a turn and markets are full of modaks made out of different materials like peanuts, rava, sesame seeds, chocolate, dry fruits, ragi etc.
Delhi's famous sweet vendors' opine that the market demands control their products and this has lead to invention of fusions and new methods of preparing modak.
Famous retail chain stores in the heart of New Delhi- Connaught Place, seem to follow this trend, as they offer various delicacies to customers on the occasion.
Motichoor modak, Kaju Chocolate modak, Khoya modak and Khoya Kesar modak along with others is what you'll find around markets in the capital city.
Some of the sweet shop owners in South Delhi confessed how they discontinued the preparation of the traditional style modaks, owing to the market trends and demands from customers.
"We only prepare modaks made from motichoor and khoya as this is what customers demand. The stuffing varies according to demand and we also include a fusion of dry fruits, with condensed milk to enhance the taste and yet keep the tradition alive," added Manoj, who owns a famous sweet shop in Vasant Vihar.
"I'm not a fan of the steamed rice modaks and wanted to experiment. I stocked up some Jamun puree in my freezer and decided to play with textures and flavours. I made fried wheat modaks stuffed with jaggery and coconut and served them on a bed of rich Jamun Cream and crunchy nuts and the dish was a big hit in my house," said Vishakha Bhuta, a food blogger and recipe developer from Delhi.
Another premium luxury gifting brand in New Delhi, aims to revolutionise the traditional concept of sweets gifting by infusing quality, concept, and theme this festive season. Talking about the traditional modak dish, Aript Chawla and Anchal Sharma, co-founders of the company said that in order to cater to customers' demands, they came up with fusion desserts with a twist in the taste.
"We always promote authenticity value as we use original products to deliver the real taste of our dishes," they said.
They are offering a range of exquisite modaks this Ganesh Chaturthi, some of which are enlisted below:
a) Pure Pistachio Modak: Boiled and peeled pistachio are used to extract natural green colour with gulkand infused into the modak to give a perfect blend of authentic smell and taste which imparts uniqueness.
b) Kesar Chocolate Modak: A heaven for all the chocolate lovers, Kesar Chocolate Modak is a traditional Indian sweet with chocolate shells inside, filled with Belgian Callebaut Chocolate liquid, that all of you will love to hog on this festive season.
c) Kesar Badaam: The mithai is made of Roasted Murmura Almonds, topped and dipped in sugar and saffron. The amazing heavenly taste of Kewra fused with dry fruits follows the roots of Indian traditional sweets.
d) Cashew Fig Rose Ladoo: A three-layered ladoo where fig forms the innermost layer which is covered with cashew paste having lots of dry fruits and then topped with dried rose petals. The silky smooth texture of cream bite fused with organic Gulkand syrup, covered with rose petals make the modaks stand out.
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The markets have evolved as per the changing taste and demands of customers, but we do find traditional modaks being made at homes as well, so we have pretty good number of options to choose out of, be it preparing at home or hopping shops to relish your tastebuds.