Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Every year we chant:
Ganpati Bappa Morya
Pudchya varshi lavkar ya!

And before I know it, it's here again! My favorite God, my second favorite festival, my favorite foods to be made but so busy that I have no time to make chavde or the more traditional modaks.

I do have a coconut waiting patiently in my refrigerator. I plan to use that to make the stuffing for karanji and offer that to Ganesh.

We celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi at Balvihar yesterday where some of our kids made clay models of Ganesh.

Ayesha's near-perfect Ganesh

Big-eared Ganesh idols

Flat Ganesh

Prasad: Sweet Coconut Offering

• 1 cup frozen shredded coconut, thawed (about half a 34oz packet)
• 1/2 cup semolina
• 1/2 teaspoon ghee, to roast semolina
• 1/8 cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 1/8 cup unsalted cashew nut pieces, chopped small
• 5-6 green cardamoms
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water (to make sugar syrup)

Coconut, cashews, cardamom and sesame seeds

1. Toast shredded coconut in a medium saucepan or cast iron skillet on low, until pale golden in color with light brown bits. Keep stirring and ensure that it does not burn.
2. While the coconut is toasting, melt 1/2 teaspoon ghee over medium-low heat and roast semolina for about 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat.
3. Seed the green cardamom, discard the outer pod, and pound to a coarse powder using your mortar pestle or in your spice grinder. Add to semolina.
4. Add toasted sesame seeds and chopped cashew pieces to the semolina. Add toasted coconut, too. Mix well.
5. Combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small pot and boil until the syrup reaches a single thread consistency. To test this, take a spoonful of the syrup and allow it to cool. Once you can touch it without burning yourself, the liquid syrup should form a thread when pinched between two fingers.
6. Add this sugar syrup to the semolina mixture, stir and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Allow to cool. This mixture will harden as it cools. This mixture can be stored in a non-reactive container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Sweet Coconut Prasad

Morya re Bappa Morya re!