Next: 4 to 13 Sept 2027
Ganesh Chaturthi and modak
Ten days honouring Ganesha, with steamed modak filled with coconut, jaggery and cardamom.
Spices for Ganesh Chaturthi and modak
The elephant-headed god is said to love modak, a dumpling of rice flour with a sweet filling of fresh coconut, jaggery and cardamom, and often a pinch of nutmeg and poppy seed. Steamed modak (ukadiche modak) is a Maharashtrian speciality, and 21 of them are offered on the first day. Families also prepare puran poli, a flatbread stuffed with lentil and jaggery, flavoured with cardamom and nutmeg. The festival grows from a household rite into huge community pandals in Mumbai and Pune, but the spice logic of the kitchen stays small and sweet.
The spices
Written by the EveryMasala desk with AI assistance. Background: "Ganesh Chaturthi" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Poppy seed: Odedr, Public domain, source
- Cardamom: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nutmeg: Herusutimbul, CC BY-SA 4.0, source