Ganesh Chaturthi is a big deal in my house, as we are Maharashtrian. For those of you (and probably quite a few of you) who don’t know what Ganesh Chatruthi is, it is the celebration of one of the most widely-known Hindu deities- Ganesh (the one with the elephant head a healthy man’s body, haha). In fact, this religious and cultural celebration is a huge deal in India. It is believed that Ganesh comes down to our realm and hangs out on our measly planet- or in more appropriate terminology, Ganesh bestows his presence on Earth for his devotees.  Every year Indians in India create a giant Ganesh Murti (statue) and let it out to sea.

At home, we do something a little less dramatic. We just a do a Pooja (small religious ceremony) for 5 consecutive days and make a fresh meal and dessert- that is NOT supposed to be tasted or eaten until it is served to all of the Hindu gods during our Pooja. There is to be no meat or egg products served or cooked. So here’s a glimpse of our Day #1 of Ganesh Chaturthi 🙂

Everything is always served on real Silver dishes- (from the left) Onion & Potato Pakoras, Sprouted Bean Saute, Stuffed Baby Green Eggplants, Tomato & Cucumber Raita, Rice & Yellow Daal and Chapathi (in the center)

Yum Sweets- I call these Indian Hershey Kisses- homemade dough filled with a jaggery, coconut, caradmom and steamed like a dumpling!

   YUMMY

🙂