Ganesh Chathurthi cooking in GSB Konkani households/Chauthi cooking

Ganesh Chathurthi cooking in GSB Konkani households.

As I looked at feasts prepared across GSB homes for Chauthi for Lord Ganapthi, here's what I obersved, chickpeas is said to be Ganapthi's favourite so a lot of dishes from chickpeas is made for Lord Ganesha - ladoo (undo), curry (chane gashi), prasad (chane panchakkajaya), dessert (chanedali payasu).

Apart from these feast for Ganesha includes dishes made from seasonal ingredients & veggies. Like kheeri, a flavourful rice dish made using turmeric leaves that are in season. All seasonal veggies, a little of every vegetable that grows right now is put together into a delicious coconut curry to make gajbaj ambat. This curry is served with kheeri as a side, along with thoushe sasam - cucumbers in a spicy coconut chutney - a salad of sorts.

Phodis are made using all veggies in season - colocasia tubers (maddi), kantola (phagil), bread fruit (jeev kadgi), pointed gourd (goint), raw bananas (kele), sweet potato (kanang), bitter gourds (karathe), potatoes (batato) & brinjals (gull). They are usually deep fried with a spicy batter, in some homes like mine they are shallow fried 3 different ways - plain salted or spiced with semolina or rice flour.

Patholi - a dessert of-sorts is made using in-season turmeric leaves, pathrado - a colocasia dish made from wildly growing colocasia leaves all around home.

Khotto - idli steamed in jackfruit leaves is usually served with ginger chutney - alle tambali.

A savoury rice dumpling is made for Ganapathi - undlakal & he's served a chickpea curry (chane gashi), a payasu (dessert) usually a chickpea dal one & panchakkajjayas made from chickpea dal (chane panchakkajaya), ladoo from chickpeas (chane undo).

In some homes they also have a practice of making a bitter gourd dish - a curry - (karathe ambade gashi) with sugarcanes or a spicy bitter gourd side (karathe sukke) or fried bitter gourds (karathe phodi by deep frying them in a spicy batter). I'm guessing it's to balance out the sugar load on the body.

Some homes make sweet dumplings with wheat (appo), modak (with rice) & few dishes to eat rice with like rasam (saaru) , stir fries (upakaris), sukke (spicy sides). All in all a feast for Lord Ganesh who's welcomed into our homes. - Navya.

Watch making of all recipes here:

Things that are usually cooked as part of Chauthi spread are mentioned below, a few items made as part of spread are different in different households, majority dishes made remain the same.

Find recipes as you click on the name of the items listed below or find them all here.

1. Patholi