Festivals lie at the heart of our country. It is a time when differences between people evanesce to give way to community, celebration, and love. Ganesh Chaturthi, a 10-day festival celebrated to revere the elephant god, Ganesha, is one of a fleet of festivals celebrated in India. While the country comes alive in equal gusto, there is something about Maharashtra’s celebrations worth witnessing in a lifetime. The state’s air is filled with palpable energy, and the occasional “Ganpati Bappa Morya” chants can be heard from every nook and cranny.
Friends and relatives visit each other, modaks are filled and folded, feasts are organised, and streets brim with people who wait with bated breath and folded hands to catch a glimpse of their favourite idol.
As the visarjan day approaches, Ganesha idols are immersed in water before the city returns to its usual pace. Whether decorating the pandal, helping prepare the prasad, devouring it, or participating in the morning and evening aartis, no one living in towns and cities across Maharashtra remains untouched by the magic and energy the festival brings. Outlook Traveller Eats spoke to people who share their fondest Ganesh Chaturthi memories with us.
Rushichi Bhaji: Kunal Vijaykar’s Favourite Ganesh Chaturthi Delicacy
“In most households, rushichi bhaji is prepared on the day after Ganesh Chaturthi, which is celebrated as Rishi Panchami. Growing up, I have never had a more flavourful bhaji than the one prepared at Nana Patekar’s house, where I usually landed on Panchami,” said actor and food writer, Kunal Vijaykar. Rushichi bhaji is a vegetable prepared in a saatvik way using 7-8 types of vegetables, mixed with little spices but lots of green chillis. Tamarind, pumpkin seeds, sweet gourd, ridge gourd, large chunks of corn, grated coconut, raw banana, and jaggery were some of the many ingredients used to prepare the dish.
He also mentioned how, days before the visarjan, most houses would only prepare vegetarian meals. “We are Pathare Prabhus and have a particular spread for Ganesh Chaturthi,” said Vijaykar. Their fare always includes modak, puran poli, shirale watana chi bhaji ( a simple sabzi prepared using ridge gourd and green peas with minimal masalas and no onion or garlic), black peas and bhindi sabzi, and shev doodh (sevaiyaan made with rice flour and sweetened milk). He also spoke about mehsur, the Maharashtrian version of the Mysore Pak. The former is hard as a biscuit and would feature in Ganesh Chaturthi’s prasad at Vijayakar’s house. “There was only one shop in Girgaon called Phutani Bai that continues to make mehsur till date,” added Vijaykar.
When I asked him how much he would be involved in preparing the feast, he laughed and said, “I was only deeply interested and involved in eating all of it.”
“We are predominantly non-vegetarians and I recall how all the older members of my family would head to the fish market on the morning of the viarjan. They would bring back a bagful of fish and place it outside the house. The moment Ganpati left the house, the bag would make its way into the kitchen.” Vijaykar narrated.
He considers Ganesh Chaturthi his favourite festival and continues the annual ritual of making the idol himself. Vijaykar grew up in his grandparents’ house, which faced Chaupati Beach. “I remember standing by the window and following all the popular Ganpati idols as they arrived for the visarjan. Today, what I miss the most is everyone coming together to celebrate and create memories,” he reminisced.
Dr. Kurush F Dalal’s Deccan College Ganpati Celebrations
“As a child, growing up in a Parsi family, Ganesh Chaturthi was only about the prasad. I understood the true essence of the festival only after I was in college,” said archaeologist and culinary anthropologist, Kurush F. Dalal. During the time he was studying archaeology at Deccan College, he truly immersed himself in the celebrations around Ganesh Chaturthi.
“The idol would come on a Muslim man’s scooter and go for visarjan on a Parsi man’s back. This is what Chaturthi means to me to date. It is about people shedding their differences and uniting for the cause of celebration,” said Dalal.
While he enjoyed modaks as a child, he understood the difference between the steamed (rice covering) and fried modaks (wheat covering) only after he grew up. “This is to say that I understood the nuances associated with the festival only after growing up,” he added.
Narrating an interesting story around modaks, he mentioned how the Japanese Pantheon has a God named Kangiten who closely resembles Lord Ganesha. “Since there is no coconut in Japan, the prasad offered to the Japanese counterpart is also a red bean paste-filled modak,” Dalal said.
“I imagine some maushi from the West Coast of India tutoring the Japanese on how they should offer their Ganesha, modaks too,” he laughed.
Chef Vishnu Manohar’s Dalichi Khirapat That Won Him The Post Of A Secretary
Chef Vishnu Manohar, known for his culinary world records, shares an incident that remains etched in his memory from when he was only 12 years old. “As a child, I didn’t have much say in organising the festivities, so I would take it upon myself to prepare the visarajan-day prasad,” said Manohar. He would prepare a dish called dalichi khirapat, made with soaked chana daal, cooked with spices and green chillies, and served with coriander and coconut.
The dish is eaten using a slice of cucumber converted into a spoon. “I would collect the daal from all the 165 homes in our locality to prepare the dish for everyone who’d return tired after the visarjan,” he recalled.
Looking at his concerted efforts, the people of his locality decided to make him the secretary of the community Ganpati celebration. “When I think about the moment I saw the Ganpati puja kankotri (invitation card) with my name on top, I still get goosebumps,” added Manohar as his voice swelled with happiness.
Many Ganesh Chaturthis have passed ever since, but for Chef Manohar, that remains the most special.
Chef Varun Inamdar’s Attempt To Keep Traditions Alive
“My fondest Ganesh Chaturthi memory would be sitting with my childhood best friends, Shahid Shaikh and Nazia Siddiqui, in the Ganpati pandal and distributing prasad, sakhar phutane, and shengdana (candied sugar and raw peanuts),” said two-time national awardee and an internationally acclaimed chef, Varun Inamdar.
When I asked him about things he enjoyed eating during the festival, he mentioned that the Naivedya (a Sanskrit word for the food offered to a deity) arriving from every home would be the most-awaited meal of the day. “My mother would also prepare the most amazing dry fruit sheera on the planet, and I try to keep that memory alive through my cooking,” Inamdar added.
He also continues the tradition of preparing ukadiche modak and rushichi bhaji and distributes them among family and friends. “I make nearly 350 kg of modak and bhaji with my own hands yearly,” said Inmadar.
For him, Ganesh Chaturthi has become more about keeping family traditions alive, filling the void of his father’s loss, and bringing the family under one roof like it used to be in his childhood. “What was once a carefree and boisterous celebration has now evolved into a much quieter, inward, and spiritual journey,” Inmadar concluded.
One common thing across all stories is the way food not only adds to the festivites but becomes a way to reminisce and rejoice the memories of the festival from years ago.
Read More: Ganesh Chaturthi 2025: Prepare This Ukadiche Modak Recipe By Saee Koranne-Khandekar
Also Read: A Feast Reimagined: Exploring the Flavours of a Non-Vegetarian Onam Sadhya
