Home chefs get bigger orders this Ganesh Chaturthi

They are getting orders for get-togethers, apartment celebrations and corporate gifting

After two years of muted celebrations, people are looking to mark Ganesh Chaturthi in a big way. Home chefs in Bengaluru Metrolife spoke to can attest to that.

They say they are getting orders for 51 to 200 modaks for get-togethers, pandal pujas, and apartment and office celebrations this year.

Traditional platter

As always, the biggest demand is for ukadiche modak, the steamed dumpling of rice flour, coconut and jaggery, believed to be much loved by the elephant god.

Jayashree Dhamne, chef behind Jaya’s Home Kitchen, has received a pre-order of over 600 modaks, three times of the last year. These have come mostly from residents of her apartment in R T Nagar and a Marathi group on Facebook. Her modaks are generously big and come for Rs 30 a piece.

Besides the modak, she is selling chivda (a savoury mix of flattened rice, spices and dry fruits) and chakli (a deep-fried spiral snack). Call 99677 64598

Savitha Chandrashekar of Iyer Homemade Products is offering two varieties of modak — one with jaggery and coconut filling, and the other with sugar and dry fruits.Both are priced at Rs 10 each, informs the Vidyaranyapura resident.Three types of holige (a sweet stuffed bread) are also on the menu — with toor dal-jaggery, coconut-jaggery, and dates stuffing. A holige is priced at Rs 21. Kadubu (steamed rice flour dumpling with sweet filling), ladoos of besan or rava and savoury snacks like chakli, nippattu and kodubale are part of her festive menu. Call: 99016 51553

Sridevi Vishwanath of Mansvi Edibles is “going traditional with steamed modaks”. “This time, I see more demand for the big-sized modak, karanji (fried pastry with a coconut-dry fruit-cardamom filling) and jaggery barfi. Sugar barfis go bad in two days,” says the Girinagar resident.

“Some orders are coming from Bengalureans who have shifted to Mumbai and Delhi,” she informs. Sridevi has priced the modaks at Rs 6 (medium-size) and Rs 10 (big). “I am also selling garlands strung with 100 karanjis for puja.” Besides kajjayya (a deep-fried sweet) and other listed items, she can make ladoos and Mysore Pak on request. Call: 99720 36662

Reimagining modak

Rajani Arun Shetty has three modak varieties on her menu, all big-sized. One is the customary version, the other is stuffed with mava (milk solids), and the last uses mango pulp in the dough as well as the filling.

The Yeshwanthpur resident who runs ‘Rajani Special’ says, “People prefer the traditional modak for puja. For parties, other varieties do well.” She moulds the modaks by hand and so, she caps the orders to 50-60 modaks a day, selling them for Rs 30 each.

Some health-conscious people ask her to make puran poli (or holige) from wheat or a mix of 90% wheat and 10% refined flour, she shares. Call: 99676 55389

This year, Nidhi Mehta has healthy modaks on her menu in addition to the steamed and oil-fried varieties. “I can customise them with wheat or sugar-free alternatives like stevia or air-fry them or do all together,” says the resident of Begur along the Bengaluru-Hosur highway. She is selling six modaks for Rs 150, Rs 20 up from last year. “It is a nominal increase. The price of everything from dry fruits to cooking gas to refined flour has gone up,” she reasons.

Another change her venture Nidhi’s Kitchen has seen is that the bulk, corporate orders of 200 modaks are back as offline work resumes. Call: 80881 30591