Ganpati Bappa More Yeah!!!

If all of us foodies had a mascot it would have been the Ganpati without any bias. Now it’s not at all funny but a fact that he’s the biggest foodie among all the 84 crore Gods there are. This is vividly evident from the half man and half elephant configuration, his size and the quantity and kinds of Prasad that's offered to him.

In all these thousands of years it’s really been very difficult to know about Ganesha’s diet chart (except that he was a vegetarian I am sure) but it is elementary, that he relished laddoos the most.  Gannu as my new Boss lovingly calls him, was crazy about laddoos and simply couldn't stop himself from eating them. He'd devour them by the hundreds. Once pissed off with Ganesha’s obsession, the Moon made fun of the chubby God. Ganesha's ego was badly hit and he cursed him, saying that his beauty would never be constant. Since that day, the moon reveals itself in all its magnificence only once in 28 days. That's what happens when you hurt a food lover. We are harmless otherwise...

I think that's the reason not many people observe a fast on Ganesha’s birthday akin to Janamashtmi or Shivrartri. The obvious feeling perhaps is that at least his birthday should be an occasion for pigging and not calling a day's diet dreaming food.

Ganpati Bappa More Yeah!!!

I miss having a laddoo today; I had to pacify with the Sri Krishna Sweets', Mysore Pak. Coming straight from Coimbatore its amazingly fresh and just melted in my mouth. All thanks to My brother and well, the Wright brothers as well. The best laddoo I have recently had (which also was the best coconut rava laddoo I've ever had) was made by my friend Vikram's mom. In sheer gratitude and no greed whatsoever, I have registered myself for the marriage duties of anybody in his family and whenever he himself plans to get married. It is to be clearly noted, that these duties will be limited to execution in the kitchen and dining area only and should be followed by a peaceful walk and hours of rest. 

I remember visiting a good many sweet shops in Delhi to find the best Laddoo concoction on an assignment for Foodiebay.com (Zomato now). I've found it to be the best at very few places. One of them is the Lakshmi Restaurant at Brahmaputra market in Noida. It has a southern Indian flavor because of the peanut or coconut oil they use. In taste much like the big Tirupati laddoo, but better blended. Some amazing laddoos in Delhi were found at the Ghantewala in Old Delhi, one of the oldest sweet shop there, it sells great quality and variety of laddoos. The unpacked laddoos of Haldiram in Chandni Chowk are delicious too. Made of pure ghee, they melt away with every bite. And there's a sweet shop that serves laddoos hot! Yup... hot. It is so soft like velvet that they smoothly go down to your belly. It’s like a cross between Mysore Pak from the South and the Motichoor of the North.

I don’t know what kind of laddoos does Ganesha like. Unlike of the heavens, we earthlings have gotten used to pacify ourselves with whatever’s convenient. I pray however, that happy with my love and devotion for the laddoos, Ganpati blesses me and my readers for infinite number of opportunities to savour them and celebrate with them. Wish you all a prosperous Ganesh Chaturthi!