Ganesh Chaturthi Sweet Recipes

A Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all our readers. The festive season has arrived and here I share 35 sweets that you can make the Vinagayar Chaturthi festival. Bhagwan Ganesha loves sweets. Modak and ladoo are the favorite sweets of Ganesha and often served as naivedhyam or bhog. Most people make modaks on the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Maharashtra.

This year Ganesh Chaturthi is starting on 10 September 2021 and as usual will last for 10 days.

Along with the traditonal modak, you can make ladoo varieties like Coconut Ladoo, Besan Ladoo, Boondi Ladoo, Rava Ladoo or Puran Poli, Karanji or Halwa as a naivedhyam or bhog.

Apart from sweets, other popular Maharashtrian recipes which are made during Ganesh Chaturthi festival are:

• Varan Bhaat
• Alu vadi or Patra
• Moong Dal Khichdi
• Batata Bhaji
• Rishi Panchami Sabzi
• Black Peas Curry
• Rice Poori or Wheat Puri

Various kinds of Sundal are also made in Tamil Nadu. Kindly refrain from using onion and garlic in these recipes if they are added in any of the above recipes.

I have already posted a list of 88 recipes that can made during Ganesh Chaturthi Festival.

35 Sweets Recipes for Ganesh Chaturthi

1. Ukadiche Modak – It is one of the most popular modak recipe made during Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Maharashtra. This is a maharastrian modak recipe made from rice flour. Its also called as ukadiche modak where the modaks are steamed. a step by step post to make modaks.

2. Fried Modak – This crispy, delicious Fried Modak is an easy sweet that you can make for the Ganesh Chaturthi Festival. Fried modak as the name implies is a variation of the much popular steamed modak. It is made with an outer crispy wheat flour crust and a tasty sweet stuffing of coconut, jaggery, sesame seeds and cardamom.

3. Kozhukattai Recipe – Kozhukattai or kolukattai is a festive South Indian sweet of steamed dumplings made with rice flour dough and stuffed with a filling of coconut and jaggery. Basically kozhukattai is the South Indian variation of modak made in maharashtra.

4. Chocolate Modak – This is an easy and tasty variation of modak made with 3 ingredients – chocolate, mawa/khoya (evaporated milk solids) and sugar. This recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make and is simple to make during festive seasons. I have used chocolate chips but you could use grated chocolate of any good brand.

5. Mawa Modak – These tasty modaks are made with minimal ingredients which is Mawa (khoya or evaporated milk solids), sugar and cardamom powder. You can make this sweet in less than 30 minutes. This is a quick modak recipe and comes handy if you don’t have much time. These mawa modaks can also be served as naivedyam to Bhagwan Ganesha.

6. Puran Poli – It is a popular Maharashtrian recipe made during Ganesh Chaturthi or Diwali or any other festive occasion. Puran poli is a flat bread stuffed with a sweet lentil filling made from skinned spilt bengal gram/chana dal and jaggery…. In Marathi language the sweet filling is called as puran and the outer covering is called as poli. step by step recipe. It is served with Katachi Amti. You can also check this Holige or Bobbatlu Recipe.

7. Coconut Ladoo – These coconut ladoo are made with desiccated coconut. Just a three ingredient recipe and one which does not take a lot of time to make. These are melt in the mouth ladoo. So do try this coconut ladoo recipe for Ganesh Chaturthi or for any festival. Two more delicious variations you can make are:

1. Instant Coconut Ladoo
2. Coconut Ladoo Recipe with Khoya

8. Motichoor Ladoo – These are soft, delish melt in the mouth ladoo made mainly with gram flour, sugar, and spices. Two more sweets you can make with besan are:

• Mysore Pak
• Besan ka Halwa

9. Coconut Barfi – An easy step by step recipe of coconut barfi made with condensed milk. These coconut barfis have a melt in the mouth soft texture. You can also make coconut ladoos with the same mixture. Another delicious variation you can make is Coconut Burfi with Khoya.

10. Patholi Recipe – Patholi are steamed rice rolls which are stuffed with fresh coconut and jaggery mixture. Patholi are made during the Gauri Ganesha festival. What makes the patHoli special is the steaming technique. These rolls are steamed in fresh turmeric leaves which make them aromatic. Step by step recipe.

11. Karanji – Crispy, flaky, fried pastry stuffed with desiccated coconut and dry fruits. Step by step recipe. Other delicious Snacks you can make during Ganesh Chaturthi festival are:

• Chakli
• Murukku
• Savory Shankarpali
• Sweet Shankarpali
• Dry Fruits Karanji

11. Besan Ladoo – This popular Indian sweet is made from gram flour, powdered sugar and clarified butter (ghee). Make this decadent sweet with my easy fail-proof besan ladoo recipe. Besan ladoo are delicious and made during all festive occasions in India.

12. Banana Sheera or Banana Halwa – Banana sheera or banana semolina pudding is often made during Ganesh Puja or Satyanarayan Puja or Devi Puja or for any auspicious occasion. Banana sheera is also made to be served as a prasad. Prasad means a gift from the divine. It also means food that is first offered to the deity and then served to the devotees. Other popular Halwa Recipes you can check are:

1. Atte ka Halwa
2. Moong Dal Halwa
3. Badam Halwa
4. Ash Gourd Halwa

13. Gajar Halwa – A classic Indian dessert featuring carrots that goes for any festive occasion or season. It is an evergreen Indian dessert and one of the most popular halwa variant that is made in India.

14. Chana Dal Kozhukattai – South Indian recipe variation of modak made with a stuffing of chana dal, coconut and jaggery.

15. Suji Halwa – Suji ka halwa is your classic every day delicious North Indian sweet made with fine semolina or cream of wheat (farina), sugar, ghee, nuts and flavored with cardamom powder. It is also known as Rava Sheera in Western India and Rava Kesari in South India. 

16. Rice Kheer – This traditional Indian rice pudding made with basmati rice, whole milk, sugar, nuts, saffron and cardamom is slow-cooked to perfection making for a rich, creamy kheer. I share our favorite rice kheer recipe that is made easy with my stepwise photos and video.

17. Aval Payasam – Delicious poha payasam made with flattened rice, ghee and milk. In the recipe I have used thick poha, but you can also use thin poha. Even red poha can be used. this poha payasam gets done in 20 to 25 minutes.

18. Boondi Ladoo – A popular Indian sweet made from gram flour batter and sugar syrup. there are two types of boondi ladoos. One is a soft textured one and the other is a crisp hard one.

Both these ladoo variants have some variations in the method and the consistency of sugar syrup, thus yielding different textures. This ladoo recipe give a soft textured boondi ladoos.

19. Basundi Recipe – Basundi is sweet thickened milk, flavored with cardamom and nutmeg, with the addition of dry fruits. This milk based dessert is popular in the western part of India, specially in the states Maharashtra and Gujarat.

20. Rava Ladoo – A festive sweet of delicious balls made with semolina (cream of wheat), sugar, ghee, nuts and flavored with ground cardamom. I share an easy Rava Laddu recipe that gets made quickly and tastes awesome. Learn how to make perfect Rava Laddu with my step-by-step photos and video.

21. Shrikhand Recipe – A traditional Indian sweet made with hung curd and flavored with saffron and cardamom. Its very easy to make shrikhand provided you follow the steps of making Hung Curd properly.

22. Rava Modak – This is an easy variation of modak made with semolina or sooji and stuffed with a sweet filling of jaggery and fresh coconut. They don’t need to be steamed and so the cooking time is greatly reduced. You can make this semolina modak for Ganesh Chaturthi festival or as a sweet snack.

23. Sabudana Kheer – This sweet pudding is made with sago, milk and sugar. It is a popular Indian sweet made on Hindu fasting days. If you plan to keep fast during Ganesh Chaturthi festival then you can check these Fasting Recipes like:

1. Makhana kheer
2. Kuttu ki khichdi
3. Samvat rice khichdi
4. Kaddu ki sabzi
5. Vrat wale aloo
6. Rajgira ki kheer
7. Singhare ki poori

24. Atta Ladoo – Easy and quick to prepare delicious ladoo made with whole wheat flour, sugar and ghee. Other popular desserts made with whole wheat flour are:

• Atte ka halwa
• Wheat flour cake
• Punjabi puda
• Sweet paniyaram.

25. Poornam Boorelu – One of the most popular sweet snack from Andhra cuisine is poornam boorelu. These are deep fried snacks made with a stuffing of chana dal+jaggery and coated with rice+urad dal batter (similar to dosa batter).

26. Maladu – Quick South Indian ladoo made from roasted gram or roasted chana dal. It takes less than 15 minutes to makes these ladoo. They are not only delicious but very nutritious and healthy also.

27. Mango Modak – This modak variety are prepared with fresh mango pulp, khoya (evaporated milk solids), sugar and flavored with cardamom powder. These modaks are delicious, rich, melt in the mouth and with a lovely taste of mangoes. 

To make the modak, I have used fresh mango pulp. you can even use canned mango pulp. I chose alphonso mango since they are sweet but you can use any good quality of sweet and pulpy mangoes.

28. Til Ladoo– A simple recipe of ladoo prepared with sesame seeds, jaggery, peanuts and desiccated coconut. these sesame seeds laddus make for a good warming sweet snack for the winters. Make them, store them and have them whenever you want. Another variation you can make is this Til Gud Ladoo.

29. Nevris Recipe – Nevris are deep fried pastries made with whole wheat flour and stuffed with grated coconut, jaggery and dry fruits. Nevri is the Goan version of the Maharashtrian karanji and the North Indian Gujiya.

30. Semiya Payasam – It is a creamy, sweet vermicelli pudding from South Indian cuisine. This cardamom scented vermicelli payasam comes together in 20 minutes and can be made by beginners too.

31. Dry Fruits Modak – A variant of modak made from rice flour and stuffed with mixture of mawa, poppy seeds, coconut and dry fruits.

32. Sunnundalu Recipe – Tasty and delicious laddu variety from the Andhra cuisine and made with urad dal, ghee and sugar. Another delicious variation is this Moong Dal Ladoo.

33. Rice Payasam – This payasam is made with coconut milk and jaggery. This kheer is a nice fusion between the Kerala rice payasam and the Konkani rice payasam. Another South Indian variation is this Paal Payasam.

34. Sabudana Ladoo – This ladoo variant made from tapioca pearls can be made for any festival as well as for fasting. The ladoo tasted awesome and you will like them even more, if you are fond of having sabudana in sweets. Other popular Sabudana Recipes made for fasting are:

• Sabudana Thalipeeth
• Sabudana Vada
• Sabudana Tikki 
• Sabudana Khichdi

35. 7 Cup Barfi – This decadent 7 cup burfi or 7 cups sweet is a tasty fudge-like sweet made with 7 measures of ingredients. This tasty sweet is made with gram flour, grated coconut, milk, ghee and sugar. Make in 30 minutes and serve during Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

This Ganesh Chaturthi Sweets Recipe post from the archives (Sep 2013) has been republished and updated on 8 September 2021.