For the past 6 years, we have adopted the Ganesha Utsav the way it used to be celebrated in the apartments in Bengaluru. Moving away, this Is a slice of life we carried from our stay in Namma Bengaluru.
Gaining the confidence to attempt the eco-friendly Ganesha idol.
We ditched the idea of getting a Ganesha from the store a long while ago and have been making it ourselves. It began with the cooked dough ones. This dough behave like playdough and was easy for the kids to design them. Then came the turmeric Ganesha, kozhukattai maav Ganesha. Finally, this year have attempted a chocolate Ganesha idol for this festival.
Why choose chocolate?
The “visargan” or letting go of the Ganesha idol is usually done in rivers or the sea. Certainly, with all sorts of added pollutants, we did not want to add to this as contributors. So the Ganesha idols we made so far were immersed in water at home and then distributed to the plants. It is the visarjan part of the eco-friendly Ganesha ideas that prompted us to think of chocolate. The excitement for the chocolate Ganesha was certainly more than any other year we have attempted them.
This time we are planning the immersion in milk. At this point, I do not have an idea of what to do with the milk, so I will be happy if you have any ideas to share.
Getting the chocolate ready.
The pliable dough with chocolate was needed to get a basic Ganesha structure. We did not have a mould to shape melted chocolate. Hence went in to create the dough with chocolate chips, biscuits and a bit of condensed milk to hold it together. Once cooked together, it looked like a sticky mess that is never going to hold shape. That doesn’t deter our spirit!! We let it cool for some time. When cooled, the chocolate mix started behaving like playdough. So let’s play.
Here is the step by step instructions and as many images as we could capture with greasy hands
Chocolate Ganesha idol
Ingredients
- 250 grams chocolate
- 50 grams biscuit ( I have used marie biscuit)
- 1/4 can condensed sweetened milk
For decoration
- funfetti
- edible cake beads,
Instructions
- Collect the ingredients needed.
- Powder the biscuits to a fine mix.
- Add the chocolate into a thick pan on low heat.
- Ad the chocolate starts to melt add the condensed milk and let them melt together.
- Keep stirring continiously and add the biscuit powder.
- Let this mix cook and thicken with continious mixing( otherwise the chocolate will burn).
- Once they look thick, remove from the heat and set it aside to cool.
- If living in hot climates, you may need to use a refigerator to cool this dough.
- Once cooler and hand warm knead this mix to a shiny finish.
To make the idol
- Divide the cooled dough into a large sphere about 5-7 cms in diameter, a smaller one of 4 cm diameter. These for the body and the head.
- With the remaining dough portion out the legs, hands and ears.
- Roll the big body ball and palce on a plate or a parchment paper.
- Roll the ball for the head and pull one of the ends to shape like a trunk.
- Flatten the ear pieces and attach to the back of the head.
- Place the head on the body ( use tooth pick to secure if needed)
- Elongate the leg piecesand stick them from the back of the body piece. smoothen as you go to get a curved stlishly seated legs.
- Shape out the feet.
- Elongate the hands and make one palm facing forwrad and the other with a tiny cone of the dough to form a modak.
- Stick the hands from the back at the junction of the body and head, under the ears.
- Shape a crown if desired, some additional modaks and a tiny oblong shaped mice with a tail.
- Using cake decoratiosn, Place eyes for the Ganesha.
- Use funfetti to add more colour and jewellery as per your imagination.
- Your Chocolate Ganesha Is ready.
Ganesh Chaturthi menu plan
The attempted Ganesha is seated for the Utsav and here is my menu plan to suit This Ganesha Chaturthi ( Each is a clickable link)
Day 1
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There is certainly a lot of excitement about this chocolate Ganesha (all in a good way). If you have been planning to make the idol this year l, go for it. It is total fun. Share a picture of your Ganesha too. Tag us #mildlyindian @mildlyindian if you are making one of these eco-friendly Ganesha. We are planning to take this forward by attempting one type of DIY Ganesh idol each year. Look out for our collection each year.
Ganapathi bappa Morya!
Mangala moorthi Moriya!
I wish you a safe festival season!
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What a beautiful Ganesha and that too made using chocolate and no mould. What a perfect way to get kids involved in festival preparations.
Mayuri, hands on is the best way to learn and remember so same goes to festivals. mine will go for anything that they get to nibble at the end! the Ganesha was actually very fun to do with them.
Beautifully done chocolate ganesh without a mould. This time I can get the girls into the project! Love the idea of using marie biscuit here.
The easiest simplest biscuits that come out smooth is Marie. You can use digestive cookies too. I will love to see the updated Ganesha that the girls make.
The chocolate gannu looks so cute and cuddly ..I love ganesha festival a lot and miss the vibrant atmosphere and vibes back in Bombay. Love how you have painstakingly shaped the ganesha without the mould
Each region has its own uniqueness when it comes to festivals. I am sure you miss Mumbai, yet you will find something cozy here too. The Ganesha was fairly easy to make, so give it a go this year.
I chanced upon this post as I was looking for popular sculptures. I am a sculptor and the idea of making the idol with chocolate appealed to me a lot. I am a fan. Curious to see what you will have for this year 2022?