Modak is Ganesha’s food and the festival runs on it. The proper one is ukadiche modak — a rice flour shell, steamed, filled with fresh coconut and jaggery, eaten hot with ghee. The fried version, with a wheat flour shell, keeps longer and travels better.
Modern versions — chocolate, mawa, dry fruit — are now sold everywhere, and the traditional kitchens have opinions about them. Beyond modak the festival food is puran poli, karanji, and the full Maharashtrian naivedya thali offered at the aarti.
The names
Mandals, places and people, with what each one is| Name | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Ukadiche modak | Maharashtrian households and sweet shops | Steamed rice flour shell with coconut and jaggery; eaten hot with ghee. The traditional one. |
| Fried modak | sweet shops city-wide | Wheat flour shell, deep fried; keeps longer. |
| Prakash Shakahari Upahar Kendra1980 | Gokhale Road, Dadar West | Maharashtrian kitchen; modak and festival sweets in season. |
| Aaswad1980s | Gadkari Chowk, Dadar West | Modak and Maharashtrian snacks during the festival. |
| Chitale Bandhu1950 | Pune, and Mumbai outlets | The Pune sweet house; modak and Maharashtrian sweets. |
| Lalbaug and Dadar sweet shops | Lalbaug, Dadar | The festival trade; order ahead for the first day. |
| Puran poli | households and sweet shops | Flatbread stuffed with jaggery and gram dal; festival food across Maharashtra. |
| Karanji | households and sweet shops | Fried pastry with coconut and dry fruit. |
| The naivedya thali | the home | The full offering made at aarti: rice, dal, vegetable, sweet, and modak. |
| Lalbaug food stalls | Lalbaug market lanes | Eleven days of vada pav, misal, juice and sweets through the pandal district. |
Worth knowing
- Ukadiche modak must be eaten hot. It does not keep and is not meant to.
- Twenty-one is the traditional number offered on the first day.
- Order from the sweet shops ahead of Chaturthi; they sell out.
- The Lalbaug food stalls run for the full eleven days and are part of the trip.
- Puran poli and karanji are the other two festival sweets worth seeking out.
More on Ganeshotsav
Read the city another way
A note on this page. Festival dates move with the lunar calendar and arrangements change every year. Everything here is a snapshot of Mumbai as of 2026, offered as a starting point rather than a live listing. Check timings, routes and darshan rules before you travel.
Mandal, temple, shop and company names belong to their respective owners. Inclusion is for independent discovery only, not endorsement, ranking or affiliation.
Our other websites
These open our other sites in a new tab. They are part of the same network and are marked in blue throughout this site.