Feature
This festival season try these different modaks at Ganesh Utsav in your homes
New Delhi: Ganesh Utsav has finally arrived and with pandals ready to welcome devotees, awe-inspiring Ganesh idols ready to be worshiped and lively dance and music adding to the fervour, it is evident that the festive season has truly begun. Out of all the preparations, modaks top the list of every devotee so make sure you are trying out new options this time.
Yogesh Ghorpade, founder and CEO, Uplodefoodie, and Kashmiri Nath, expert at Momspresso, give some exciting modak recipes that you can prepare to satiate your sweet tooth while enjoying different festivities:
* Chana dal modak: It is made with rice flour and wheat flour loaded with cooked chana dal and some jaggery blended with it. Cook chana dal, take half cup chopped jaggery and one-fourth cup of water in another pan, cook and stir it well so the jaggery melts. Then mix the jaggery syrup with the mashed chana dal and add grated coconut. Boil some water and add the rice flour and keep stirring it for three to four minutes. Mix it with the dough and finish it by making small balls. Steam them in a pan and garnish with the rose petals.
As festival season begins, try these different types of Modaks recipes at Ganesh Utsav:
* Chocolate modak: A modern take on a traditional Indian sweet, chocolate modak is an excellent new addition loved by both kids and adults. To make this, start by mixing 50 ml milk and half a can of condensed milk in a pan over medium heat. As soon as it begins to boil, turn off the heat and add 275 gm of chocolate chips into the pan and keep stirring until all of it melts. Turn on the heat and cook the mixture over a low flame. As soon as it begins to thicken, add one cup of powdered digestive biscuits and stir till it forms a dough. You can also add chopped pistachios to give it a nutty twist. Let the mixture cool, and then start shaping them into modaks. Garnish with chocolate chips and roasted pistachios.
* Mawa modak: The mouth-watering mawa modaks are made of khoya, powdered sugar, dried figs and nutties. Stir khoya and powdered sugar in a pan till it starts to melt. Let it cool and add the powdered nutties like cashews, almonds, coconut and chopped figs into it. Make its shape with modak mould. Put the small ball in the mould, add stuffing mixture and press it so it seals properly. Open the seal, remove and shape them likewise.
* Malai modak: These are prepared with paneer, condensed milk and kesar. Crush the paneer into small pieces and put it in a pan, add condensed milk in it. Keep stirring it so the paneer granules are mashed properly. Cook for 7-8 minutes till it becomes like a dough. Then take it out in a plate and let the dough cool down. Grease the mould with ghee and and start shaping them. Your modak are ready.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.