With Ganesh Chaturthi round the corner, home delivery platforms across India are seeing an uptick in orders for modak, the beloved sweet traditionally offered to Lord Ganesha. But not every item labelled modak on these apps is the real deal — and disappointed customers are increasingly finding themselves receiving alternatives disguised under the familiar name.
On food delivery applications, a search for modak often returns a wide range of products: dense pedas shaped like modaks, besan laddoos moulded into the signature form, chocolate cakes decorated to resemble the sweet, and other confections that bear only a loose visual resemblance to the traditional preparation. The confusion has left many first-time buyers frustrated, especially those who grew up expecting the soft, steamed modak made from rice flour and filled with freshly prepared coconut-jaggery mixture.
Bakers and confectioners have long noted that the term modak has become something of a catch-all label on commercial platforms. Unlike identifiable products such as paneer or basmati rice, there is no regulatory standard governing what qualifies as a modak, which means any sweet shaped like one can legally carry the name. This absence of definition has allowed the market to fill with creative interpretations, many of which bear little connection to the dish's ancestral recipes.
Food critics and Ganesh Utsav organisers have urged buyers to pay closer attention to ingredient lists before placing orders. Authentic modak, they explain, should list rice flour or wheat flour as its outer shell and a core of grated coconut and jaggery. If the product description mentions besan, maida, cream, or chocolate as primary ingredients, it is almost certainly not a traditional modak, regardless of its shape.
Some established sweet makers in Maharashtra and Gujarat have responded by clearly labelling their products on delivery apps, specifying whether an offering is a 'steamed modak' or a 'baked modak variant,' helping customers make informed choices ahead of the festive rush.
