Modak Recipe and Happy Ganesh Chaturthi

A Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all the readers of my blog. I pray that Lord Ganesha bestows prosperity, luck and blessings to everyone.

The Ganesh Chaturthi Festival is one festival I have grown up with. I would see as a kid how the devotess of Lord Ganesha would bring him and worship him with so much devotion and prayerfulness in their homes. This aspect of devotion and gratitude became a part of me and is something which i still have. I can never forget those days when as a kid I would simply wait for Ganesh Chaturthi festival and would not like when we had to leave Lord Ganesha.

I would wait to have the sumptous feast…. the prashad/prasad or naivedya or bhog that was first offered to Lord Ganesha and then to us. This feast had its own beautiful feeling of love and devotion infused in it. The vegetarian feast served on plaintain leaf, would consist of panchamrit, puris or vadas ( a malvani recipe of puris made from flour comprising of lentils, rice flour etc),  steamed rice, a beans or cauliflower or potato veggie dish, dal or varan bhaat, kala vatana rassa, sheera and of course and obviously modak……… Lord Ganesha’s favorite sweet………. and mine too. I would simply love the sweet jaggery and coconut filling inside the modak.

This filling has a resemblance to the filling used in patholi ( a konkani recipe of steamed sweet rice flour delicacy made in haldi leaves). Patholi is a sweet that is made during the Gauri – Ganesh festival in the regions of Konkan & Goa.

I remember having modaks… plenty of them only during Ganesh Chaturthi and not any other time. I would always ask my mother to make them at other times and she would not make them. Now I know why she wouldn’t make them. Its takes quite some time to make modaks and can be a messy affair, especially if you don’t get the things right.

By practice, you will learn to make the perfect modaks at home. I made modaks for the first time and making them does require patience, effort and some cooking skills from your side. Since I have enough experience and practice of cooking, I made fairly good modaks the first time though…. a pat on my back

The only thing, I was not successful in the modaks was the pleated effect on the the surface of the modaks. I did not have the modak mold and had to shape them by hand.  It is better if you can get your hands on the modak mould and things would be much easier for you.

This post is a step by step recipe with images/pictures for making modaks at home. This is a maharastrian modak recipe. Its also called as ukadiche modak where the modaks are steamed. There is another version of modak recipe where the modaks are fried. So lets start step by step process of making modaks this Ganesh Chaturthi as well for the ones to come in the future.

Ingredients for Ukadiche Modak Recipe:

For the outer modak covering:

• 1 and half cup rice flour
• 1 tsp oil
• 2 and half cups water
• a pinch of salt

For the inner sweet filling:

• 2 and half cups grated fresh coconut
• 2 cups crumbled jaggery or 2 and half cups jaggery……. if you like a more sweeter taste
• 1 tsp cardamom powder or crushed cardamom

How to make Modak:

Making the sweet filling:

• I assume you have all the things ready like grated coconut and crumbled jaggery and cardamom powder. If not then you will take some time in grating the coconut…

• getting the jaggery crumbled and ready…

• and crushing the cardamom ( I used 4 cardamoms)…

• In a thick bottomed pan, take the jaggery and add the coconut to it. Heat up the stove.

• Mix the jaggery and coconut together and stir.

• The jaggery will start to melt now….. keep on stirring for sometime….

• The jaggery will start to melt more…… keep on stirring more……

• Once the entire jaggery is melted…. you will see a moist liquid mass of jaggery and coconut and a heavenly aroma coming from the pan….and yes you could taste it (but only if you are making this as a sweet dish and not prasad or naivedya)…. its hot…so let it cool and have it.

• Keep stirring and let the mixture cook till the mixture becomes a little dry. Just keep in mind that the jaggery should not be over cooked as then your mixture would become very sticky and hard.

• When done, add the cardamom powder….

• mix the cardamom powder

• The coconut jaggery filling is ready. Keep it aside.

Making the outer cover of the Modak:

• In a pan or dekchi add the water, oil and salt.

• Keep this pan on the flame and let the contents heat up till the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Remove 1 cup of this hot water and keep it separate. We are doing this as we will add this water later if the mixture has less water. We do not want the mixture to be sticky and wet.

• Remove the pan from the fire and add the rice flour to it. Add small portions of rice flour and the 1 cup of water that we had kept separate. Keep on mixing as you want the mixture to be free from lumps and smooth. If the mixture becomes dry, add little water. If it becomes too liquidy, add a little rice flour. Consistency is very important here as you do not want the dough to break when making the modaks.

• Mix all the rice flour and keep on mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula.

• Now keep this pan with the rice flour on low flame and keep on stirring till the rice mixture becomes thick and one solid mass. Check out the below pic where the rice flour has mixture all become one and gathered on the spatula.

• Let the mixture become warm and then knead the mixture. The dough will stick to your fingers… buts it alright. Its a part of the process of making modaks at home.

• Apply some water or oil on your palm. Take a small portion of the rice dough and make a smooth ball out of it with your hands. Keep this rice flour dough ball on your palm.

• Now flatten this dough ball in your palm with the fingers of the other hand. Make a small puri of it on your palm.

• Keep a small portion of the jaggery-coconut mixture on the center of this puri.

• Bring together all the edges together and close the top. This is quite a task especially if you have not made something similar to this before.

• Remove the extra portion of the dough from the top.

• Shape and taper the top of the modak with your fingers.

• Make all the modaks this way.

• Steam the modaks for 7-10 mins on a low to medium flame in a pressure cooker without the whistle. Some modaks may crack whilst steaming as was the case with me, buts its alright. You can forgive yourself if you are making this first time.

• The modaks are ready to be offered to Lord Ganesha.

Important Note: If you are making the modaks as prasad or naivedyam than please refrain from tasting the filling or the dough. Prepare with utmost care, love and devotion and this prasad of modaks will nourish everyone’s being subtly. Use clean utensils and good quality ingredients and prepare in a clean and hygienic manner.

modak recipe details are below:

Print

Modak Recipe for Ganesh Chaturthi

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Yield: 12-15

Serving Size: 4

a traditional maharashtrian steamed sweet dish offered to lord ganesha on the occasion of ganesh chaturthi festival.

ingredients

• For the outer modak covering:
• 1 and half cup rice flour
• 1 tsp oil
• 2 and half cups water
• a pinch of salt
• For the inner sweet filling:
• 2 and half cups grated fresh coconut
• 2 cups crumbled jaggery or 2 and half cups jaggery……. if you like a more sweeter taste
• 1 tsp cardamom powder or crushed cardamom

method:

1. Making the sweet filling:
2. grate the coconut.
3. crumble the jaggery.
4. crush the cardamom pods.
5. In a thick bottomed pan, take the jaggery and add the coconut to it. Heat up the stove.
6. Mix the jaggery and coconut together and stir.
7. The jaggery will start to melt now….. keep on stirring for sometime….
8. The jaggery will start to melt more…… keep on stirring more……
9. Once the entire jaggery is melted…. you will see a moist liquid mass of jaggery and coconut and a heavenly aroma coming from the pan.
10. Keep stirring and let the mixture cook till the mixture becomes a little dry. Just keep in mind that the jaggery should not be over cooked as then your mixture would become very sticky and hard.
11. When done, add the cardamom powder….
12. mix the cardamom powder.
13. Making the outer cover of the Modak:
14. In a pan or dekchi add the water, oil and salt.
15. Keep this pan on the flame and let the contents heat up till the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Remove 1 cup of this hot water and keep it separate. We are doing this as we will add this water later if the mixture has less water. We do not want the mixture to be sticky and wet.
16. Remove the pan from the fire and add the rice flour to it. Add small portions of rice flour and the 1 cup of water that we had kept separate. Keep on mixing as you want the mixture to be free from lumps and smooth. If the mixture becomes dry, add little water. If it becomes too liquidy, add a little rice flour. Consistency is very important here as you do not want the dough to break when making the modaks.
17. Mix all the rice flour and keep on mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula.
18. Now keep this pan with the rice flour on low flame and keep on stirring till the rice mixture becomes thick and one solid mass.
19. Let the mixture become warm and then knead the mixture. The dough will stick to your fingers… buts it alright. Its a part of the process of making modaks at home.
20. Apply some water or oil on your palm. Take a small portion of the rice dough and make a smooth ball out of it with your hands. Keep this rice flour dough ball on your palm.
21. Now flatten this dough ball in your palm with the fingers of the other hand. Make a small puri of it on your palm.
22. Keep a small portion of the jaggery-coconut mixture on the center of this puri.
23. Bring together all the edges together and close the top. This is quite a task especially if you have not made something similar to this before.
24. Remove the extra portion of the dough from the top.
25. Shape and taper the top of the modak with your fingers.
26. Make all the modaks this way.
27. team the modaks for 7-10 mins on a low to medium flame in a pressure cooker without the whistle. Some modaks may crack whilst steaming as was the case with me, buts its alright. You can forgive yourself if you are making this first time.
28. The modaks are ready to be offered to Lord Ganesha.

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin

2.2

http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/modak-recipe-ukadiche-modak-recipe/