Modak- A steamed version.

On the occasion of Ganapati, here is the re-post.




Modak for me is party in itself. These delicious mouth watering traditional Maharashtrian dessert with a drizzle ( and I mean a really spoonful of drizzle) of homemade ghee makes my day more special. Modak preparation is associated with Hindu god 'Ganesha'. Modak is believed to be his favorite food. The cover ( also called Ukad in marathi) is made up of rice flour and filled with coconut and jaggery, topped with hot ghee(sajuk tup) and a couple of strands of saffron is just additional touch.


Making modaks is a hard job. It takes years and years of experience for the perfection.
But there is always a room for improvement so nothing should stop you from trying.


Final product should look something like this-

Here is what you will need-:


For the covering-: (Ukad)

• 1 cup of rice flour    

• 1 cup of water
• A pinch of salt 
• 1 teaspoon of oil.

For the stuffing-:

• 1 cup of shredded coconut.( Easily available in the frozen section of Indian store)
• 3/4 cup of Jaggery ( cut in pieces)
• Cardamom powder- A pinch
• Poppy seeds- 1 teaspoon

For garnish-: 

• Few strands of saffron
• Ghee

This is how you prepare-:

The covering- Ukad

• In a sauce pan, heat the water. Add salt, and oil while heating the water. Let the water bubble.                       

                           

• When water bubbles, add the rice flour. Keep mixing well while you add the flour.

• Lumps will be formed as you keep stirring the flour and the water mixture. If the mixture gets dry, add a tablespoon of water.

• While the mixture is hot take some part of the prepared mixture out, keep rest of the flour covered, so that it won't dry on you.

• Using your hands, and some ghee , kneed the dough to a smooth texture.

For the stuffing-:

• Mix coconut, jaggery in a sauce pan. Heat the mixture until the jaggery starts to melt. It usually takes about 10-15 minutes on a low flame.Add cardamom powder and poppy seeds.

Putting them together-:

• Take a little quantity of the prepared dough in your hands, give that a round shape.

• With your fingers, press the dough evenly from all the sides. Flatten the dough keeping it round.

• Press the edges with your thumb and the index finger. Press it equidistantly. 
• Take a spoonful of mixture and stuff it inside the flatten dough you just made.

• With the palm and the fingers, and maintaining it's round shape, pull the edges together towards the center.

• Join the edges at the top.

For steaming-:

You can use any kind of steamer. I used a soft wet muslin cloth over the colander. 

Then I put all the modak's in the colander.

and then placed the colander in to large pot filled with water at the bottom. I used the pan as a steamer. 

You can also use idli stand or pressure cooker. Steam the modaks for about 15 minutes.

To prevent modaks from cracking, dip them in water for few seconds and then steam them.

When the modaks gets steamed properly, serve them hot with ghee (sajuk tup). Do not cut down on ghee as the ghee makes the modak more tastier. Garnish with a couple of strands of saffron on each modak.


Here is a picture of hot modak with the steam coming right out of it. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much I did while taking the clicks, and eating as well....:)