Modak- special treat made for Lord Ganesha

   

Ingredients:

For the outer shell (Rice flour dough):

• 1 cup rice flour (use fine rice flour)
• 1 cup water
  1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
  1/4 tsp salt
•  A few drops of oil (to grease your hands)

For the filling:

• 1 cup fresh grated coconut
• 1/2 cup  jaggery/ gur (grated or chopped into small pieces) 
• 1/4 tsp cardamom pdr
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg pdr
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1 tbsp chopped cashews or almonds
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds
  

Method:

Preparing the filling:

1. Heat ghee in a pan over medium heat. Add the grated coconut and sauté it for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it turns aromatic but not brown.
2. Add jaggery to the coconut mixture and stir well. Continue cooking on low heat until the jaggery melts and blends with the coconut. This will form a sticky mixture.
3. Add cardamom powder and nutmeg powder for flavour, along with chopped nuts (cashews/almonds) and poppy seeds.
4. Cook for 1-2 more minutes until the mixture is well combined and dry enough to hold its shape. Once done, remove it from heat and let it cool.

Preparing the rice flour dough (Outer shell):

1. Boil water in a saucepan, adding salt and ghee to it.
2. Once the water comes to a boil, add the rice flour slowly while stirring continuously to avoid lumps.
3. Keep stirring until the dough starts coming together and becomes smooth. This will take about 2-3 minutes.
4. Cover the dough and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes to cool slightly. Once it cools down enough to handle, grease your hands with a little oil or ghee and knead the dough to make it smooth and pliable.

Shaping the modak:

1. Divide the dough into small lemon-sized balls.
2. Flatten each dough ball into a small disc (about 3–4 inches in diameter) using your fingers or a rolling pin.
3. Place a spoonful of the coconut-jaggery filling in the centre of each disc.
4. Carefully bring the edges of the dough together to form a pouch, pinching the top to create a peak (like the traditional shape of modaks). You can also use a modak mould if you have one to shape the modaks neatly.

Steaming the modaks:

1. Grease the steaming plate or basket with ghee or oil.
2. Arrange the shaped modaks on the steaming plate, making sure they don’t touch each other.
3. Steam the modaks in a steamer for about 10-15 minutes or until they become shiny and firm to touch. You can cover the steamer with a clean cloth to avoid water droplets falling onto the modaks.
4. Once steamed, remove the modaks from the steamer and let them cool slightly.

Serving:

1. Serve the Ukadiche Modaks warm and drizzling with ghee.

Tips:

• Make sure the dough is soft but not too sticky. If it feels too sticky, add a little more rice flour. If it’s too dry, add a bit more water.
• Be careful while handling the dough because it can get hot. Greasing your hands with ghee and wetting them with water will help in shaping the modaks without the dough sticking to your fingers.

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