What is a Modak?

Modak also know as kozhukattai, kudumu, undrallu, kolukattai, etc. in various regions of Indian is a traditional sweet dish associated with the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, which celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha also known as Ganapati and Vinayanka is the one of the widely worshipped deities in Hinduism is considered as the god of wisdom and intellect and the remover obstacles which is why he is also called Vignaharta. Modak is considered as Ganesha’s favourite sweet and that is why we offer him modak as a symbol of devotion. Scroll down to known easy modak recipe for your next occassion.

More about Modak

Modak is a cone-shaped sweet dumpling with pleats or folds on the top. The outer layer of it is made up of flour is and the inner part is filled with sweet mixture of grated coconut and jaggery. Modaks have different names in different parts of India and are even prepared differently all over the nation. As mentioned there can be different types of modaks with different kind of fillings, some use chocolate, khoya, dates and nuts, and sesame seeds in their fillings. If you also love modaks kindly scroll down and look at the recipe which I wrote with love to help people like you make mouth-watering modaks. You can also check out my other dessert recipes here

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice flour
• 1 ½  cups crushed jaggery
• 2 cups grated tender coconut
• 50 grams finely chopped cashew nuts
• 25 grams raisins
• 4-5 pieces of peeled cardamon or 1 small tablespoon cardamon powder
• 1 tablespoon ghee(clarified butter)
• ½  small tablespoon salt

How to make Modak at home?

  Step 1: How to prepare the stuffing for modak?

1. Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon ghee and stir until heated.
2. Add 2 cups of grated coconut and stir it.
3. Now add 1 ½ cups of jaggery you may also add 1 cup of jaggery if you prefer less sweet.
4. Begin stirring the mixture of jaggery and coconut on a medium flame for a while. Keep stirring until you find the mixture thick and dry.
5. Once the mixture is ready add cashew, cardamon and raisins and mix properly. Make sure you keep the stove on a medium flame while you add the nuts and avoid overcooking it.
6. Now turn off the stove and keep the pan aside to let it cool down.

Step 2: How to prepare the dough for modak?

1. Add 2 cups of water on a pan or a pot then add 1 tsp of ghee and salt it and give it a good boil.
2. After the water is boiled, turn the flame low and add the rice flour to the water and mix well.
3. Keep stirring until the flour turns lumpy.
4. Now turn off the stove and cover the pan with a lid and keep the dough aside to cool it down for 5 minutes.
5. Make sure you don’t let the dough to cool down completely as it make turn dry and create cracks which we do not want. But if you find the dough to be dry you may add 1-2 tbs of hot water and knead properly to make the dough smooth.
6. Now knead the dough until it turns smooth and crack free and  then divide them into small balls . You may create as many balls as you want it totally depends on the size of the balls you make.
7. Now cover the balls with a cloth.

Step 3: Preparation of Modak.

1. Apply some ghee in your palm and take a ball and flatten it on tour palm or with fingers.
2. Now with the help of your thumb make a round disk or a medium thick bowl out of it. Try to keep the edges slightly thinner than the centre.
3. Now add the right amount of mixture of coconut and jaggery in the centre.
4. Then slowly press the edges of the dough to make it a little pointed and then bring all the edges together and join them together. Remove the excess dough from the top if any.
5. Make all the modaks in the same way mentioned above and cover it with a moist muslin cloth.
6. You can use the mould if you have it or you can buy it from your nearby market as is it easily available.

Step 4: How to steam the Modaks ?

1. In a pot or a  pressure cooker add 2 cups of water, place a rack or a trivet and let it boil(you can also use idli maker to steam the modaks).
2. While your water is boiling brush up your modaks with little water(optional).
3. Now place all the modaks on the rack  and let it steam for good 10-12 minutes on a medium flame. Make sure your modaks looks shiny and non-sticky after it comes out steamed.
4. Let the modaks cool to touch and place them on the plate. You can drizzle ghee and saffron-milk over the modak.
5. Voila! you can now enjoy them but before that make sure to offer it to lord Ganesha if you worship him.

Do try out this recipe and comment down below how it turned out. You can also ask your queries down below.

Bon appetite, foodies!