Ganesha Chaturthi is celebrated as a birthday of Lord Ganesha. The favorite sweets of our dear Lord are ladoos and modakam.
Modakam also referred to as Modak is a steamed sweet dumpling made of rice flour stuffed with coconut and jaggery. There is also deep fried version of modak with outer-cover made of all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour. The filling can be varied with sugar-coconut, sugar-poppy seeds or sugar-coconut-poppy seeds combinations.
Today I prepared steamed version using coconut and jaggery as filling. Even though this is a very time consuming dish, there is always a feel-good factor when you are preparing this as a prasadam for our dear Lord.
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| Happy Ganesha Chaturthi |
Servings: Makes 9 medium sized Modakam
Ingredients:
For outer-cover:
1. Rice flour fine - 1/2 cup
2. Salt - 2-3 pinches
3. Ghee - 1/2 teaspoon
4. Water - 1/2 cup
For the filling:
1. Coconut grated(fresh/frozen)- 1/2 cup
2. Jaggery grated - 1/3 cup
3. Cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon
4. Water - 1 tablespoon
Method:
For the filling:
1. Heat a wide pan and add grated jaggery and 1 tablespoon water.
2. Allow the jaggery to melt completely, then add grated coconut.
3. Keep the flame on medium and stir continuously. Cook until all the moisture evaporates and the mixture becomes dry.
4. Add cardamom powder and turn off the flame. Keep it aside.
For the outer covering:
1. Boil 1/2 cup water in a heavy bottom vessel and add salt and ghee.
2. When the water starts to boil, slowly add in the rice flour little by little. Stir continuously. After adding all the rice flour, turn off the flame. It is fine if you notice any lumps in the rice dough.
3. Cover the vessel and allow it to cool for 3-4 minutes.
4. Place the rice dough on a working surface and knead it well. At this stage, you should be able to break all the lumps. Once the dough is smooth, place it covered.
Assembling:
1. Take a small lemon sized ball of rice dough and flatten it as a small disc on your palm.
2. Take a lemon sized coconut-jaggery filling and place it in the middle of the disc.
3. Pinch the corners of the disc(see picture below) and close them to form a garlic pod shape.
4. If required make vertical groves on the modakam using a fork.
5. Similarly make modakams with rest of the dough. Keep both the rice dough and finished modakams covered at all times.
Final Steaming:
1. Boil water in a steamer/idli steamer.
2. Place them on a steamer plate or idli plate.
3. Cover and steam for 12-15 minutes.
Modakams are ready to serve.
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