Delicious Modak Recipes

The entire nation is immersed in the celebration of Ganesha Chaturthi in honor of the much loved elephant headed god. Work places, homes, streets, commercial complexes & many others have planned elaborate celebrations to bring Lord Ganesh amidst this revelry. Decorations, colorful lights, tinkling of bells & crooning voices add a different joy around us. But no Ganesh Utsav is complete without offering Modak- a sweet dumpling to Ganesha. Traditionally made with a sweet filling of jaggery & grated coconut stuffed in a soft shell made of rice flour, Modaks now have many innovative variants. Lets look at a few easy to make & delicious Modak recipes that will fill our homes with happiness & joy.

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1. Dry Fruit Modak:

A no sugar recipe made with select dry fruits. Chop 2 cup seedless dates & 1/2 cup dry coconut into fine pieces. Dry roast finely chopped nuts like pistachios, almonds, walnuts & cashews separately for 1-2 minutes, cool & grind them into a coarse powder along with roasted coconut pieces & 1 tsp roasted poppy seeds. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan & add the chopped dates & few chopped raisins & fry on a slow flame for 5 minutes. Remove from flame, cool & blend in a coarse mixture. Now add the powdered nuts mix in the date-raisin mix & slowly blend over a slow flame for couple of minutes. Cool & place little roundels of the mix in a greased modak mold to make healthy dry fruit modaks.

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2. Ukdiche Modak:

A very popular steamed modak variety made across households in Maharashtra, Karnataka & others as "bhog" or "prasad" this one is our personal favorite. Heat 1 tsp ghee with a pinch of salt & 1 1/2 cups water in a heavy bottomed pan, once it starts boiling slowly stir in 1 cup rice flour. Switch off the flame, cool the mixture & knead to form dough. Keep aside. Make the stuffing by frying 1 cup grated coconut with 1 cup jaggery, a pinch of cardamom & nutmeg powder & 1/2 tsp poppy seeds in 1 tsp ghee. Prepare a steamer with enough water & grease a steamer pan with oil/ghee. Now roll the dough in round discs, put the sweet filling in center & gather the edges to form a "modak" shape. Cover the pan & steam for 10-15 minutes. Drizzle with some ghee & serve hot.

Image Source: www.placeoforigin.in

3. Kaju Modak:

Easy to make recipe with goodness of Kaju (cashew). Powder 250 gms cashews finely in a mixer & keep aside. Heat 1/2 cup sugar with enough water to make a syrup of one-string consistency. Dissolve few saffron stands in 1/2 cup hot milk & add to the sugar syrup. Add powdered cashew mix & stir to form a semi soft dough. Make modaks by placing a little mixture in a modak mold.

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4. Chocolate Modak:

A delicious modak recipe made with chocolate & khoya (mawa). Blend together 1 cup khoya, 1 tsp milk & 1/2 cup sugar in a mixer. Heat a heavy bottom pan with little ghee & add the mixture. Let it cook on a slow flame till the mix becomes thick. Remove from flame & add 1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder, mix well & cool. Place in greased modak molds or form into desired shape with hands.