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Modak: For sweet beginnings
As Ganapati Utsav is on in full swing, The Guide went scouting for the best Modaks in the city and simple recipes to make them.
Known to be a favourite of Lord Ganesha, Modaks are made in every Maharastrian family to celebrate the lord’s birthday. Aniruddha Limaye, Executive Chef, Courtyard by Marriott Pune Hinjewadi believes that Modaks are in demand throughout the year and especially for this occasion. There are several famous shops in the city that make tasty modaks.
The traditional Steamed Modaks are popular but these days the innovative Mawa Modak, Chocolate Modak and Kaju Modak are also in demand. That’s because their shelf life is more than Steamed Modak. Limaye added that his favourite Modak is the traditional Steamed Modak made with coconut and jaggery stuffing, served with sajuk tup (pure ghee). Due to the cost and fewer shops offering Steamed Modaks, people opt for the dry Modaks. Famous outlets where one can get a variety of Modaks include Chitale Bandhu, Joshi Sweet Shop and Hotel Sheyas.
At Chitale Bandhu, Bajirao Road; Shreyas, Apte Road; Courtyard by Marriot, Hinjewadi (made to order).
Ingredients
200 gms cake crumbs
100 gms chocolate chips
100 gms walnuts broken
2 cups rice flour
2 cups water
2 Tbsp refined flour
2 Tbsp refined oil
Method
Take some cake crumbs and add in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Mix well.
Do not add any liquid to this mix.
Stuff this mix in the dough using the mould and steam for 12 to 15 mins.
Cut open into half and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Gulkand and Mawa Modak
(In picture)
Ingredients
2 cups rice flour
2 cup s Water
2 Tbsp refined flour
2 Tbsp refined oil
1 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 cup sugar
200 gms mawa
75 gms gulkand
Method
If your are making rice flour at home, use the ambemohor variety or basmati tukda. Wash the rice and let it dry properly.
Grind to a fine powder. Sieve with fine sieve.
Take a pan and add mawa, sugar and gulkand and mix it properly on a slow flame, until the mix starts leaving the sides of the pan.
Add in the cardamom powder.
Mix well and keep the mixture aside to cool down.
To make the modak covering:
Boil the water with salt and add rice flour along with refined flour.
Reduce the heat and stir well.
Cover the pan with the lid, let it be covered for 3-5 minutes.
Take this mix and roll into a smooth dough by kneading with wet hands.
Take a lemon sized dough ball and spread it on the modak mould walls.
Fill the mixture in the mould. Close the mould, take the modak out and steam it for 12 to 15 mins.
While serving, open up the modak and pour a spoon full of rabdi into it.
Moong Dal Modak For Ganapati Bappa
Modak is a popular sweet dish in the Western part of India. It is said to be the favourite sweet of Lord Ganesha. As Ganesh Chaturthi is almost here, let us learn to make different types of modak. Did you know that modaks can be made with moong dal? One of the most delicious modak recipes is prepared with moong dal and called Mukhvilas.
To make this Ganesh Chaturthi even more special, try making this Indian sweets recipe using moong dal. It will be a welcome change from the normal modaks that you make and Ganapati Bappa will be pleased with your creativity.
Serves: 20 modaks
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- Moong Dal- 2 cups
- Jaggery (gur)- 50 grams (powdered)
- Cardamom Seeds- 1tsp
- Sugar (powdered)- 2tbsp
- Milk- 1 cup
- Salt- 1 pinch
- Rice Flour- 3 cups
- Water- 4 cups
Procedure
1. Heat a cup of water in a pan. Add the jaggery to it. Stir it on low flame for 5 minutes till the mixture becomes thick.
2. Add half a cup of milk and cardamom seeds to it. Cook for 2-3 minutes on a low flame.
3. Now add the moong dal and 1 cup of water to it. Cover and cook for about 7 minutes on a low flame.
4. If there is any water remaining then increase the flame and let the water get soak.
5. Meanwhile add the sugar and a pinch of salt to the rice flour.
6. Add the rest of the milk and 1 cup of warm water to the mixture.
7. Knead the dough with these ingredients. Now take fistfuls of dough into your palms and flatten them.
8. Add the moong dal stuffing to the flattened dough ball.
9. Roll it up into a modak shape and seal the edges. Put all the dumplings you prepare in a steel container.
10. Put 4 cups of water in a pressure cooker and float the container in it. Cook for the duration of 4 whistles.
11. Let the steam blow out and then open the container.
Serve the moong dal modaks when they cool to room temperature.
http://www.boldsky.com/cookery/sweet-tooth/indian-sweets/moong-dal-modak-recipe-030920.html
Fried Modak for Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganapati Homam/Havan is usually performed on any auspicious day, at the crack of dawn to get the blessings of the Lord who is the remover of all obstacles in life. His favourite Modakams are fried the previous evening so that they can be offered to Him in the early hours the specified day. Fried Modakams can also be offered to Lord Ganesha along with the usual steamed kozhukattais on Ganesha Chaturti day.
Ganesha’s Favourite Food
Ingredients:
- 2 cups chana dal (soaked in water overnight)
- 2 cups jaggery
- 2 cups refined flour (maida)
- 3 tbsps oil
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg powder (jaiphal)
- 3/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
- 1 tbsp saffron (kesar)
Method:
- Soften the chana dal by cooking it in a pressure cooker. Strain off the excess water and crush to dry out the dal completely.
- Add jaggery and cook it further till it becomes a soft paste.
- Add elaichi, kesar, grated jaiphal and mix well to make a soft and sticky mixture.
- The puran can be used as bhog for the Lord, eaten as a sweet or used to make laddoos. It can also be put in kneaded dough and eaten as puran poli.
Alu Wadi/Patode (Taro leaf spirals)
Ingredients:
- 10-12 alu leaves (known as elephants ears)
- 1 1/4 cup besan (gram flour)
- 1 tsp chilly powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp mild heeng
- Tamarind juice (made by soaking a little tamarind in half a cup of water for 20 minutes. Mash and filter it. The filtered water will yield the juice).
- 1 tbsp til seeds (sesame seeds)
- 1 tsp oil
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Apart from the alu leaves, mix all the above ingredients to make a semi-liquid paste of flowing consistency.
- Trim the stems off the leaves and wash them.
- Remove a thin layer from the central rib of the leaves to make them more supple for rolling.
- Spread the paste across the whole length of the upturned leaf (rib-side up) using an upturned thali. Place another leaf on top of this leaf and put more paste. Do this with 3-4 leaves to get a generous-sized roll.
- Fold the leaves over the sides and roll them as tightly as possible to form a cylindrical log. Place these logs in a pressure cooker and steam them for 30-40 minutes without putting the whistle on.
- Cool the logs and cut them into small thick circles.
- Take peanut oil in a kadhai and deep-fry till they turn medium-brown in colour.
- Drain the excess oil with tissues and serve with coconut chutney or ketchup.
Sooji Ka Halwa
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sooji/rawa
- 2 tbsps ghee
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp elaichi powder (cardamom)
- 8-10 raisins
- 1 cup water
- 10-12 cashews and almonds (chopped)
Method:
- Take ghee in a pan, heat it and then add sooji. Roast it til the colour changes to slightly light brown. Remove from flame and keep aside.
- Mix water, milk, sugar, elaichi, raisins together and put to boil.
- Add the roasted sooji and stir till blended well.
- Garnish with almonds and cashewnuts and serve hot.
Deep-Fried Modak
Ingredients:
For the filling:
- 2 cups grated coconut
- 2 cups grated jaggery
- 2 spoons shredded cashewnuts (kaju)
- 2 spoons raisins (elaichi)
- 2 spoons shredded pistachio nuts (pista)
- 2 spoons grated almonds(badam)
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/4 cup ghee or butter
For the covering:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
- Water
- Oil
- A pinch of salt
Method:
- Combine all the ingredients for the covering and knead into a stretchy, smooth dough. Set aside.
- Heat ghee in a pan and add all the dry fruits to it.
- Mix with coconut and jaggery.
- Continue cooking over medium heat while stirring occasionally.
- After the jaggery melts and mixes with the coconut, mix it well by adding cardamom powder to it.
- Divide the dough into small balls. Take each ball and roll it into a circle of 3″ diameter.
- Add a little filling mixture in the centre of each circle of dough and seal from all sides at the top, by joining all the edges together and giving them a slight twist.
- Heat oil in a pan and deep-fry the modaks on medium heat till they become brown and crisp.
Kothimbir Vadi
Ingredients:
- 3 bunches of coriander/dhaniya (washed, dried and finely chopped)
- 1 cup gram flour (besan)
- 1 tsp chilly powder
- 1 tsp haldi powder (turmeric)
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- Oil
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp garam masala
Method:
- Mix besan, finely chopped dhaniya leaves, chilly powder, haldi powder, baking soda, salt and garam masalatogether. Add a little water till the whole mixture becomes a thick paste.
- Add two tbsps heated oil to the paste.
- Grease a vessel and evenly spread the paste into it. Then steam for 15 minutes in a pressure cooker without the whistle on.
- Remove and cool it. Cut into square pieces.
- Take oil in a pan and deep-fry or shallow-fry the square pieces.
- Serve hot with green chutney or tomato ketchup.
Churme ke Laddoo
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
- 4 tbsps ghee
- 1 tsp elaichi (cardamom) powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup jaggery
- 2 tbsps powdered mixture of raisins and nuts (almonds, cashews, pistas)
- Oil
Method:
- Knead the atta into a stiff dough using the water.
- Make small balls from the dough. Roll out each ball into a small 12 cm-long disc.
- Take oil in a pan and fry the discs till brown and crispy.
- Crush these and make them into a fine powder.
- Take ghee in a pan and add sugar, jaggery, raisins, nuts and elaichi powder.
- Add the crushed atta mixture to the pan and heat it on low flame for two minutes.
- Grease your hands with oil and make this mixture into small balls. Serve hot or cool.
Kadboli:
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup bajra
- 1 cup rice
- 1 cup jowar
- 1/2 cup urad dal
- 2 tbsps coriander seeds (dhaniya)
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 tbsp red chilly powder
- 2 tbsps sesame seeds (til)
- 1/4 cup heated oil
- Salt to taste
- Oil for deep-frying
Method:
- Roast bajra, rice, jowar, urad dal, dhaniya and jeeraseparately.
- Mix them all together and grind into a fine dry powder.
- Add salt, til, chilly powder and heated oil. Combine it into a smooth dough by adding lukewarm water. Keep it aside for an hour covered with a muslin cloth.
- Take small pieces of dough and roll between your palms so that it resembles a small pencil. Join both the ends together to form a circle.
- Take oil in a pan and deep-fry on a medium flame till the rolls turn brownish-gold. Drain the excess oil and let them cool.
- The Kadboli can be eaten immediately or stored in an air-tight container.
Kadabu
Ingredients:
For the covering:
- 3/4th portion refined flour (maida)
- 1/4th portion rawa
- A pinch of salt
- Water
- Oil
For the filling:
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups shredded jaggery
- 2 tsps roasted poppy seeds (khus khus)
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder (elaichi), raisins (kishmish)
- 1/4 cup raisins, cashewnuts, pistachios, sugar crystals (mishri)
- 2 tbsps ghee
Method:
- Mix all the ingredients for the covering together. Add oil and water and knead it into stretchy and smooth dough. Set aside.
- Heat ghee in a pan on medium flame and add coconut and jaggery.
- Stir continuously till the jaggery melts and mixes with the coconut.
- Add khus khus, elaichi powder and raisins. Mix everything well and take it off the heat.
- Take the dough made for the covering and roll it into circles of 3″ diameter.
- Put a spoon of filling in each circle and fold it to a half-moon shape. Use a little water to seal the edges.
- Keep all these aside covered with a damp cloth.
- Take oil in a pan and deep-fry on medium flame until brown and crispy.
- Serve hot or cold.
Ganpati Bappa wants a choco bite!
Your grandma probably won’t approve. But think about it. If the Lord Ganesha idol can be eco-friendly now, why can’t he be offered chocolate modaks? Apart from the several traditional modaks, chocolate modaks have emerged as the most popular and the most-ordered online and at city sweet shops. Sweet-makers and shopkeepers unanimously vote for this new entrant even as the variety of modaks available could boggle your mind. From chocolate, strawberry, butterscotch, mint to vanilla… you name it, they have it.
The manager from Brijwasi Sweets, Churchgate, informs, “Chocolate modaks are in huge demand. We just sold 10 kilos of these today. And more orders are pouring in. We even have strawberry modaks.” The sweetshop has the regular mawa, kesari, kaju, kesar-pista, malai, chirawa, kesari-mawa, anjeer, badam, besan, and motichoor modaks.
Online too, chocolate modaks have been the most ordered. Aditi Talreja, director of Deliverychef.in, explains, “Long queues at sweetshops during the Ganpati festival frustrate people. But more and more people are ready to experiment with their modaks. We get a lot of orders for modaks on our website. We’ve seen that youngsters prefer chocolate over traditional modaks. And also, they are longer lasting than regular sweets. We also have modak cupcakes in butterscotch, vanilla and mint flavours.” She informs they have 18 varieties of mithai modaks, apart from ones such as — chocolate with pera filling, Ganpati-shaped, mawa-apple, malai-mango, sugar-free, tiranga and dry fruit.
The chocolate modak comes in all its variations — white, dark, praline and mint flavours. Shraddha, daughter of Neeru Mehra, who runs Neeru’s Cakes & Desserts, says, “We make malai, coconut, rose, walnut, almond and orange modaks too. We started chocolate modaks last year and it’s already a rage. We are also doing modaks using ethnic Ganesha colours — yellow and orange. The decorative hampers with chocolate modaks, a Ganesha idol and decorated thalis are doing really well.”
So what kinda’ modak would you celebrate Bappa with, this time?
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_ganpati-bappa-wants-a-choco-bite_1582121
Modak in different avatars
Image by anvancy via Flickr
Ganesh Chaturthi is the perfect time to indulge in some tempting modaks. Synonymous with Lord Ganesh, it is said that he couldn’t resist the sweet dumpling, which is traditionally stuffed with jaggery and coconut. However, for those who like to experiment with their delicacies, you can now try interesting and non-traditional variations of the sweet this festive season.
One of the most popular variations are the chocolatey version. “Brownie modaks are an all-time favourite with the kids and elders too. They’re eggless, have chocolate coating and are stuffed with brownie filling,” says Bandra resident Prakash Shah who also makes Salli Supari modaks. “Salli supari is considered to be auspicious. We thought it was perfect to bring out modaks in these flavours as it is used as shagun during such festivals,” informs Prakash.
Chef Gautam Mehrishi, from a Juhu-based hotel, is busy whipping up Mehak modaks for his guests. The mehak modak is made up of gulkand and paan. But that is not the only hatke modak recipe that Gautam has been creating. “I’m doing away with the dumpling’s exterior in some modaks. For instance, I’m making Khajur modaks, a fruit and dry fruit modak. With these, I have avoided using the white base and moulded the modak directly,” says Gautam. He, too, has chocolate modaks on his list. “I’m preparing modaks in dark, white and all kinds of chocolate,” he concurs.
Source: DNA
Where are the priests?
Come Saturday, and the irresistible aroma of Modak will waft through many a home. The Lord of wisdom is all set to arrive with a bang through his messengers – the priests. However, they are a rare commodity these days having to make many calls in this season. Actually, one needs to take appointment at least amonth in advance in some cases.Ganesh is a secular god and his festival is celebrated by many irrespective of religion, caste or community. The festival brings in harmony. Expectedly, those who perform puja are in high demand. Atul Peshkar, a priest, has several jobs already scheduled. He performs around 15 ceremonies in one day. “I have to go around according to time people give me. Sometimes, thanks to high demand, I have to turn down some people,” he says. “What can I do? We are quite busy in this season. So it’s really difficult for me to please everybody,” he adds. Some, like Kishore Rode, have been performing ceremonies for the last eight years.
He steps out of his house at 5 am on Ganesh Chaturthi and works until late night. “It is a hectic day for me since last few years. I take up around 10 ceremonies for the day and try to complete them all.” Even people seem to be in a hurry to complete puja these days. “I am able to complete them because people these days are in a hurry. The young generation keeps egging me on to complete the ceremony in an hour or so,” he says.
Read more: Devotees worry as priests are in hurry – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Devotees-worry-as-priests-are-in-hurry/articleshow/6522435.cms#ixzz0z3hs7Gy5
Making of Modak
Image by supersam5 via Flickr
Ganesh Chaturthi Special: Modak
Celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi is incomplete without Modak. These days as the festival has spread from Maharastra to other parts of the country, in the same way Modak has ceased to be a Maharastrian sweet. So here is the recipe to make the perfect Modak.
Ingredients:
250 gms grated coconut
250gms jaggery
11/2 tsp sesame
1 tsp ghee
500 gms refined flour
3 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Procedure:
Make a soft dough of the flour by adding oil and salt.
Heat ghee in a vessel, add jaggery, coconut and sesame seeds. Keep stirring continuously on medium flame. The jaggery dissolves and a sticky solution is formed. Leave it to cool for 30 minutes.
Make small balls of dough and roll it, let the diameter be 3-4 inches approximately.
Put 1 tbsp of the above stuffing in the dough and pack it by taking all the corners up giving it a shape like a cone on top. This is called a Modak.
Take oil in a kadai and deep fry the Modaks till brown.
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