Homemade Recipe for Making Modak For Ganesh Chaturthi

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Homemade Recipe for Making Modak For Ganesh Chaturthi

Modak is a traditional sweet dish made of rice flour and coconut. It is traditionally served during the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi as Lord Ganesha’s favorite food.

The dish is typically steamed and served with a sweetened coconut filling.

Ganesh Chaturthi is a major Hindu festival celebrated in honor of Lord Ganesha. Festivals commemorate the arrival of Lord Ganesh from Kailash Parvat with his mother Goddess Parvati/Gauri.

It usually lasts for 10 days, and is observed throughout India. On the festival’s last day, large processions are held to immerse Lord Ganesha’s idol in water.

Modak and Ganesh Chaturthi are intimately linked, as the sweet dish is considered to be Lord Ganesha’s favorite food. The festival is therefore an ideal time to enjoy this delicious treat!

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In the days leading up to Ganesh Chaturthi, many shops begin to sell modak moulds. It is convenient to buy them online at Amazon.in or Amazon.com.

If you are a beginner, you can either make the half-moon shape yourself or buy the moulds.

You’ll need quite a bit of time and patience to make the modak recipe, especially if you don’t have the right texture of rice dough.

Homemade modak can be improved through practice. There is a lot of patience and effort involved in preparing modak recipe.

It is good if you have the modak moulds. They make the stuffing work easier.

Homemade Recipe for Making Modak For Ganesh Chaturthi

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Shaping Modak: 40 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins

Cuisine: Indian, Maharashtrian
Course: Sweets
Author: Ranjeeta Nath Ghai

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice flour
• ½ cup water
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 cup grated coconut
• 1- ¾ cup jaggery, grated or in syrup form
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg/jaiphal
• ½ tsp poppy seeds (khus khus) – optional
• ½ tsp Ghee or oil
• 1 tbsp Rice Flour 

Method for Making Sweet Stuffing (Puran):

1. In a large bowl, take the grated jaggery, add grated coconut, mix well and set aside.
2. In a small pan, dry roast poppy seeds and keep it ready.
3. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a frying pan; add cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, poppy seeds and fry for few seconds.
4. Add this to the jaggery-coconut mixture, mix everything well and set it aside.

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Method for Making Outer Shell (Modak):

1. Combine the rice flour, water, salt and oil in a large bowl and mix well to make a soft dough.
2. Knead the dough continuously til it is smooth. To make the dough less sticky, add a little more flour; to make it moister, add a little more water.
3. Make 12-16 equal portions of the dough.
4. Grease your hands with oil and take one portion of the dough. Create a ball out of it and then flatten it out. 
5. Place the grated coconut and jaggery in the center of the flattened dough.
6. Bring up the edges of the dough and pleat them, so that they come together at the top to form a modak shape.
7. Repeat this process with the remaining dough and filling ingredients.
8. Steam the modaks in a steamer or idli cooker for 10-12 minutes.
9. Serve hot or cold, as desired. Enjoy!

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How to Make a Perfect Modak: Expert Tips

One of the trickiest parts of making modak is getting the right texture in the rice dough. Dry dough will be difficult to shape and the resulting texture will be chewy and dense after steaming. 

It works perfectly for a smooth, soft dough when I use rice flour and water in proportion. You may be required to add more or less water depending on the texture of the rice flour.

If the stuffing is overcooked, the jaggery will become hard and chewy. You can correct this by adding a few tablespoons of hot water to the mixture and stirring well. 

By heating the jaggery, the hard consistency will be broken down and the softness will be achieved. The mixture can even be cooked on low heat with a sprinkle of water until it becomes soft.

In the absence of water, the dough will become dry and crack. When you shape the dough with too much oil or ghee, it will tear.

Make sure the dough is not too thin or too thick when it is flattened. If the dough is thin, it will tear while shaping, and if it is thick, the dough will not taste good and take longer to cook.

You can also use store-bought rice flour to make this dish.

If you are using jaggery in syrup form, make sure to add it to the grated coconut mixture while it is still warm, so that it melts easily.

To get perfectly shaped modaks, you can use modak molds or simply shape them by hand.

You can also deep fry the modaks instead of steaming them. However, this will make them less healthy.

If you want to make vegan modaks, you can use jaggery syrup instead of ghee in the stuffing mixture. You can substitute oil instead of ghee for frying the aromatic spices.

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I hope you enjoy this delicious and easy-to-make Modak recipe! Let me know how it goes. Happy cooking!