8 Modak Recipes To Try This Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganapati bappa is coming again and it’s time for us to feed him with delicacies. A popular dish offered to the lord on Ganesh Chaturthi is the modaka. This sweet dumpling is either fried or steamed. Traditionally the sweet filling inside is made up of fresh grated coconut and jaggery, while the shell is made from rice flour or maida. Everybody knows that Lord Ganesha loves Modak, but after so many years of having plain old modaks, even he must be bored now! Let’s revamp the old modaks in style. We give you some interesting modak recipes to try this Ganesha Chaturthi.

(Use a Modak-Mould to get the perfect Modak shape.)

Mava Modak

Ingredients:

1 cup mawa

½ cup sugar

1 pinch cardamom

Assorted dry fruits

150 g rice flour

About 150 ml water

A big pinch of salt

1 teaspoon oil/ghee

Method:

Boil the water, add salt and oil/ghee and take off the heat. Immediately add the rice flour and stir vigorously to make a smooth paste. Cover and keep aside for about 15 minutes. Crumble the khava/mawa into fine granules and roast it for about 5 minutes in a thick bottom wok on low heat. Add sugar. Stir and cook continuously till it thickens. Remove it from heat and add the cardamom powder and assorted dry fruits. Knead the rice-flour dough. Make small balls out of the dough with the greased hand. Make a small hollow in the centre and place spoonful of filling in the middle. Now join the open edges together and give it a shape like a whole garlic. Steam them for 15 minutes. Serve hot

Moong-dal Modak

Ingredients:

2 cups moong dal

50 grams powdered jaggery 

1 tsp cardamom seeds

2 tbsp powdered sugar 

1 cup milk

A pinch of salt

3 cups rice flour

4 cups water

Method:

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. Add half a cup of milk and cardamom seeds to it. Cook for 2-3 minutes on a low flame. Now add the moong dal and 1 cup of water to it. Cover and cook for about 7 minutes on a low flame. Let it cook till the water gets absorbed. In a separate vessel, mix the rice flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Add the rest of the milk and 1 cup of warm water to the mixture. Knead it to form smooth dough. Make small balls out of the dough with the greased hand. Make a small hollow in the centre and place spoonful of filling in the middle. Now join the open edges together and give it a shape like a whole garlic. Steam them for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Mango Modak

Ingredients:

¼ kg khava/mawa

½ cup mango pulp

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk powder

A pinch of edible orange colour

Method:

Crumble the khava/mawa into fine granules and roast it for about 5 minutes in a thick bottom wok on low heat. Add mango pulp, orange colour and sugar. Stir and cook continuously till it thickens. Remove it from heat and add milk powder to it. Let it cool. Knead the mixture till it is thick and firm. Divide the mixture into equal balls. Put each ball in the modak mould and shape them into a modak.

Chocolate Modak

Ingredients:

200 gms chocolate cake crumbs

50 gms chocolate chips

2 cups rice flour

2 cups water

2 tbsp refined flour (maida)

2 tbsp refined oil

A pinch of salt

Method:

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 walls of the modak mould. In another bowl mix the cake crumbs with the chocolate chips. Take a small portion of the dough. Roll out a palm size circle. Put a small amount of the cake mixture and shape into a modak. Steam the modaks for 10-15 minutes.

Chocolate-Coconut Modak

Ingredients:

1 cup chocolate chips

3 cups desiccated coconut

1 cup condensed milk

8-10 walnuts, finely chopped 

Method:

Take chocolate chips, desiccated coconut, condensed milk and walnuts in a deep bowl. Mix together till well blended. Divide into small portions. Press each portion in a modak mould. Chill it in a refrigerator to set. If desired, decorate them with silver warq. These modaks do not have a long shelf life hence should be consumed in a day or two.

Chenna/ Paneer Modak

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar

½ cup brown sugar

½ tsp cardamom powder

2 cups rice flour

2 cups water

2 tbsp refined flour (maida)

2 tbsp refined oil

A pinch of salt

Method:

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. In a pan boil the milk, add the vinegar or lemon juice, leave the gas on a medium heat for 10 minutes. After the milk has split, strain the mixture to take out chenna in a muslin cloth and leave it for 10 minutes. In a bowl mix the chenna, cardamom powder and brown sugar. Take a small portion of the dough. Roll out a palm size circle. Put a small amount of the chenna mixture and shape into a modak. Steam the modaks for 10-15 minutes.

Gulkand and Mawa Modak

Ingredients:

2 cups rice flour

2 cups water

2 tbsp refined flour

2 tbsp refined oil

1 tsp cardamom powder

1/4 cup sugar

200 gms mawa

75 gms gulkand

Method:

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 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. Roll out the dough and put a small amount of the mixture and steam the modaks for 15 minutes.

Dry-Fruit Modak

Ingredients:

2 tbsp chopped almonds

3 tbsp chopped cashews

8 de-seeded and roughly chopped dates

2 tbsp chopped raisins

½ cup desiccated coconut

1 tbsp ghee 

1-2 tsp water , if required

Method:

First take almonds and cashews in the grinder or food processor. If you want you can dry roast them as well, but not mandatory. Make a fine powder. Add the raisins, dates and coconut, pulse and make coarse mixture.  Add ghee, Again start pulsing and it will come together like a dough. If it is not coming together than you can add 1 teaspoon of water and pulse again. You might not need to add water, it depends on the size and moisture content of your dates. Remove that mixture into the plate. Grease the modak moulds with ghee. Start shaping them using mould. Serve.

 
Impress Lord Ganesha with these tasty delicacies!