PEAKLIFE

Why 21 Modak for Ganesh?

Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the religious festivals in India which is celebrated with great splendour and show. The day is dedicated to Lord Ganesha as it is believed that he was born on this day.

The celebrations of Ganesh Chaturthi can never be complete without a plateful of his favourite modaks. These Indian dumplings are a special treat to lord Ganpati and his devotees.

Traditional Modak is a sweet dumpling made with rice flour. The stuffing is prepared with freshly grated coconut and jaggery. Both are cooked along with few condiments till the mixture comes together. The mixture is then stuffed in rice flour dough to form modak.

Here’s a quick recipe of a traditional modak:

Ingredients

1 cup rice flour

1 cup jaggery

1 cup grated coconut

1/2 cup crushed dry fruits

Salt to taste

Ghee as required

Method

• Melt the ghee and keep aside.
• Heat a pan on medium heat; add jaggery and a splash of water.
• Allow the jaggery to melt, add grated coconut and cardamom powder.
• Allow the coconut jaggery mixture to cook for few more minutes till the mixture feels sticky to the fingers.
• Transfer the mixture into a bowl and let it cool completely.
• Mix dry fruits to the above mixture. Sieve the rice flour and keep aside.
• Bring to boil a cup of water, add salt, a drop of ghee and rice flour.
• Remove from heat and mix well with a spatula.
• Allow the rice flour dough to cool a bit.
• Knead the rice flour dough into smooth soft but non sticky dough.
• Take a lemon sized portion of the rice flour dough and flatten it.
• Flatten the edges a little more than the middle part.
• Place the disk on palm of the hand and bring the fingers together to form the disk into a cup.
• Make pleats more defined and fill the cup with coconut jaggery mixture.
• Use ghee to grease the fingers if the rice flour tends to stick to them.
• Bring the top part of cup together carefully and seal it.
• Repeat the same with remaining rice flour dough.
• Steam the prepared modak for 8 – 10 minutes depending on the size of the modak.
• Modak looks shiny and little more transparent when cooked.
• Let the modak cool a bit before serving with ghee.
• Handy Tip: if the rice flour sticks to the fingers, cook it for few more seconds to let evaporate the moisture a bit.

Here is another quick Modak recipe with Khoya

Ingredients
150g – Khoya
50g – Sugar
1g – Elaichi powder
25g – Chocolate compound

Method
* Grate khoya and mix it together with the grated chocolate, sugar and elaichi powder.

* Divide the mixture into small, equal sized roundels.

* Put the roundels into modak-shaped moulds and let it set.

* Once set, take it out of the mould and serve it with a garnish of chocolate sticks.