Sharing with you the recipe of Ganesha’s favorite modak would be ideal as my first post in this festive season.as it is believed to be Lord Ganesha's favourite food, which begets him the moniker modakapriya (the one who likes modak) in Sanskrit.
During the Ganesh worship ceremony, known in India as Ganesh Chaturthi .The puja always concludes with an offering of twenty one modaks to the deity and as prasad.
It is a sweet dumpling popular in Western and Southern India. The sweet filling inside a modak is made up of fresh grated coconut and jaggery, while the soft shell is made from rice flour, or wheat flour mixed with khava or maida flour. The dumpling can be fried or steamed. The steamed version, called ukdiche modak, is eaten hot with ghee.
In this recipe outer covering of the fried modaks is made from whole wheat flour and hence it is a bit dense as compared to the ones made from all purpose flour (maida). please remember to roll the dough thin and not thick….
While rolling the center can be a little thick but the edges have to be thin. when you bring together the edges the thickness increases and on frying it becomes pretty dense and hard. this recipe of the outer cover is from my mom’s recipe of karanjis or nevris as we call them. i have only substituted whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour.
Ingredients
for the outer covering or shell:
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp warm oil
• water to knead the dough
for the inner filling:
• 1.5 cups grated or powdered jaggery
• 1.5 cups fresh grated fresh coconut or unsweetened dessicated coconut
• 1 or 2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
• 1 or 1.5 tsp cardamom powder or crushed cardamom
• a pinch or two of grated nutmeg (optional)
• ½ or ¾ cup water
Instructions
preparing the covering
1. with the ingredients mentioned for the outer covering, make a smooth dough.
2. cover and keep the dough aside for 20-30 minutes.
preparing the filling:
1. mix all the filling ingredients.
2. cook and stir on a low or medium flame till the mixture is dry and cooked.
3. keep aside to cool.
preparing & shaping the modaks:
1. take a small ball from the dough.
2. roll thinly in to a circle of about 3-4 inches diameter.
3. gently take this circle on your palm.
4. now add the filling in the center.
5. pinch the edges one by one.
6. bring together all the pinched folds in the center.
7. shallow or deep fry the modaks in medium hot oil till golden browned.
8. drain on kitchen tissues.
Notes
instead of whole wheat flour, you can also use all purpose flour or maida or half-half of both.
make sure you seal the modak well. any small opening will lead to the filling being drained in the oil while frying.Serving size: 4
hats off, masterchef !! :)
ReplyDeleteI need all of your support to nurture my interest....Hope I'll not let you down :)
Delete