Modak recipe | Ukadiche modak recipe | How to make modak
Modak recipe | Ukadiche modak recipe is a traditional Maharashtrian Indian cuisine sweet/mithai that is made from steamed rice flour and is stuffed with jaggery and grated coconut mixture. It is shaped like a dumpling.
Servings 16 Modak
Ingredients
For stuffing
- Grated coconut 1 cup /100 gms
- Jaggery grated 3/4 cup / 75 gms
- Clarified butter ghee 1 tsp
- Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
For dough
- Water 1.5 cups
- Fine Rice flour 1 cup / 150 gms
- Clarified butter 1 to 2 tsp
- Salt 1/2 tsp
For garnish
- Kesar few strands
- Milk 2 tsp
Instructions
For stuffing
- Take a pan and dry roast the fresh grated coconut for a while.
- In the same pan put grated jaggery and let it melt on slow flame. Keep stirring it continuosly.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes so that everything comes together and after that add cardamom powder.
- Remove the pan from heat and allow the stuffing cool down.
For making dough for outer cover
- Heat water in a pan.
- Add salt and ghee/clarified butter, bring it to a rolling boil.
- Once the water starts boiling immediately switch off the flame.
- Add rice flour in to boiled water.
- Mix well with back of wooden spoon, cover and keep aside for around 5 minutes.
Assembly of modak
- Remove the dough from the pan while it's still warm on a clean surface.
- Apply ghee on your palms and knead the dough.
- Keep kneading it by applying ghee everytime on your palms till no cracks appear and dough looks smooth.
- To shape them like modak/ dumpling, unlock the modak mould and brush ghee all over.
- Take small ball of steamed dough and keep it inside the mould. Lock the mould and push the dough inside.
- Now spread the dough around the wall of mould in thin layer by keeping the centre cavity empty for stuffing. Remove the excess dough from the mould.
- Fill the cavity with coconut jaggery mixture that we prepared earlier.
- Seal the cavity with some more dough at the base.
- Unlock the mould and remove the modak from the mold very gently.
- Repeat the process with rest of the dough and make all the modak in the same manner.
For steaming
- Heat a steamer or prepare idli maker with some water.
- Place the sieve on idli steamer and grease it with some ghee. You may line it with muslin cloth or banana leaf.
- Now put modak on the steamer plate or sieve to be steamed. Cover it and steam for about 12 to 15 minutes until modak turn translucent.
For garnish
- Take a small katori add milk and warm it. Then add kesar strands in it and let it soak for few minutes.
- Garnish the modak with soaked saffron strands. Serve warm with drizzle of ghee.
- Modak stays good for 2 to 3 of days in the refrigerator. While serving after refrigerating, steam them or microwave for few seconds by sprinkling some water on them.
Notes
1. Always use good quality rice flour specifically used to make modak. I use Basmati brand, which imparts beautiful white colour to modak.
2. However you may use regular rice flour also, but make sure that it's powdered fine.
3. Make sure you knead the dough when it's warm. Knead it well until it is turns very smooth.
4. While making modak, make sure that outer cover should be as thin as possible. Otherwise it wouldn't taste good.
5. Don't over cook the stuffing as this will result in jaggery become very hard. To rectify this add few spoons of hot water and mix well.