Modak (Ukadiche modak)

Modak is a popular Maharashtrian sweet that appeals to people of all ages. This sweet is made especially on Ganesh Chaturthi and is Lord Ganpati's favorite. A naivedya (special offering) of 21 modaks is offered to Lord Ganpati on auspicious days. Making Modak is quite a skillful task and it requires a lot of practice and not many are expert in this. After years of practice, people can make Modaks of perfect size, shape and thickness.

I happen to be born on Anant Chaturdashi, which is a very auspicious day of Lord Ganpati. On this day, we take blessings from Lord Ganpati. We make modaks, have a pooja (holy ritual) and then offer 21 modaks as Naivedya on that day.

Below, I am sharing the recipe of preparing Modak. I have given appropriate pictures so that it would make it easier to understand.

Inredients :
For the filling : (Saaran)
1 cups grated coconut
¾ cups jaggrey (grated) (Gul)
1 tspn cardamom powder
1 tspn ghee (Sajuk Tup)


For the cover :
2 cups rice flour
2 cups water
2 tspns oil
Salt to enhance taste


Preparation :
Fililng :
Mix jaggery and grated coconut and keep the mixture aside for ½ hour.
Heat the pan and add 1 tspn of ghee.
Add the jaggery and coconut mixture to the pan.
Cook the mixture on medium heat for 10 minutes.
After the filling is ready, keep it aside for cooling down.


Covering :
Boil water in a vessel and add oil and pinch of salt to it
Add rice flour to the boiling water and switch off the heat.
Keep the mixture stirring continuously. Ensure that there are no lumps formed in the mixture.
Now knead the mixture well into a soft dough while it is hot.
While kneading the dough, grease your palms with oil and water to prevent dough from sticking to your hands.
The dough is called Ukad in Marathi


To make modak :
Grease your plams with oil and water.
Take small portion of dough (a bit larger than a lemon) and make a small ball.
With the help of thumb make a deep hole into the ball in order to give it a shape of a hollow cup. Make sure that you do not make a hole in the dough. There should be a base to the cup shape.
Press the cup such that it becomes bigger and bigger. The cup should be larger in height than in the width (or spread).
Once you have made a medium to thick (not very thin) cup, add the filling to the hollow cup such that it fills ¾ of the cup.
Now pinch the cup on the sides to make small plates on the edges of the cup. Make at least 5 to 7 plates.
Once the plates are made, bring together all the plates to form a tip. Use circular motion of the hand while doing this. Once the tip is formed, seal it.
Keep the modak in a clean wet cloth to prevent it from drying


Now heat 6-7 cups of water in a steamer and set it to boil.
Keep modak in the boiler plate and prick the tip with the help of a tooth-pick. This helps steam to pass in the filling and to cook the Modak completely. Pricking also prevents breaking of modak in the steamer.
Steam it for 15 minutes
Serve it with pure ghee.


Tip : Khaskhas and dryfruits may also be added to the filling.


Stepwise Pictures :

Linking this to the event Traditional recipies @Jiya's masterminded by Pari