Mouth watering Modak!

Wish you all a very Happy Ganesh Chaturathi and upcoming festive season. On this auspicious festival of Lord Ganesh Birthday I am welcoming you all to my blog "bonapetitfoodies". In this blog i will writing about my mouth watering, delicious food. So, let me introduce you to myself in short. 

I Rupal Barot young profesional lady have a  passion for cooking. I had learn basic cooking since i was 8yrs. But, I have been cooking independently since past 10 yrs. In this past 10yrs whatever i cooked has turned Super Hit or Blockbuster. My dad, my talented foody NJ friends and my hubby had encouraged me more and more to cook variety of  delicious dishes by praising me all of this yrs. You all have been very kind to me and i am thankful to each of you for all the praise and encouragement. Along with all of you I am really thank full to my mother for teaching me how to cook and passing me her inheritance of cooking. My mom is an excellent cook for years. Today whatever i have achieved is all bcoz of my parents and younger sister.  But today if i am able to start this blog is just because of my hubby's love and support. If you would like to know me more you can check my profile. In this blog i will be sharing you all types of vegetarian food such as  authentic and fusion. I am not a great a writer. But, i will be sharing you my experience and experiments in cooking different dishes. I would love to hear you feed back, your comments and request for any new recipe. I thank you all in advance for being kind & foodie to read my blog. So Bon Apetit Foodies! Here's the recipe for delicious Modak. 

Ganesh Chaturathi a festival of lord Ganesha is celebrated in india for decades. Before this festival of 10 days use to be celebrated in Maharastra more. But, since past 15yrs it has been celebrated all over india. On this festival we invite lord Ganesha to our home for showering his blessings and love. We also believe that when lord Ganesha arrives all the difficulties and trouble goes away. So in this 10 day festival a statue of lord Ganesha is established in homes, buildings or colonies in india. For 10 days people do chanting, havan, puja, aarti and worship different food to lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha loves sweets along with many things. But his favourite food sweet dish is MODAK. 

Modak is a sweet dumpling. It is a popular in Southern India. It is called modak in Marathi  and Konkani  as well as Gujarati language, modhaka or kadubu in Kanada, modhaka or Tamill, and kudumu in Telugu.  It is called the most favorite dish of Lord Ganesh. Modak is made in india since the time of mahabharat. 

Modak are made out of rice flour / maida, grated coconut, jaggery or sugar and ghee with lots of nuts and dry fruits. People make many types of Modak. Ukadiche Modak are steamed type. Khoya che Modak are for fast. And the one i made today which are simple and delicious are made of all purpose flour (Maida), semolina (sooji), grated dry coconut, sugar, ghee, oil, mava powder and nuts. Today as it was a working day and i have to make them once i am home. so i made the easiest one. But, i will be sharing other recipes of Modak later. So below are the ingredients and  process for the recipe.

Recipe: 

Servings: 4

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients: (For Dough)

1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)

2 tsp of semoline (sooji)

1 tbsp of heated oil

pinch of salt 

water to form a dough

Stuffing:

1/2 cup grated dry coconut or coconut powder

1/2 cup powdered sugar / Castor Sugar

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp milk mawa powder

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder 

2 tbsp of mix nuts and fruits (raisins, broken cashew & almonds)

1 tbsp of roasted poppy seeds (khus khus)

1 tbsp of ghee

Oil to fry

Process: 

 First of all mix all purpose flour and semolina in bowl. add pinch of salt and heated oil to it. Now form a thick but not too hard dough out of it. The dough should be thicker than roti and softer like puri. Grease ur hands with couple drop of oil and rub them over the formed dough. Now let it rest in a tight container for 15 mins. Make sure you do not let the dough dry.

 Now in a heated non stick pan roast some poppy seeds if you don't have them ready roasted. Remove them and add grated dry coconut and roast it for 2-3 mins on low flame. Once the coconut start changing the color from white to golden, add powdered sugar to it and mix it well. Now add nuts n fruits along with mawa powder to it and roast for another minute or two. Now add ghee to it to bind the stuffing. You can also add more ghee if you like to eat.My recipe recommends less because of health reason. Take the pan of the gas and add cardamom powder and nutmeg powder to it. Cardamom and Nutmeg are optional and you can add them less or more as per your taste. Let the stuffing cool.

 Now in a frying pan add some oil and heat it. Meanwhile starting forming small circle or puri out of the dough you made. The puri should be little thin on edges so we can make a dumpling once stuffed. Now the art of making 
Modak or dumpling is you put the stuffing right in center of the small circle or puri. Now start making thin thin plaits or crease around the puri in such a way that the stuffing doesn't fall and not touch the edges. Once you finish the circle of tightening the dumpling put all the plaits together and bring them in center. Fix all the dough together and pull it in center as pointed shown in picture. You will get more idea about how to stuff by the pictures. Now when two or three modak's  are ready fry them at low heat till the turn golden in color. Your Modak are ready to serve. I served them to lord Ganesha. Enjoy:)