उकडीचे मोदक / Ukdiche Modak

गणपति बाप्पा मोरया, पुढच्या वर्षी लवकर या! आणि गणेश चतुर्थीला जरी बराच अवकाश असला, तरी उकडीचे मोदक बनवायला काही खास बहाणा शोधायची गरज नाही!

Modak, or more specifically, ukaDiiChe modak, are supposedly Lord Ganesh's favorite. They are, of course, prepared every year during Ganeshotsav, but also at Sankasht Chaturthis, on the 4th day of the second fortnight of each month. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the filling (चव)

• 1 cup Grated Cococut (non-desiccated)
• 1/2 cup Jaggery
• 2 pinches Elaichi

For the coating

• 1 cup Rice flour
• 1 - 1 1/2 cup Water
• 1 pinch Salt
• 3-4 tsp Ghee (तूप)

Procedure

1. For the filling, add the Coconut and the Jaggery into a non-stick pan, with 1 tsp of ghee.
2. Stir until it blends completely, taking care not to let it stick to the bottom of the pan.
3. For the coating, start boiling the water over medium heat, and then slowly add the rice flour, stirring to prevent any lumps from forming.
4. Keep adding the rice flour and remove from heat.
5. Let cool, and then knead into a smooth dough.
6. To mould the modaks into modaks, take a small quantity of dough, roll it into a ball and flatten it into a cup-shaped coating on the inside of your palm.
7. Add the filling to the cup just formed, and seal it with a folding pattern. This is difficult to describe, but it will be clear from the accompanying photo. These are typically vertical grooves around the sides of the modak.
8. If this turns out to be tough, you can also roll the dough into a small flat circle, and make the typical modak shape by folding in the sides over each other.
9. Grease a perforated steaming utensil with ghee, and place each modak onto it.
10. Steam the batch of modaks over steam (duh!) for about 15-20 minutes.
11. The modaks are ready!

नैवेद्य दाखवायला विसरू नका! :-)