Making Modaks For The First Time

Since it was Ganesh Chaturti yesterday I decided to try making some modaks. Ganesha is my favourite god and his favourite food is modak! This was the first time I’d made them though I’ve eaten them quite a lot at friend’s houses. :D

Here is the recipe I followed. (Special thanks to my friend Harishri Babuji for explaining it to me.)

Ingredients –

1 cup rice flour
¾ cup water
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of ghee
1 cup of fresh grated coconut
1 cup of grated jaggery
2 cloves of elaichi

Method –

1. Heat the water with a teaspoon of ghee until it boils.


2. Add the flour while mixing. The mixture will be lumpy but that’s ok.


3. Let the mixture to cool a bit. While its still warm knead the mixture to get a smooth consistency.


4. Wrap the dough in a damp cloth and keep aside.


5. In another pan heat a teaspoon of ghee.


6. Add the coconut and jaggery and stir lightly.


7. Remove the mixture from heat before the jaggery melts.


8. Remove and powder the seeds of the elaichi. Add to the mixture.


9. Coat your hands with a little ghee and make balls of the dough.


10. Take a ball of dough and shape it into a little cup.


11. Put about a teaspoon of the coconut mixture into the cup.


12. Press the edges of the cup together and bring it together to make a pointed tip. While folding you can create a design.


13. Take care to make sure the dough does not split and spill the mixture.


14. Place the little bundles in a steamer and steam for 5-6 minutes.


15. Serve :)

These proportions should make about 8-10 modaks.

Mistakes I think I made and corrections I’d like to make next time.

1. My dough was splitting a lot. One reason may be that I left the kneaded dough to cool to long. I think it would be more pliable when a bit warm. Also rice flour absorbs water like crazy so I think I’d like to add 1 cup of water next time rather than ¾.


2. My flour cups were quite thick. I need to make them much thinner next time.


3. My jaggery melted before I could do anything about it. I think it would have worked better if I had added the coconut first and sorted it. Put off the heat and then added the jaggery. The mixture being googy didn’t help when I was folding the cups.

I’d always though making modaks was difficult but this was easy. Takes a bit of time to make the cups and fold them though. I look forward to making them again soon. Will keep you posted on my learnings here.

If you have any tips to help me make my modaks better next time, please let me know in the comments :)