8 Types Of Modak You Can Make At Home For Ganesh Chaturthi

From traditional ukadiche and fried modaks to mawa, rava, dry fruit and chocolate versions, these homemade modak recipes give your Ganesh Chaturthi platter plenty of variety.

Ganesh Chaturthi is closely associated with modak, particularly in Maharashtra, where the steamed ukadiche modak is a traditional festive favourite. But the sweet has travelled well beyond its original form. Today, home cooks make modaks with mawa, semolina, nuts, chocolate and several other fillings.

If you are making modaks at home this Ganesh Chaturthi, you don’t have to stick to one recipe. Pick a traditional version for the puja and add one or two quicker varieties for everyone to snack on later.

1. Ukadiche Modak

This is the modak most closely associated with Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra. The outer covering is made with rice flour, and the filling combines grated coconut, jaggery and cardamom. The shaped modaks are steamed until the rice flour becomes soft and slightly translucent.

The filling is cooked first so that the coconut loses some moisture and the jaggery coats it properly. Once the mixture cools, spoon it into small portions of rice-flour dough and shape the modaks with your fingers.

The final step is steaming. A multi-cooker with a steamer basket works well for small batches, especially if you don’t have a dedicated steamer. The steamer attachment in this multi-cooker is designed for steaming vegetables and other foods.

2. Fried Modak

If you prefer something crisp, make fried modaks. The dough can be made with wheat flour or another flour, while the filling usually combines coconut and jaggery. Unlike ukadiche modak, these are shaped and then fried until golden and crisp.

The filling should be relatively dry before it goes inside the dough. Too much moisture can make the modaks difficult to seal and can cause them to split while frying.

You can deep-fry them, or shallow-fry smaller modaks in a kadai, turning them carefully so they brown evenly. A deep kadai also gives you enough room to fry several pieces without crowding them.

3. Mawa Modak

Mawa modaks are much closer to peda in texture than the traditional steamed variety. They are made by cooking mawa with sugar and flavourings such as cardamom or saffron, then shaping the mixture in a modak mould once it has cooled slightly.

This is one of the easier options if you don’t want to deal with rice-flour dough or elaborate shaping.

Cook the mawa mixture over low heat and keep stirring so it doesn’t stick or catch at the bottom. A non-stick fry pan works well for a small batch. Let the mixture cool enough to handle before pressing it into the mould.

4. Rava Modak

Rava gives the modak a slightly grainier texture and a pleasant roasted flavour. The outer mixture is made with semolina, while coconut, jaggery, cardamom and nuts can form the filling. Rava modaks are also relatively quick to prepare compared with the traditional rice-flour version.

Start by dry-roasting the rava until it smells nutty but hasn’t changed colour too much. Cook it with the liquid called for in your recipe, then allow it to cool enough to handle.

For the filling, cook coconut and jaggery together until the mixture thickens. A kadai gives you enough room to roast the rava and prepare the filling without switching between very small pans.

5. Chana Dal Modak

Chana dal brings a completely different texture to the filling. In South Indian cooking, a similar preparation is known as kadalai paruppu pooranam kozhukattai, where cooked chana dal and jaggery form the sweet filling inside a rice-flour covering.

The dal is cooked until soft and then combined with jaggery and coconut. Once the mixture thickens, it can be ground or mashed into a smooth filling. The trick is to avoid making the filling too wet. It should hold together when you roll it into small portions.

6. Dry Fruit Modak

For something richer, use a filling of cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, dates and other dried fruits. You can bind the mixture with dates, jaggery or a little condensed milk, depending on the recipe.

Dry fruit modaks are also convenient when you want a version that doesn’t require steaming or frying. Chop the nuts finely, combine them with the binding ingredient and press the mixture into modak moulds.

If you are preparing a large batch, a food processor can save considerable chopping time. Just pulse the nuts rather than running the machine continuously, or you could end up with nut butter instead of a coarse mixture.

7. Kesar Modak

Saffron gives an otherwise familiar modak a distinctly festive character. Kesar modaks are commonly made with a mawa base, along with sugar, cardamom, pistachios and saffron.

Soak the saffron strands in a little warm milk before adding them to the mixture. This helps distribute the colour and aroma through the mawa.

Cook everything over low heat until the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan. Once it is cool enough to handle, press it into a modak mould and garnish with a pistachio or a few saffron strands.

8. Chocolate Modak

Chocolate modak is the easiest way to bring a modern flavour to the festive platter. There are several versions, ranging from chocolate-and-nut fillings to recipes that use biscuits or cocoa with condensed milk.

One simple approach is to melt chocolate, combine it with crushed nuts and a little condensed milk, then let the mixture set before shaping it. You don’t need to complicate this one. The mould does most of the work.

Make A Mixed Modak Platter

Making several varieties doesn’t mean preparing eight completely separate sweets. Start with one batch of traditional coconut-jaggery filling and use it for both steamed and fried modaks. For the quicker versions, choose one mawa-based recipe and one nut- or chocolate-based recipe. That gives you different textures without spending the entire day in the kitchen.

For Ganesh Chaturthi, the traditional ukadiche modak can take centre stage. Add fried modaks for crunch, mawa or kesar modaks for a richer option and chocolate or dry fruit modaks for anyone who wants something different.

Try a few varieties if you like, but ukadiche modak is the one that belongs at the centre of the Ganesh Chaturthi spread. After all, some festive recipes are worth making the traditional way, especially when they carry as much history and meaning as this one.