Modak
First, these special sweets are prepared and offered to god as "naivedya" and then distributed as "prasad" to family and friends. Prepare the filling first.
For the filling
2 cup shredded fresh coconut
1 cup jaggery or sugar
1/2 cup a mixture of unsalted pistachios and unsalted cashews
1/2 cup mlk
1/2 a pinch of cardamom powder
To prepare the filling, mix the coconut, milk and jaggery or sugar together and cook on a medium flame. Stir continuously until they are mixed properly. If you are using sugar the mixture will start to caramelize and bubble. Add the cashews and pistachios. Cook for another minute. Lastly add the cardamom powder. Mix well. Let it cool. Set aside.
For the outer cover
1 cup rice flour
1 cup water
1 teaspoon ghee
1/2 teaspoon salt
Boil 1 cup of water. When it has reached a steady boil, add ghee, salt and oil. Now immediately add the rice flour and stir quickly so as to remove all lumps. Cover with a lid for some time. Remove the lid and stir again and again, cover again
Note : The dough should be neither too sticky nor too dry
Now remove pan from the heat. Take off all the mixture on a flat plate. Knead it thoroughly while hot. Make a soft dough. Keep covered aside
To make the modaks
It is best to make the modaks when the dough is slightly warm.
Grease the palms of your hands well. Take a ball of dough. Flatten the dough to form a cup shape. Place about 3/4th teaspoon coconut filling into this cup. Dip thumb and index finger in the oil and make 5-6 small pinches side by side on the outside edges of the cup. Bring them together on top and join to form a peak. Your modak is complete. This should look like a whole garlic pod.
Place the modak on a pre-greased plate.
Make the rest of the modaks. Place them on a pre-greased plate. Steam for about 15 minutes. Serve with ghee.
Ukadi Che Modak
2 cups of rice flour
2 1/2 cups of water
A pinch of salt
For the filling
1 cup grated fresh coconut
1 cup of jaggery
2 tablespoons raisin
2 tablespoons cashew nut - chopped
1 tea spoon cardamom - grinded
Preparation of the filling
Put 1 tablespoon of ghee in a kadhai and heat it. Fry the chopped cashew nut till it becomes golden brown. Remove from the kadhai. Put the kadhai on the gas stove again and put the grated coconut and jaggery into it. Mix well till the coconut becomes soft and till the jaggery melts and well blend with the coconut. When the mixture is well cooked and becomes quite dry, take off the kadhai from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool. After cooling, add the raisins, fried cashew nut and the cardamom powder to the coconut and jaggery mixture. Mix well. The filling is ready.
Preparation of the modak
Now for the modak, heat 2 cups of water in a vessel. Add salt to the water. As the water starts boiling, add rice flour to the water. Lower the flame. Mix well. See that lumps are not formed. It should be a smooth paste. If you find the mixture is becoming too dry add the remaining 1/2 cup of water. Keep the vessel on the gas stove till the rice flour is cooked. Take the cooked dough from the vessel and put on a wet cloth. Cover the dough with the cloth and mash it with any metal tumbler base. This will make the dough softer.
Rub little ghee on you palms and take small portion of the hot dough. Make a ball out of it. At one portion, press the ball with your finger to make a ditch into the ball. From inside the ditch press side-wise to make a small round vessel-kind thing out of the ball. Put 2 teaspoons of the filling in the small vessel-shaped dough. Merge all the sides of the vessel to make in the shape of a fresh fig. Take a colander spread little ghee in it. Place the modak in it.
Make 10-12 modaks out of the remaining dough and place all in the colander. Place the modaks in such a way that they don't touch one another. Take a big vessel. Pour 4 glasses of water in it. Put the vessel on the heat. As the water starts boiling, cover the vessel with the colander full of modaks. Now cover the colander with a tight lid so that the steam should not come out from anywhere. The modaks should be steamed for 10 minutes. Serve hot modak with a teaspoon of ghee on it.
Moti chur ladoo
Ingredients for Boondi
2 1/2 cups of gram flour (besan)
1/2 tsp of cardamom powder (ilaichi powder)
500 ml of whole milk
3 cups of clarified butter (ghee) (for deep frying)
Strainer spoon (fine-holed & shallow)
Ingredients for syrup
2 1/2 cup of sugar
2 tbsp of whole milk
A few drops of saffron (kesri colour) (for deep frying)
3 1/2 cup of water
Directions for syrup
1) In a vessel or pot put sugar and water and bring to a boil. Once the sugar dissolves, add in the milk. Boil for 5 minutes or until scum forms on top. Strain with the strainer spoon and return to stove.
2) Add in the saffron kesri color and boil until it is sticky but no thread has formed. Add in the cardamom powder and mix. Then set aside.
Directions for boondi
1) Mix the flour and milk together to a smooth batter.
2) Heat the clarified butter in a heavy frying pan. Hold the strainer on top with one hand. With the other hand pour some batter all over the holes. Tap gently until all of the batter has fallen into the hot clarified butter. Stir with another strainer and remove once it is light golden. Set aside. Repeat for the remaining batter.
3) Immerse the boondi in the syrup. Drain any excess syrup. Spread in a large plate. Sprinkle a few tsp. of hot water over it. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes.
4) Shape in round balls with moist palms. Cool and keep open to dry, before storing in containers.
Serving Amount: 25 Ladoos
Preparation Time: 1 Hour
Shelflife: 3-4 Days (in room temperature) 2 Weeks (in refrigerator)
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Recipe Category: Sweets/Desserts
Recipe Ethnic Group: Pakistani