Fried Modak

Modak is considered as a favorite food(nevaidya) of Lord Ganesha and all his bhakts(devotees) love to prepare it on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi or any other festival/days related to HIM, like sankashti. It is a stuffed deep fried ball with a modak shape (shaped like Kisses Hershey's: my mom says modak chocolates even to this day :P). It is stuffed with coconut and jaggery mixture!

Mostly every house in Maharashtra will have this as an offering in front of the Ganesha Idol. It is given to all the guests who attend the aarti (pooja) as a prasad (offerings).

Now coming to an interesting story, who knew one day I would start blogging about food! My first post was way back in 2003(maybe?) and it was none other than MODAK recipe on bawarchi.com, if anyone remembers that site. I had searched for the recipe of modak in vain and had not found one (ya can you believe that? I remember getting steamed modak recipes but not fried one's) I finally got it from my mom [Well, my Mom has no concept of measurements, she knows only eyeballing... was tough for me to understand her eyeball measurements :)] I gotta mention, if not for this blog, I would be falling in the same category of eye-balling lol. I somehow managed and the modaks turned out great! I had then sent my recipe to www.bawarchi.com thinking that it would help others who were in the same boat as me! Till recently the recipe was available on the internet, but not anymore :( Maybe they purged the data or something.

So in a way, this is a very special recipe!

One other thing, an interesting game is played while making modaks during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. My aunt usually did this ritual. One has to make modaks in odd numbers like 5, 11, 21, 51 etc (any offering to Ganesha must be in odd numbers). While stuffing the modaks, add extra salt or extra sweetness in one of the modaks and when you serve, keep all the fried modaks together. Whoever gets that odd modak is considered lucky and will have a fantastic year ahead :) Some silly fun to look forward to. But now when I think of it, maybe it was a trick to make everyone eat the modaks haha (smart MOMs :))

Bappa Morya: Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup All purpose flour ( or 1/2 cup wheat flour, 1/2 cup all purpose flour(maida))
• 1 tsp semolina (rava) - optional
• water to knead 
• salt as per taste
• 1 tbsp oil

For filling

• 1/2 cup grated fresh coconut (can use dry coconut too)
• 1/2 cup powdered jaggery
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp sesame seeds (roasted)

For frying:

• 1 cup oil or ghee

Preparation:

• Add 1 tbsp of warm oil to all purpose flour. Mix it very well with your fingers in the maida. 
• Add salt and water little by little to make it a very stiff dough.
• Keep the dough aside for about 10-15 minutes, covered.
• Heat jaggery and coconut together till jaggery melts and forms a uniform mixture with coconut. Add the roasted sesame seeds in the mixture. It smells great.
• Remove from heat and add cardamom powder. Mix everything together.
• Now make the modaks, take small balls of the dough, roll it into small puris (3-4 inch diameter disc)
• Place 1 tbsp of stuffing on the disk(puri) and bring the edges together towards the centre making folds. Seal it at the centre giving a shape of modak.
• Heat oil and deep fry the modaks on medium heat till all sides are brown. Take it out with a slotted spoon and place on paper towel to drain out the excess oil. Let it cool completely before you store it in air tight container.

njoY!! happY cookinG & fryinG!!

Notes:*- You can use whole wheat flour too, to make modaks, but when you use all purpose flour you get flaky, crunchy and perfect modaks.

Patholi (Dessert made in Turmeric Leaves)

Patholi is the superstar dish in the plethora of dishes churned out to please Lord Ganesha on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi in a Konkani household. It is also cooked during several other festivals. This dessert is made using turmeric leaves and mixture of rice, coconut, jaggery etc. A very exotic and delicious dessert!

Since I do not have a sweet tooth I can totally control my cravings for patholi but I cannot not make it during Chaturthi as it connects me to the childhood celebrations back in India. That fragrance of turmeric leaves brings back fond memories and my nevaidya (food offered to the God) feels complete! Everyone enjoys it, as it has an exotic feel and taste to it. Somehow the mixture of coconut and jaggery feels more healthy than ghee and sugar used in most of the sweets :)

Nevaidya (Offerings to the God)

Getting turmeric leaves in the USA was tough, ultimately I started growing the plant in the yard on my veggie patch and the pleasure of making Patholi using the homegrown leaves is something else. Thank God Chaturthi falls in summer season here :) It is really nice to cook some authentic age-old recipes to keep the tradition going! 

Let's say Ganpati Bappa Morya and take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice 
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 10-12 turmeric leaves (haldi paan)
• 1/2 cup poha (flattened rice)
• pinch jaggery to taste
• salt to taste

For the filling:

• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 1/2 cup jaggery (or powdered brown sugar)
• 1/4th tsp cardamom powder

Preparation:

• Soak the rice in water for a minimum of 30 minutes. Grind it along with coconut, poha (washed), salt and jaggery. Add water just enough to make a thick paste. We do not want a running batter. Keep aside. 
• To make the filling, in a pan, heat coconut and jaggery mixing continuously till the jaggery melts and forms a uniform mixture. Add the cardamom powder.  If you like more sweet, go ahead and add more jaggery.
• To make patholis, make an assembly line- line up the fragrant turmeric leaves, spread a thin layer of the rice paste on the leaf. Then sprinkle the jaggery mixture making a line from top to bottom. Fold the leaf vertically into half, along the spine. Continue this process until all the leaves are used up.
• Now steam it in a vessel for 15 minutes. (you can use any steaming vessel or pressure cooker without using the whistle)
• Take out the hot steamed patholis, carefully peel the leaves and enjoy the it with dollops of ghee on it! [ I am actually drooling as I am typing here] :P

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes:* If you do not have turmeric leaves, you can substitute it with banana leaves or parchment paper and when you steam it, just add a leaf or 2 of turmeric to get that authentic fragrance.

Home grown turmeric leaves :)

Health Benefits: Tumeric leaves, also known as haldi leaves, are used extensively as aromatic herbs in Indian, Thai, and Malaysian cooking. Fresh turmeric leaves are used whole in select dishes and dried turmeric leaves soaked in water with the extract used in cooking. It is also used as food coloring and as a basic ingredient in curry powders. They improve digestion and reduce gas and bloating. Imparts fantastic fragrance and is used in various dishes!

Coconut supports immune system health. Improves digestion and absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Improves insulin secretion and symptoms associated with diabetes. Reduces risk of heart health and improves good cholesterol (HDL).