Modaks for Ganpati

Today is modak eating day, thanks to the presence of Lord Ganesh in our home.

We got up late in the morning since we were going to have just a small puja and got down to making the modaks all 21 of them.

Yesterday evening we put together the ingredients for the stuffing, freshly grated coconut, strands of saffron, powdered cardamom and of course the main ingredient - sugar. We let it sit for a bit till most of the sugar dissolved, then left it on low heat with a cover to simmer for a while and let the sugar melt completely.

Then this morning we made the dough with Basmati rice flour got specially from Vanita Samaj's outlet at Shivaji Park. The trick to great modaks is to knead the steamed dough before it cools down. This is quite a toughie as you have to be particularly thick skinned not to feel the heat as you knead and pummel the dough to a smooth elastic.

Then, the dough is quickly portioned into tiny balls, each ball flattened and filled with a spoonful of coconut filling. The sides of the pastry are pinched together and fluted and brought together to close the mouth. The resulting Onion shaped pastry is then put in a steamer to get the most divine modak.........