Ukadiche Modak

Ganesh Chaturthi, and twenty-one modak go on the plate in front of Ganpati before anybody in the house eats. Ukad means the steamed rice dough, and that is what separates these from the fried ones. They come out of the steamer shiny and no longer sticky, the pleats still standing. Made well, the shell is thin enough to see the dark filling through, and it tears the moment you press it with a finger.

The filling, sarann, is only coconut and jaggery, so the jaggery has to be worth tasting. Our Organic Jaggery is unrefined, and it melts into the grated coconut with a deep caramel sweetness and a warm brown colour rather than a flat sugary one. To serve, a small pool of Gir Cow's A2 Ghee goes into the hollow at the top of each hot modak. That is the traditional way and it is also the best mouthful in the dish.

The one thing that decides these is the water for the dough. It must be at a rolling boil, not merely hot, when the rice flour goes in, and the dough must be kneaded while it is almost too hot to hold, dipping your hand in cold water as you go. Knead a cooled dough and the shells crack open in the steamer every single time.

How to make it

1. Make the sarann first so it can cool. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a kadhai, add the grated coconut and jaggery, and cook on low for 7 to 9 minutes, stirring. The jaggery melts, then the mixture thickens and just begins to dry. Stop while it is still moist and glossy.
2. Switch off and stir in the cardamom, nutmeg and poppy seeds. If it looks wet, stir in 1 tbsp semolina. Spread on a plate and cool fully. Overcooked filling sets hard as it cools, so err on the softer side.
3. Bring the 1½ cups water to a rolling boil with the salt and 1 tsp ghee. Turn the flame to low, tip in all the rice flour at once, and stir hard for 30 seconds till there is no dry flour left.
4. Cover, switch off, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then turn the hot dough onto a plate.
5. Wet your palm with cold water and knead the hot dough for 4 to 5 minutes, dipping your hand in water when it gets too hot. Keep going till it is completely smooth, soft and without a single crack. Keep it covered with a damp cloth at all times.
6. Take a lime-sized ball. Flatten and press it out with your fingers into a thin 8 cm cup, thinner at the edges than at the base. Do not use a rolling pin.
7. Put 1 heaped tsp of sarann in the cup. Pinch the edge into 9 to 11 small pleats all the way round, then gather the pleats up, twist them together at the top and pinch off into a point. Or press dough and filling into a greased modak mould.
8. Line a steamer plate with banana leaf or grease it with ghee. Set the modak apart from each other, cover, and steam on medium-low for 10 to 12 minutes. They are done when the surface looks shiny and no longer feels sticky.
9. Rest for 2 minutes, then lift them off gently. Serve hot, with a spoon of warm Gir Cow's A2 Ghee poured into the tip of each one.

Tips

• If the shells crack while shaping, the dough has cooled or dried. Sprinkle a little hot water on it, knead again, and keep the rest under a damp cloth while you work.
• Make ahead: the sarann can be made a day earlier and refrigerated. The dough must be made and used the same day, and shaped modak should be steamed within the hour.
• Substitution: frozen grated coconut works, thawed and squeezed dry. Desiccated coconut does not, as it drinks the jaggery and turns the filling stiff.
• Storage: best on the day they are made. They keep a day in the fridge; steam for 3 minutes to soften before serving. Do not microwave, it makes the shell rubbery.
• If pleating defeats you, use a plastic modak mould. Every Maharashtrian kitchen has one now, and nobody at the table will mind.