Ukadiche Modak is a very popular Maharashtrian dessert made during the festival of Ganpati. These dumplings are gluten free. The shell is made with soft rice flour dough and stuffed with sweet coconut jaggery filling. I am sharing my family recipe with detailed tips and tricks to make them perfectly.
Making modak seems intimidating, it took me many failed attempts & practice to get them right. I have included detail steps, tips to get them right so kindly read the post thoroughly before jumping straight to the recipe. Shaping modak without mold is a skill and requires a lot of patience and practice. So keep trying and always remember Bappa loves them in all the forms. Do not give up quickly as good things take time.
What is a Modak?
A Modak is a sweet dumpling made during the festival of Ganpati as an offering to the God. This delicacy is made in various ways. I am sharing the most popular steamed variety. Ukad literally means steamed in Marathi language & modak is similar to a dumpling. Hence the name “Ukadiche Modak”. Make the ukad aka rice flour dough using the finest rice flour for the best results. I stuff these modaks with aromatic, sweet coconut jaggery filling known as “saran” in Marathi. There are various ways to make the filling. I like to add roasted poppy seeds, cashews, pistachios, cardamom, nutmeg and jaggery to the filling.
Ingredients:
- Rice Flour: It is vital to use fine quality rice flour for this recipe. Stone ground rice flour works the best. The gritty texture of rice flour often means that the ingredients simply don’t combine properly. If you feel rice flour is gritty then sieve it. I use premium quality rice flour from “Swad ” Brand easily available at Indian grocery.
- Grated Coconut: Freshly shredded coconut works best for this recipe. For the sake of convenience I use frozen grated coconut. Make sure you thaw the coconut at room temperature before making the filling. I use frozen grated coconut from “Daily Delight” brand.
- Cardamom Powder: Freshly pounded cardamom powder gives a beautiful aroma to the filling. Alternatively, you can use the store bought cardamom powder.
- Nutmeg Powder: Addition of nutmeg powder gives a nutty warm flavor to the filling.
- Poppy Seeds: Roasted white poppy seeds gives a nutty & sweet flavor to the filling. White poppy seeds are mellower in taste than blue poppy seeds. I recommend using white ones.
- Ghee: I use melted ghee while making ukad /rice flour dough. Alternatively, you can use any neutral oil.
- Nuts : I add finely chopped cashews & pistachios to the filling for a nutty flavor. You can also add almonds. Feel free to add powdered nuts instead of chopped.
- Jaggery: I use Kolhapuri jaggery to make the coconut filling as its light in color and rich in sweetness.
How to make prefect Ukadicke Modak
Preparing the ingredients for the filling:
- Make sure you chop the jaggery into small pieces to avoid lumps in the mixture.
- Finely chop or powder the nuts.
- Dry roast the poppy seeds on a medium flame and keep it ready.
- Thaw the coconut at the room temperature.
Preparing the filling for Modak:
- Heat heavy bottom pan on a medium flame. Add coconut and roast it for a minute or two to dry up the moisture content.
- Next add the chopped jaggery and cook it on a medium flame until the mixture begins to look dry. Do not over cook the mixture just make sure its well combined and fairly dry in texture. A soggy texture will make the jaggery syrup ooze out of modak on steaming.
- Add chopped nuts, roasted poppy seeds, cardamom & nutmeg powder and give everything a good mix.
- Make sure you allow the mixture to cool down before stuffing the modak.
You can make this filling 2-3 days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. Allow the filling to come to the room temperature before stuffing the modak .
Preparing the ingredients for making Ukad :
This is the most intimidating and trickiest part of the recipe. Make sure you gather all the ingredients on your working counter and act quickly. You will need:
- A sauce pan with a lid
- Silicone Spatula
- 1 cup spooned and leveled rice flour
- 1 cup water (use the exact same measuring cup as you used for measuring rice flour)
- Salt (optional)
- Ghee or oil
Making the rice dough /ukad:
- In a pot bring 1 cup water to a rolling boil. Add ghee & salt.
- Turn the flame off, add 1 cup fine rice flour mix well with spatula.
- Cover immediately with a lid and let the rice flour cook in the locked steam for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture on a plate and start kneading it while its still hot.
- Generously apply ghee or oil to your palms to avoiding it from sticking to your palms.
- If needed, add water little at a time while kneading the dough. It takes around 5-7 minutes for the dough to come together.
- Divide the dough into 11 lemon size balls.
- To keep the dough balls soft wrap them in wet paper towel or muslin cloth.
Shaping the modak
Things you will need :
- 2 bowls filled with water
- 1 small bowl with oil
- A plate lined with wet paper towel to wrap the modak
- Soft rice dough
Process of hand molding modak:
- Apply oil or ghee on your palm and finger tips.
- Take 1 dough ball and make a deep tumb impression and shape it like a deep bowl or flat disc.
- Pinch the edges of the bowl to make pleats.
- After pleated all around add spoonful of stuffing.
- Gently gather all the pleats to form a peak. Remove the excess dough and taper the peak. Do not put pressure on the pleats as the modak will loose its form.
- Keep the modak wrapped in wet cloth or paper towel until ready to steam.
- Clean your sticky palms by dipping hands in water bowl after shaping every two modaks.
Steaming:
You will need:
- A steamer and a steamer pan
- Water
- Heat water in a steamer pot.
- Grease the steamer pan with oil or line it with a muslin cloth .
- Dip the base of the modak in water.
- Arrange the modaks on a steamer pan, make sure they are not touching each other. Overcrowding the steamer pan will make them stick to each other.
- Cover the steamer with a lid and steam the modaks for about 10 -12 minutes.
- Transfer them on a plate and serve while hot with ghee.
How to store Ukadicke Modak
Ukadiche Modak stay fresh at the room temperature for a day. If you have any leftovers store them in a refrigerator in an air tight container upto 3 days. You can steam the refrigerated modak for 3 minutes.
Here are are more Modak recipe you can serve along with modak :
If You Have Tried This Recipe, I Would Love To Hear Your Feedback:
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment. Above all, I love to hear your feedback and I do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you recreate this recipe, please rate below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram: @nikfoodamour
