'Modaks' to please Bappa

Let me make a confession: I am not an avid cook, and most of the time, the ‘n’ number of spices used in our food make little sense to me. Don’t they all taste the same anyway?

Nevertheless, I am a foodie who likes to sometimes experiment in the kitchen. With the festive season on, I decided to try making modaks.

There were a few problems though. For one, I’m not a big fan of modaks. Secondly, I had no clue how to go about preparing it.
I decided I was going to try anyway. I had a fair idea of the basic stuff, like the filling. But I had no clue how to make the outer cover. I tried my luck, and after three hours of hard work, the result wasn’t encouraging.

As expected, the filing turned out to be quite good. The cover though, was anything but! I tried troubleshooting, but the flaw was in my basic preparation of the dough. I hadn’t mixed the right proportions of water and rice flour, so it turned out quite loose.

The next day, I decided to try again. This time, I took tips from my neighbour. These are the ingredients aunty suggested I use:

For the filling
2 cups of shredded fresh coconut
Poppy seeds
1/2 Pinch of cardamom powder
1 1/2 to 2 cups jaggery

For the outer cover
3 cups rice flour
1/2 tsp Ghee
2 tea spoon oil
3 cups water
1/2 tsp Salt
2 turmeric leaves

I began the process all over again — including a new, improved filling. To make the filling, I first combined and then cooked coconut and jaggery together on medium flame. I stirred continuously until they had mixed well, making sure I didn’t overcook it.

Then I added ground cardamom, roasted poppy seeds and 1 teaspoon rice flour to it and cooked for around four minutes till the consistency was right. The filling was ready. I kept it aside in a bowl and allowed it to cool. This was easy.

The biggest test was yet to come — the outer cover. Knowing that failure this time would weaken my resolve to make modaks, I started off carefully, sticking strictly to the recipe aunty had given.
I boiled three cups of water. Once it reached a steady boil, I added ghee, a pinch of salt and oil to it. Immediately, I added the rice flour and kept stirring quickly so as to remove all the lumps. This is where I went wrong the first time.

I covered it with a lid. Five minutes later, I removed the lid and stirred again. This had to be done carefully, making sure the dough was neither too sticky nor too dry. I removed the pan from the flame, poured the mixture into a flat plate and kneaded it thoroughly while it was still hot, making a soft (not too loose) dough. Then, I divided this dough into small balls.

Remembering aunty’s tip about making the modaks when the dough was still slightly warm, I greased my palms and took a ball of the dough, flattening it to form a cup shape. I placed around 3/4th teaspoon of the filling into this little cup, dipped the thumb and index finger in the oil and made 5-6 small pinches side by side on the outer edges of the cup before bringing them together on top to form a peak.

I repeated the process and placed the modaks on two turmeric leaves in a steamer. Turmeric leaves give the modak a peculiar flavour which enhances the taste. Fifteen minutes of steaming later, the modaks were ready to be served with ghee.

The modaks turned out okay, with the cover a bit harder than desired. Next time, I might try cashews and pistachios in the filling and add kesar to the outer cover, making it look more interesting. But, I’m sure, two days and as many attempts later, bappa will be pleased with my effort.