Sweets recipes | Havyaka

Fried Modaka or Modak

By Usha Hegde, Puttanamane

Ingredients A quick look Step by step Notes

Modaka or modak is a festive sweet dumpling made on the auspicious occasion of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Modaka can be either steamed or fried. This recipe is for fried Modaka. In this recipe I have used Bombay rava / fine rava (semolina) for the outer crust. Rava can be replaced with whole wheat flour.

Note: Images are for larger quantity. Please refer the measure as mentioned in the ingredients section.

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Cool off time

0 Total time

50 mins

Course

Sweets

Diet

Vegan, Vegetarian

Difficulty level

Moderate

Servings

12 modaka

Ingredients

Coconut oil as required for frying

For the outer crust dough
2 cups Bombay or fine rava (suji / semolina)
1 teaspoon jaggery or sugar
Salt as required
Water as required

For the sweet stuffing
1.5 cups freshly grated coconut – tightly packed
¼ cup white sesame seeds (Ellu / Til)
6 - 8 cardamoms
1.5 cup jaggery

Cookware / Utensils

Thick pan(s)
Bowl(s)
Spoon
Frying or slotted spoon
Colander
Rolling board and rolling pin
Mortar and pestle (optional)

Instructions

Make dough

Boil water.
Take 2 cups rava in a mixing bowl. Add 1 teaspoon jaggery, and salt as required.
Add hot water as required and mix well.
Do not knead the dough. Just mix well, cover and keep aside for about 30 minutes. The dough should be firm.

Make sweet stuffing

Grate 1.5 cups fresh coconut.
Rinse ¼ cup sesame seeds until clean if not cleaned and dried earlier.
Remove the cardamom seeds, rinse, and powder them.
Take jaggery in a thick bottomed vessel or pan.
Add freshly grated coconut, sesame seeds, and cardamom powder. Mix well.
On a medium heat, stir and cook them for about 10 minutes or until the jaggery loses its liquid consistency and get mixed well with other ingredients.
Cover and keep aside. Let it cool.

Shape and fry Modaka

Pinch a small portion from the dough and roll it in your palms to make a smooth ball.
With a rolling board and pin, gently roll to a thin round shape.

While rolling, you can use dry wheat / sorghum flour to dust the dough ball or spread little oil on the rolling board surface.
Place 2 tablespoons of the filling in the centre.
Fold the edges of the dough circle.
Join the edges firmly. Ensure that all the edges are joined well and there is no gap. Otherwise the filling will come out while frying.
Shape all modaka and cover them so that the modaka does not dry out.
Heat the oil as needed in a thick pan or vessel. Place modaka in medium hot oil.
Turn over each modaka a few times or as needed with a frying or slotted spoon and make sure all the sides are cooked properly.
Remove modaka when they look crispy and golden.
Place them on a colander to drain excess oil. Make sure to place a colander on a plate or bowl so that the excess oil will get collected in that plate or bowl.
Offer modaka to Ganesha. Serve / eat during festive meal. Store the rest in a container with a tight lid.

Step by step guide

How to make Fried modaka or modak

Make dough

1. Boil water.

2. Take 2 cups rava in a mixing bowl. Add 1 teaspoon jaggery, and salt as required.

3. Add hot water as required and mix well. Do not knead the dough. Just mix well, cover and keep aside for about 30 minutes. The dough should be firm.

Make sweet stuffing

4. Grate 1.5 cups fresh coconut. Take ¼ cup sesame seeds. Rinse them until clean if not cleaned and dried earlier. Remove the cardamom seeds, rinse, and powder them.

5. In a thick bottomed vessel or pan take jaggery, freshly grated coconut, sesame seeds, and cardamom powder. Mix them well.

6. On a medium heat, stir and cook them for about 10 minutes or until the jaggery loses its liquid consistency and get mixed well with other ingredients. Cover and keep aside. Let it cool.

Shape and fry Modaka

7. Pinch a small portion from the dough and roll it in your palms to make a smooth ball.

8. With a rolling board and pin, gently roll to a thin round shape. While rolling, you can use dry wheat / sorghum flour to dust the dough ball or spread little oil on the rolling board surface.

9. Place 2 tablespoons of the filling in the centre.

You can divide both the filling and the dough into 12 to 15 equal parts beforehand.

10. Fold the edges of the dough circle.

11. Join the edges firmly. Ensure that all the edges are joined well and there is no gap. Otherwise the filling will come out while frying. Shape all modaka and cover them so that the modaka does not dry out.

12. Heat the oil as needed in a thick pan or vessel. Place modaka in medium hot oil. Turn over each modaka a few times or as needed with a frying or slotted spoon and make sure all the sides are cooked properly.

13. Remove modaka when they look crispy and golden. Place them on a colander to drain excess oil. Make sure to place a colander on a plate or bowl so that the excess oil will get collected in that plate or bowl.

14. Offer modaka to Ganesha. Serve / eat during festive meal. Store the rest in a container with a tight lid.

Notes

The dough

Rava (semolina) can be replaced with whole wheat flour. If you prefer, you can use 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of rava.

The outer crust dough should be firm and stiff. Do not knead the dough like a rotti / roti dough. If the dough is soft the crust will also be soft and not crispy.

Over time, while making the modaka, if the dough becomes dry, sprinkle some hot water and mix.

Some rava (semolina) varieties make the dough too soft. In this case add 2-3 tablespoons of Sorghum / Jowar flour (Jolada hittu) to the dough and mix well. Sorghum flour adds crispiness to the Modaka crust.
The filling / sweet stuffing

Use freshly grated fresh coconut for the filling. Dry / desiccated / shredded coconut can be used, but it tastes different.

If you are using dry / desiccated / shredded coconut with powdered jaggery, add little water to mix them while cooking.

Make sure to cook the filling properly on medium heat. There should not be any liquid consistency to the filling mixture.
Frying Modaka

Normally, homemade or fresh coconut oil is used to fry modaka. You can use any oil of your choice. The remaining oil is not good to reuse for any cooking purpose, so add oil wisely as needed while frying.

Fry modaka in medium hot oil. Frying in not hot oil makes modaka absorb more oil. Very hot oil will make the modaka undercooked.

If the modaka opens up during frying, switch off the heat once the modaka that are already in the oil fried, carefully strain the oil and discard any filling that may have spilled, and then continue to fry again. Otherwise the filling will get burnt and will get stuck on every modaka that you fry later. To avoid this make sure to join / seal the modaka edges well without any opening.
Modaka stays good for about 2 weeks. However, the shelf life depends on ingredients quality, weather conditions, storage, etc.