Ukadiche Modak – Steamed Coconut Sweet Dumplings

Ukadiche modak is a delicious and sweet steamed rice flour dumpling. This is a traditional Maharashtrian delicacy made during Ganesh Chaturthi. The outer cover of the ukadiche modak is made with rice flour. The filling is made with freshly grated coconut, jaggery, poppy seeds, cardamom, saffron, and some nuts. 

Ganesh Chaturthi festival is just around the corner. Make this favorite sweet of Ganpati Bappa, ukadiche modak, for prasad. Ganesh festival is incomplete without making modak. 

Making modak seems to be intimidating. It needs a lot of practice and patience to make them perfectly shaped modak. 

There are various ways of shaping the modak. One way of making these is to roll the dough into a circle and later on shape it into some petals with your fingers. Another way to make them is to shape the dough thin into a bowl shape with your fingers and later shape it into a fluted shape. 

If you feel scared to follow both the procedures, you can use a modak mold for shaping the modak. You will need to press the dough at the sides of the mold, stuff the filling inside, and cover the base with the dough. Slowly open the mold and take out the modak from the mold. 

Make these ukadiche modak perfectly with my bag of tricks and tips. I am sure you will love this easy to follow recipe and make them for Ganpati festival. 

In the state of Maharashtra, there are 3 basic types of modaks. 

1. Ukadiche Modak – Steamed Modak 

Made with rice flour and coconut-jaggery filling.

2. Talalele Modak – Fried Modak

Made with all purpose flour and coconut-jaggery filling.

3. Khavyache Modak – Mawa Modak

Made with milk solids and sugar. 

In this post, I am writing a Ukadiche Modak recipe. It is prepared with rice flour(Ambemohar/Basmati Modak peeth) especially made for modak, coconut, and jaggery. It is later on steamed in the pot and can be enjoyed with ample of ghee. Try to find modak peeth in any Indian grocery store for a great smelling modak. I usually buy some from India whenever I visit and store it in the refrigerator. The flour is stored no longer than 2 years for the best tasting modak. You can try my Instant Mawa Modak for Ganpati Aarti as prasad.  

What is Ukadiche Modak?

Ukadiche modak is a traditional Maharashtrian sweet coconut dumpling. This sweet is made during the 10 day Ganesh Chaturthi festival as an offering to Lord Ganesh. Modak is considered to be Lord Ganesha’s favorite sweet. Usually 11 or 22 modaks are offered to the lord Ganesh. 

“Ukad” means “steamed” and “Modak” means “Dumplings”. The outer cover of the ukadiche modak is shaped into a thin circle, and later on into many petals with the fingers. The filling is stuffed inside, and later on shaped into a fluted shape. After that, the modak is steamed in a pot until cooked soft.

Ingredients

For The Filling:

• Coconut
• Jaggery
• Poppy seeds
• Saffron
• Cardamom powder
• Pistachios
• Almonds
• Salt

For The Covering:

• Rice flour/Modak peeth
• Water
• Ghee
• Salt

Step By Step Recipe For Making Ukadiche Modak

Making The Filling

Mix together all the filling ingredients in a pan. 

Heat the pan on medium low heat for about 7-8 minutes and keep stirring the mixture. 

Turn the stove to a low heat and cook the mixture for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is almost dry. Do not overcook the mixture or else it will dry out a lot and turn hard. 

Transfer the mixture to a bowl to cool down. 

Making The Covering

In a pot, add water, salt, and ghee. Bring it to a boil and turn off the heat. 

Slowly add rice flour to the pan and mix it well with a wooden spatula. 

The mixture will look slightly lumpy. Cover the pan with a lid and set aside for 5-7 minutes. 

Transfer the mixture to the plate and press the mixture with a steel bowl or spatula while it is warm. 

Knead the mixture with your hands for about 6-7 minutes until soft and smooth. If you find the dough is breaking, keep on kneading the dough by adding 1 tsp water at a time until crack free. 

Cover the dough with a clear wrap or wet cloth for about 20-30 minutes. 

Clean, cut the banana leaf, and transfer the pieces to the steamer basket. Slightly grease some ghee and set aside. 

Shaping The Modak 

Divide the dough into 10 equal parts and form a smooth ball. 

Take out one ball and cover the rest of the dough balls with a wet cloth. 

On a working platform, keep one parchment paper, place the dough ball, and cover it with another parchment paper. 

Gently flatten the ball with your fingers and roll it into a thin disk with a rolling pin. 

Place the flattened disk on to your left hand, keep the index finger on the upper side of the disk, and pinch the edges to form a pleat. 

Keeping a little space, make around 8-9 more pleats in a similar way. 

Add 1.5 to 2 tbsp coconut jaggery filling inside the modak. Gently bring all the edges together and join them. Take out the extra covering and shape the top to a pointed shape. 

With the help of a spoon’s handle or a screwer, gently mark a line between two petals to give more depth to the modak for a beautiful shape. 

Place the modak in a steamer basket. Finish the remaining dough and make all the modak in a similar way. 

Steaming the Ukadiche Modak 

In a large pot or pressure cooker, add 2 cups of water, cover, and bring the water to a boil. 

Place a steamer basket, cover with a lid, and steam the modak on medium heat for about 15 minutes. 

Note: if the basket is touching the water then place a trivet underneath. 

Turn off the heat and allow the modak to sit for 5 minutes. 

Take out the steamer basket, let it sit on the countertop for 5-7 minutes until easy to handle. 

Slightly wet your hands with some water, gently lift a modak, and place on a serving plate. 

Tips For Making Ukadiche Modak 

• Always use a freshly grated coconut for making ukadiche modak. You can use frozen grated coconut as well. Make sure to thaw the coconut for 30 minutes before making the filling(saran). 
• Do not make the filling too dry or else it will be hard to stuff the filling inside  the modak. The modak might break while making or after steaming it as well.
• If your coconut jaggery filling turns hard, add 1-2 tsp warm milk in the mixture.
• Make sure to chop the nuts as fine as you can or add some powdered nuts. If the chopped nuts are larger, then modak might break while shaping or steaming them. 
• Use fresh packets of rice flour while making the modak. The special rice flour (modak peeth) is available in the Indian store or online (Sohum Rice Flour for modak). The modak peeth is also available on amazon.

Variations 

• You can skip adding the nuts and poppy seeds in the coconut jaggery filling. 
• If you find the saran is less sweet then add 1-2 tbsp of sugar while cooking.
• For making a vegan friendly recipe, add some unflavored oil in the water while making the outer cover also known as ukad.
• You can use 2 tsp milk while making the outer cover (ukad) for the modak as well. It keeps the modak soft and white. 
• You can skip putting the banana leaf in the basket and simply grease it with some ghee. 
• Before steaming the modak you can put a saffron strand on the top of each modak for some beautiful looking modak. 

How To Store Ukadiche Modak?

• Uncooked modak can stay well in an airtight freezer safe container for 2 months. Take them out of the freezer for about 1 hour on a countertop. Next, steam them for 15 minutes and serve. 
• Store the steamed modak in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 2-3 days. To store them for a long time, keep them in the freezer for 3 months. Take them out of the freezer on a countertop for 2 hours and steam them for 6-7 minutes and serve. 

How To Serve Ukadiche Modak?

• Break the upper portion of the modak and fill some liquid ghee and enjoy! 
• Serve them on their own or in a Maharashtrian meal thali. The thali can be filled with modak, batata bhaji, matkichi usal, palak patal bhaji, koshimbir, coconut chutney, mango pickle, varan bhaat, poori/roti, fryums, and aluwadi as a offering thali to the Lord Ganpati. 
• You can simply serve them with some varan bhaat and batata bhaji.

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