Ukadiche Modak - Steamed Coconut Sweet Dumplings
Ukadiche modak is a delicious and sweet steamed rice flour dumpling. 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.
Ingredients
For The Filling
- 1 cup Coconut freshly grated/frozen
- 1 cup Jaggery finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Poppy seeds optional
- 7-8 strands Saffron
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
- 4 Almonds finely chopped, optional
- 6-7 Pistachios finely chopped, optional
- 1/8 tsp Salt
For The Covering
- 1 cup Rice flour/Modak peeth
- 1 cup Water
- 1 tsp Ghee
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Instructions
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.
Notes
- 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.