(A unique, sweet Indian Modak recipe)

Who doesn’t like Modaks? Everyone does! So how many times do you make them at home? Once…twice in a year? Or do you always plan to make them but get discouraged by the slightly difficult procedure? Yes! They can be difficult to make!

I will let you in on a secret! If there is one dish that I struggle with it’s Ukadiche Modaks! I don’t have the courage to make them independently! Actually, I dread making them. However, making Modaks in the Ganapati festival is kind of important to many! So I thought, how about creating an easy Modak recipe which is just as delicious as the original fried or ‘Ukadiche Modaks’? And I started imagining….

How about some coloured Modaks? Ahh ha… No! ... Absolutely NO FOOD COLOUR! But then I thought, food has colour! Some foods like Beetroot have a beautiful colour! BEEEEEEETTTTTRRRRROOOOTTTTTT!!!! IN A MODAK!!!! Are you crazy? No way! Yes! That’s how my logical mind yelled at me… But then my creative mind prodded me to at least give it a try! And I started experimenting…

There were sooo many questions! Add raw beetroot? …Cook the beetroot first and then extract its juice.? … Use milk powder? …Use khoya? …Will the Modaks smell of beetroot? …Can I cook beetroot with milk products? So after experimenting a couple of times, I perfected this recipe! So here I am, presenting a lovely, easy Modak recipe that you should definitely try in your kitchen!

HAPPY GANESH CHATURTHI TO ALL!

RECIPE VIDEO

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk powder (दूध का पाउडर/ दुधाची पाउडर)

• 1/2 cup milk (दूध)

• 2 beetroots (बीटरूट)

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar (चिनी / पिठीसाखर)

• 3 tbsp clarified butter - ghee (शुद्ध देसी घी / साजुक तुप)

• 8-10 drops of rose water ( गुलाब पानी/गुलाब पाणी)
  

Method

• Wash the beetroots thoroughly and pressure cook them (3 whistles). Remove them from the pressure cooker.

• After they have cooled down, peel the skin. Grate them.

• Take small portions of the grated beetroot in your palms and squeeze it to extract the juice. Collect the juice in a container. Squeeze 2-3 times to ensure all juice is extracted.

• Filter this juice to remove any grated beetroot in it. Set the juice aside.

• Take the milk powder in a large pan/kadhai.

• Start adding milk, beetroot juice, and powdered sugar to it slowly. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. DO NOT TURN ON THE FLAME.

• Once the mixture has a smooth consistency, start cooking it on a low flame. Keep stirring continuously as the milk powder tends to stick to the bottom of the pan.

• As the mixture cooks it starts getting thicker as shown in the video above. Add a tablespoon of ghee to it.

• Keep cooking till the mixture gets a dough-like consistency. This takes around 15 minutes in total. Turn off the heat.

• Add rose water and a little more ghee to the mixture and mix well. Let the mixture cool down completely.

• Grease your palms with ghee and knead the mixture properly to get a smooth dough.

• Grease the Modak moulds with ghee. Take a small dough ball and put it in the mould. Press them by closing the mould. Remove any excess dough that protrudes out. Open the mould to get perfect Modaks! Repeat this step to make all Modaks.

  BEETROOT MODAKS ARE READY TO BE SERVED!

Notes -

• Stirring the Modak mixture continuously is very important as the milk powder tends to stick to the bottom of the pan and get burnt.

• You should get Modak moulds in the local market. They come in different sizes. They are made of plastic or steel. I usually prefer small-sized moulds for making this recipe.

• You can store these Modaks in the refrigerator for over a week. I like to reheat them in a microwave for 15-20 seconds before consuming refrigerated Modaks. Reheating makes them soft.

Did you make this recipe?
Kindly let me know in the comments section below and tag @bitesandbokeh on INSTAGRAM.