Ganesh Chaturthi 2021: Mumbai home chefs share unique modak recipes to make during the festival

Chefs and home chefs across Mumbai are experimenting with Bappa’s favourite modak this year. Here are three interesting variations of the beloved dessert for you to indulge this Ganesh Chaturthi

With Mumbai’s beloved Ganesh Chaturthi around the corner, cautionary preparations are in full swing. However, festivities in India are incomplete without sweets and Ganesh Chaturthi is no different with a plethora of mouth-watering treats on offer. Sweets like Puran poli and Shrikhand are popular among devotees but modak, which is Bappa’s favourite, is the undisputed king of Ganeshotsav. While the sweet may be available in restaurants, home chefs across the city are experimenting with this traditional delicacy and infusing it with unique flavours.

Here are three experimental modak recipes to sweeten your Ganpati celebrations.

Sushi modak

Home chef Sapna Poddar gives a Japanese twist to the classic modak. Pic/ Sapna Poddar

“You must have had different types of sushi and modak, but have you ever eaten a contemporary yet traditional dish like sushi modak? Try something new this time,” shares Sapna Poddar of Sap’s Kitchen in Lower Parel.

Ingredients

To make sushi

500gms - sushi rice, 750ml – water, 100ml - sushi vinegar, 60 gms- sugar, 20gms – salt, pinch of turmeric powder, 1/4th beetroot, a handful of butterfly pea flower

For the filling

Carrot (grated) -1 pc, cucumber (finely chopped) - 1 pc, beetroot (grated) -1 pc, coconut grated and baked - half, cream cheese- 1 tbsp, seaweed, wasabi, gari, soya

Method

For the rice:
1. Divide rice and water in four equal parts to make four different colours.
2. Add pinch of turmeric, butterfly pea flower, and beetroot to three of these equal parts and cook the rice.
3. Mix sushi vinegar, salt and sugar.
4. Pour equally on each coloured rice.

For the filling
1. Mix coconut with cream cheese.
2. Mix carrot and cucumber with Wasabi mayo.
3. Mix beetroot with spicy mayo which is made from mixing mirin, mayo, togarashi powder.
4. Mix carrot and cucumber with both wasabi mayo and spicy mayo.

Assemble:

1. Take the modak mould and fill in the rice.
2. Do it for all different variations.
3. Then decorate it with the sauce and spice.
4. Serve with wasabi, gari, and soya.

You can pre-order the sushi modak through Lokal Kitchen.

Cost: Rs 350 (a box of four different varieties of modak), Rs 600 (a box of four tricolour modak)

Shirkhand modak

Home chef Librina Dsouza combines two traditional desserts into one-Shrikhand modak. Pic/ Librina Dsouza

“Shrikhand is a traditional Indian sweet made with hung curd usually and flavoured with saffron and cardamom. This season bring Bappa’s favourite home the fusion way,” says Librina Dsouza of the 23 Eat Street kitchen in Goregon.

Ingredients
Hung curd - 1 1/2 cup, sugar - 3/4 cup or jaggery as per your choice - 1 cup, milk – 2 tsps cardamom powder -  ¼ tsp, saffron - 3 - 4 strands, nutmeg powder - 1 pinch, nuts - handful

Method
1. In a pan take hung curd and cook on a low-medium heat until the curd creates a partial firm texture.
2. Add sugar or jaggery, mix it on a low flame until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk and keep stirring until the mixture is smooth (mava texture). Add cardamom powder and a hint of nutmeg, mix it all and let it cool.
3. When cooled partially start moulding the mixture into modak as per your preference.
4. Keep it refrigerated.

You can pre-order the shrikhand modak through Lokal Kitchen.
Cost: Rs 140 for 250 gms

Baked modak

Home chef Rakhi Vashishth shares her healthy variant of the fried modak. Pic/Rakhi Vashishth

“This is a healthy twist to Bappa's favorite modak without compromising on the taste. Our baked modaks come with a coconut jaggery filling – Indeed a healthy twist to talniche modak, mixture of coconut, jaggery, khus-khus, nuts and dried fruits filled inside wheat flour sheet and baked instead of frying,” says Rakhi Vashishth, who runs ChokhoJeeman, a Goregaon-based kitchen.

Ingredients

For outer covering:

Atta - 1/2 cup, Maida - 1/2 cup, ghee - 2 tbsp, a pinch of salt

For the filling:

Khus khus - 2 tsp, coconut – 1, raisins - 15 gms, almonds and cashews - 30 gms, jaggery - 100 gms, ghee – 2 tbsp

Method

For the covering:

1. Mix ghee with flour and knead it by adding water little by little. Be careful to not knead too much and make a medium soft dough.
2. Cover and keep for 15 to 20 minutes.

For the filling:
1. Heat a pan and add the ghee. When it is medium hot, add khus-khus.
2. Once it starts crackling, add coconut and roast on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Add raisins and jaggery and mix it well. 
4. Let it cook on slow heat till water evaporates. 
5. Mix the almonds and cashews and switch off the stove. 
6. Let it cool. 

For the modaks:
1. Make small balls out of dough and roll them with rolling pin in the shape of a poori. Hold in your palm and put a spoon of filling in it.
2. Gather from all sides in pleats and stick them together on the top. 
3. Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Grease or put parchment paper on the baking tray and place the modaks on it. 
4. Put a little ghee or oil on them and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25 to 30 minutes, depending on your oven. 

You can pre-order the baked modak through Lokal Kitchen.
Cost: Rs 252 (pack of 6), Rs 462 (pack of 11)

Also Read: Ganesh Chaturthi 2021: Why these Mumbaikars went zero-waste with their festival celebrations

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