Saturday, April 16, 2011

Fried Modakam



Modaks / Modakams, as you know, are the sweet dumplings offered as 'Neivedyam' for Lord Ganesha.(err.. hope I din't sound too formal) *cough *cough..

Well, now I can hear your asking, it's not the time to make it, no Ganesh festivals around the corner and why this recipe here?
The reason is nothing else other than that I wanted badly to click and blog 'a sweet' with my new cam, first, and hide those guilty feelings pinging me for not blogging 'something sweet and nice' for the past week festivals. I simply watched and let go lazily the Telugu, Tamil and the Malayalam New year passing by the consecutive days celebrated with much pomp around my town and the blogosphere :)

I have already posted the step by step recipe for Steamed Modakams prepared for the 'Chathurthi'.
This, as you see is the fried version which has longer shelf life and I feel a bit easier to make than the other one.


Fried Modakam  (yields around 25)

For the dough:
Maida / All purpose flour - 1/4 kg or 2 cups
Soda bicarb. - 2 pinches (optional)
Water- enough to knead into a soft dough
Ghee- 1 tbsp

For the filling:
Freshly grated shavings from a medium sized coconut (measure)
Crushed jaggery - half the quantity of the grated coconut, loosely packed in your measuring cup.
Cardamom powder - to flavour
Ghee - Atbsp


Ghee / Oil - to deep fry


Method:


Dough: 
Knead flour and water with soda bicarb to make a soft dough as for pooris. Addition of soda bicarb is optional. It lightens n crispens the shell with tiny bubbles once fried. You don't have to let the dough standRoll out into small balls and spread into thin (as thin as possible) pooris.Cut them into perfect rounds with the mouth of a katori. Let not the size of the poori overflow once placed on the bed of your palm.....just for an idea :)


Filling:
Heat half the tbsp of ghee in a non stick kadai.Add the grated coconut and the crushed jaggery together.Sauté for a few minutes to melt down the jaggery pieces and steam off the water content. Mix in Cardamom powder. 





Final assembly and deep frying:
Spoon a little of the filling in the centre or the poori and bring the edges on top by gentle gathers. Press and twist the top a little in order to stick the tip / secure the filling while deep frying. The Modakam should not be larger than a big gooseberry :)




Prepare the Modaks and spread a thin white wet cloth to prevent them from drying up. Heat ghee or oil in a kadai and fry few at a time till golden brown.



22 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures...luv the lighting and smoothness of the pics...DSLR kelaputhu ponga :) Fried mothakams are super good idea...Looks cripsy n yumm

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  2. so cute! i've never tried these!!

    and yes, the new cam is kicking ass!!! :D

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  3. Bharathy
    New pinch for your new camera. Nice way to celebrate dear :-)
    Fried modaks look superb
    Deepa

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  4. Wow! Loved your fried modaks. And such lovely clicks...

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  5. These look beautiful; liked the contrast one.

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  6. congrats on your new camera..the pictures look great!! great idea for a fried snack!

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  7. wonderful modakams. Few years back i used to make this for daughter very often ,who is a great fan of this,but somehow i forgot that.
    Thanks for reminding me.Ur new camera is rocking

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  8. New cam is working its magic--the first pic is awesome,so are the rest.Lovely frills for the modaks!

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  9. perfect clicks... it looks so yumm..

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  10. Fried modakams looks inviting, feel like munching some...Stunning clicks.

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  11. Fried modakams looks so inviting and tempting...Pass me some...

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  12. We make smething similar 2 dis in different shape..congrats on DLSR...fotos r really nice..:)

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  13. Hello Bharathy,

    Another mouthwatering delicious dish to look at...your blogs invariably invoke nostalgic childhood memories...

    I have been following your blogs for quite sometime now…but as I still do not know the basics of cooking…the dish turns out ‘good to look at’ – but not eat. So a humble request - if possible, could you please include some bachelor tips for lesser mortals like me :)

    Example: Salt to taste – can be anything from 2 tsp to 4. I tried the range but was unsuccessful. Please just provide the measure you use, I will copy that

    Warm Regards
    John

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  14. Thankew girls for all the encouraging words here... :)

    John, welcome to my space..
    ur comment made me laugh out loud! :D...esp the salt side..you know what? i myself am unsure abt salt when I cook and do a taste testing at least half a dozen times..;)..measuring the amt of salt can be the toughest for a recipe!!:)

    I will surely include recipes for bachelors..more used to the traditional way of cooking and the recipe shift is a bit of struggle for me :)
    Thanks for the nice words. :)

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  15. Bharathy the modakkam looks fantastic, nothing to say abt the click.. nice shot, all the best for ur experiments with ur new camera. These shots are really awesomm keep going.

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  16. wow, frying modakam is such a sin way of eating it... lol :)

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  17. Mouthwatering,looks crispy and yummy..

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  18. looks really yummy. i have tried steamed version of this will try the deep fried version also...

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  19. Love the folds on the modak

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  20. My favorite......Yours looking very nice!!!

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