Nolen Gur er Modak

Pasta loves his Gannu dada a lot and we have celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi yesterday at our place. It was not an official holiday and I had really less time to prepare. I was initially planning to make normal traditional steamed Modak but decided to give it a Bengali touch so I have replaced normal Jaggery with liquid Nolen Gur or Date Palm Jaggery and made Nolen Gur er Modak. Nolen Gur is extracted from Date trees during winters and is a speciality of Bengal and is popular for the amazing aroma it has. I mostly bought it during winters and store in refrigerator for using in special occasions!

Ganesh Chaturthi is an Indian festival to worship lord Ganesha and is also known as Vinayak Chaturthi where Chaturthi depicted for 4th day of the month. Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated hugely in Western and Southern part of the country which includes Maharashtra, Goa, Odisha Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh and also in Nepal. However, nowadays, this festival in celebrated in other states as well. Ganesh ji is worshiped with different sweets and Modok is the topmost of the lot. It is a famous sweet and is known as Modhaka or kadubu as well. This Sweet has a similarity with Bengali Pitha that is prepared in winters. Modhaka is basically a sweet dumpling mostly stuffed with a mixture of Jaggery and coconut. However, there is numerous variety of Modhak available. I have prepared it with a bong touch in it.

Coming to the recipe of Steamed Modhak with Nolen Gur, it is almost similar to the normal Modhaka recipe however requires some extra time give Nolen Gur is liquid. Both Gannu Dada (hopefully) and Pasta were happy with the Nolen Gur version of Modhak. Do adjust time in case you are following the recipe with normal Gur else your Modhak will get harder to chew. Coming to the process of steaming, I have used a Jugadu method with a "Channi Bowl" (a bowl with numerous holes in it) as I have made only 10 pieces and hence not used my Steamer. I have not used a Modak mould too for making my Modhak and those are not typically good shaped :(.

Nolen Gur er Modak: with a Bong touch!

Modak is a famous Indian Sweet mostly prepared during the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. I made this with a twist of Date palm jaggery or Nolen Gur

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Course: Sweet

Cuisine: Indian

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 1

Servings: -10 Modak

Calories:

Author: Debjani

Ingredients

For the Outer Layer of Nolen Gur er Modak:

Rice Flour: 1 Cup
Ghee/ Clarified Butter: 1 Tsp.
Boiling Water: 1 Cup
Salt: ½ Tsp.

For the Stuffing of of Nolen Gur er Modak:

Grated Coconut: 1 Cup
Liquid Date Palm Jaggery/ Nolen Gur : ⅔ Cup adjust as per your taste bud
Cashew nut: 10-15
Raisin: 10-15
Poppy Seed: 1 Tsp.

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Making of the outer layer:

[url href="https://kitchenofdebjani.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Making-of-the-Outer-layer-of-Modak-300x200.jpg"][/url]
Start boiling 1 Cup and 2 Tbsp. Water in high flame and add Ghee and Salt to the boiling water.
Now add 1 Cup of Rice Flour to the boiling water cook for 1 minute in low flame. Mix the Flour with water while cooking it with the help of a spatula.
Switch the flame off and cover the bowl with a lid for 5-7 minutes.
Open the lid after pre-mentioned time and using a spoon mix it properly. When the mixture comes to almost room temperature knead it for 1 minute to make a non-sticky dough. Don’t over knead.
Cover the dough with a wet cloth.

Making of the Stuffing:

[url href="https://kitchenofdebjani.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Making-of-Modak-Stuffing-300x200.jpg"][/url]
Dry roast Poppy seeds in a heavy bottom pan and add then add Nolen Gur and mix properly.
Cook for 5 minutes in medium flame till Gur solidifies a bit.
Now add freshly grated coconut and Cashew nut and Raisins and mix properly with a spatula.
Switch the flame off after 2-3 minutes of cooking when the mixture is nor liquid neither dry.

Making of the Nolen Gur er Modhak (Stuffing and Steaming):

[url href="https://kitchenofdebjani.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Making-of-Modak-300x200.jpg"][/url]
Divide the Rice Flour dough into 10 parts and make lemon size ball from each part.
Take one Rice Flour Ball and flattened it using your hands to make a small flattened round disk.
Now put 1 Tbsp. of Stuffing on the middle of the flattened disk and take all the edges of the disk together to close the Modhak. Give it a shape of a temple as shown in the picture.
Using the same process make rest of the Modak.
If you are available with a Modak Mould then use that to prepare Modak to give those proper shape.
Heat a steamer with sufficient water in it.
I have used a big bowl and boiled around 1.5 litre water in it and then steamed Modak placing those on a Bowl with holes.
I finally placed the bowl in the top of the Bowl with boiling water and then covered with a lid.
Steam Modak for 10-12 minutes in medium flame. You can use pressure cooker to steam Modak as well.
I have served my Nolen Gur er Modak to our cute Gannu Dada on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi!
[url href="https://kitchenofdebjani.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Modak-on-Ganesh-Chaturthi-300x200.jpg"][/url]

Notes

Don’t overcook Jaggery else the stuffing would turn stiff.
In case you are not able to make plates while shaping the Modak then apply some water in your hand and then proceed.
Be careful while stuffing the Modak and seal it properly.

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