MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Modak

Modak(Fried)

Modak- Ganpati Bappa’s favourite Naivedya-Prasaad. Modaks are universally liked by Lord Ganesha and his worshippers. It is a traditional delicacy which is essentially prepared on Ganesh Chaturthi day as offering to the Lord. Modaks are made in various ways- they may be steamed or fried, the cover varies as per the style of cooking. The filling also varies as per the cooking method. The common ingredient is of course fresh coconut.

In the fried modaks, wheat semolina or refined flour is used for the outer covering and in the steamed modaks, rice flour is used for the outer covering. The filling of the steamed modaks is generally made of jaggery and fresh coconut, whilst the filling of fried modaks is made of sugar and fresh coconut.

Nowadays you get a variety of modaks with different kinds of fillings- dry fruits, gulkand etc.

Ingredients

For the Filling

Fresh Coconut - 1 whole, grated

Sugar - 1¼ cup

Khoya/ Mawa - 125 gms

Ghee - 1 teaspoon

Cardamom Powder - ½ teaspoon

Poppy Seeds - 1 tablespoon

For the outer Covering

Fine Semolina/Suji - 1 cup

Refined flour/ Maida - ½ cup

Milk - Approx ½ cup

Salt - ¼ teaspoon

Ghee - 1 teaspoon

Oil - Approx 200-250 ml for frying

Method

Roast poppy seeds lightly and grind into a coarse powder and set aside. Heat a pan and roast the grated coconut lightly in the ghee, add sugar and allow to cook till the sugar solution reduces. Stir continuously. Add khoya and keep stirring as khoya gets burnt easily. The mixture should homogenize and leave the sides of the utensil. Add roasted poppy seed and cardamom powders and set aside to cool.

Mix semolina, refined flour, salt, ghee and milk to form stiff dough, cover and set aside for about half hour. Knead the dough for about 7-10 minutes before using. Make small balls and roll them into puris. Now place little filling on every puri and close from top by folding to form modak. 

Heat oil in a pan and fry the modaks on medium fire till the outer covering turns to a nice brown colour. Remove and allow to cool.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Crispy Karela(Bitter Gourd)

Crispy Karela (Bitter Gourd)

The crispy karela is a dish of its kind, very tempting and sinful. I had tasted this at a Bengali friend’s place and liked it a lot and was quite surprised to know that it is such a simple recipe and did not involve the procedure of removing bitterness of the bitter gourd. Considering its irresistible taste, it is okay to indulge once in a while in this deep fried delicacy. It is a deep fried recipe, so health conscious people please beware. Actually, it is not as oily as it is made out to be, does not take up much oil while frying and one can drain the excess oil on paper. This recipe is slightly time consuming as frying takes a lot of time.

Bitter Gourd/Karela/Karle is one vegetable that is not liked by many people as it tastes bitter. It is a seasonal vegetable and comes in late summers and stays through the monsoons. It has many nutritional and medicinal benefits and should be consumed when available during the season. It can be prepared in many varied ways as fried chips, dry vegetable and semi dry with masala, masala filled karela or as fresh juice too. Mostly, many places the bitter gourd is rubbed with salt and left for about an hour or half and then washed with water to remove the bitterness. Some people boil it in water for about 10 minutes and strain the water to remove the bitterness. My mother also used to follow similar procedures to remove the bitterness. Over the years, I found that many of my friends used the bitter gourd directly and the prepared dish did not taste bitter at all. So, now, even I make my bitter gourd vegetable directly. Many people remove the central pith too along with seeds, but, I learnt to use that too as per one of my aunt’s recipe. The bitterness of bitter gourd is reduced by adding tamarind/lemon and sugar/jaggery to the vegetable preparation.

Ingredients

Bitter Gourd - 250 gms

Onions - 3 medium sized

Oil- Approx 150 ml

Salt - As per taste

Red Chilly Powder- ½ teaspoon

Powdered Sugar - 1 teaspoon

Method

Slice onions lengthwise and chop bitter gourd into thin roundels. Heat oil in a kadahi (pan) and fry onion till it turns crispy and golden brown. Drain excess oil on paper. Now fry the bitter gourd roundels till they turn crispy. Drain the excess oil on fry. The frying needs to be done on a high flame and you need to keep turning the onion and bitter gourd pieces occasionally so that they do not burn. Finally, mix all the fried onion and bitter gourd and sprinkle with salt, chilly and powders. Crispy Karela is ready to be relished, tastes good with roti, chapatti and rice or can be eaten just like that