Olya Khobryache Modak Recipe – Deep Fried Dumplings with Sweet Stuffing

It’s Ganesh Chaturthi today.

One of the most auspicious days where we welcome Lord Ganesh into our home with lots of pomp and show.

In Goa, Maharashtra and some other states on the west coast of India, this festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm.

Ganesh is said to be the God of knowledge and wisdom. His very form is intended to inspire people and teach them ways to lead a happier life.

Lord Ganesh is also famous for his love of modak – delicious little deep fried dumplings with sweet and juicy filling of coconut, jaggery and nuts.

Here’s how you can make and enjoy these yourself!
For the filling:

- Grate one coconut and grind it coarsely. This should come out to be about 1 cup.

- Grate jaggery into small chunks. As for quantity, if the grated coconut comes out to be 1 cup, take about 3/4 cup of jaggery. This loosely works for most sweets including laddus. When you take 1 cup of the main ingredient, you can take about half or three fourth of the measure of sweetener. In our case we are using jaggery, you can substitute it with powdered sugar if you prefer that taste.

- Coarsely grind about half a cup of of assorted unsalted nuts. I used almonds, cashew, pistachios and some peanuts. Leave some rather large pieces intact for the lovely crunch.

- Take a handful of dry chana daal (Bengal gram daal)
- 2 tsps of white til (sesame)
- 2 tsp of khaskhas (poppy seeds)
- 1/2 tsp of ilaichi (cardamom) powder or you can use jaiphal (nutmeg) powder
- ghee about 1/2 tbsp

In a dry pan, roast chana daal, sesame and poppy seeds. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan, add some ghee. Once it melts, add coconut and jaggery. Keep stirring. Once jaggery melts, the color of coconut will change from white to golden brown. Now add roasted sesame, poppy seeds, nuts mixture, ilaichi powder and cook some more, stirring continuously.

Some households also add milk to this mixture. Have never tried that myself, though.

Take the cooked stuffing out of the pan and leave aside for cooling.


While it cools, knead your dough.
You’ll need
- Two cups wheat flour or maida (plain flour)
- 1/4 cup sooji (rawa / semolina)
- 1 tbsp ghee
- salt to taste and
- water as required
- Ghee or oil for deep drying

Knead together all ingredients making sure the dough is soft. Not too sticky, nor too dry.

Divide into lemon sized balls and roll each of them into a small sized chapati or poori.

 

Now is a little tricky part. Take this poori on your palm and pinch the sides about 5 to 6 times. In the middle hollow add the stuffing you prepared above.

With a delicate hand, collect pinched edges and stick them together at the center.

Take ghee or oil for deep frying into a pan and heat it. Once it is sufficiently hot, add prepared modaks, about 3-4 at a time and fry till they turn golden.

Never keep the modaks around before frying for a long time. The covering will start cracking if it gets dry. If you do need to leave aside for some reason, cover them with a clean damp cloth.

Offer these yummy golden smallies to Lord Ganesh and serve to all your family and friends with love.

Enjoy your Ganesh Chaturthi!
May Lord Ganesh bless you all!!

Tasty weaning food ideas for new eaters

My second little Princess Akshara is 5 months old now. Her doc says it’s time to introduce semi-solid food for her. Here are some of the varieties of weaning foods I plan to try out. You can also choose to check these out… :)

Week 1: Our Indian cooking is rarely complete without spices. Let your baby feel the flavor of being born in India. :) At the same time be careful not to over do things. Start with mostly starchy things, sweet or with little salt. You can introduce her to some flavors like cardamom (ilaichi) or cumin (jeera). Just a tiny miny pinch of it, so she knows what it’s like ;)

• Sooji kheer (semolina porridge): Simply heat 1/4 spoon of ghee(or butter) in a pan and roast a spoonful of sooji(semolina) with it. Add water, a pinch of ilaichi powder (cardamom) and sugar to taste.
  
  
  • Cardamom is a cooling spice and is very good for fighting the heat. (Oh, Delhi summers!!!)
  • If the place where you live has cold climate, you can try a tiny string of kesar (saffron). This is a warm spice and is also thought to be very good for skin and complexion.
  • I am avoiding milk for now. Since my baby has had formula feed before and not the regular milk. So I am playing safe. For those of you who are already used to giving cow’s / buffalo’s milk to babies can even add milk to the kheer.
• Semi-solid Rice: Clean and grind some rice to the consistency of sooji . Do not add water. Store it dry. Use this just like sooji above.
  
  
  • If you wish to make a salty version, substitute salt for sugar, cumin  or black pepper for cardamom and avoid milk. You can cool it a little and add some curd (dahi) or butter-milk (chhanch).

2. Second and third week onwards you can start introducing fruits and veggies.  Here are some varieties:

• Mashed banana. Simple.
• Mashed boiled potato with slight salt and just a touch of red chilly powder.

Make the soft semi-solid rice as above but add a veggie piece to it. Carrot or beat root or few peas would be good choices. Even a leaf of spinach or some other leafy veg can go in.
Once fully cooked you can either mash the veg piece or simply remove it out. The rice would have absorbed most of the nutrition from it.

• If you are a non-vegetarian you can try adding a piece of some meat or fish. (Warning: Since I am a vegetarian myself I cannot personally vouch for this tip. Do consult your baby’s doctor.)

3. Fourth week onwards start giving same food that you eat at home. To make things easier for your baby. do continue with at least one of the recipes from above. Some new things you can introduce

• Daal + Rice. Just the way we elders eat. But the pieces of tomato etc mashed well or ground in a mixer.
• Mashed mango pulp. Or apple.
• Soup: Simply cook few pieces of veggies together. Either strain the stew or purée when fully done. In a pan heat some butter, add a pinch of black pepper powder, salt and the stew. Bring it to one boil. Cool it sufficiently and let your baby savor it.

Happy food-times to you and your little bundle of joy. :)


Like this post?


You’ll also like:

• Introducing “F” for “Food” to your baby

To receive such tips, recipes and more in your e-mail, please subscribe by clicking here. You’ll also be helping me in reaching my goal of having 1000 subscribers in 6 months. You have my word for no spam and complete privacy of your information.


Thank you for reading!

My special pasta recipe

When I was expecting my second baby, I had this unusual craving for pastas. I used to come home each day from work. Stop at the local veggie seller and ask him to give me any combination of items worth 10/- rupees. He usually put together one tomato, one capsicum, occasionally one brinjal (egg plant), one zucchini (tori/turai), some peas etc. I would then come home, make steaming soupy pasta with all these items and sit and relish. (You have to experience PGcy to understand how it feels to eat what you want ;) Sorry guys...) The pasta I used was the colorful fusilli - small colorful spirals that you get in "Big Bazaar" stores. I also picked some random herbs from the same store.

Here's one of the recipes that I happened to create just-like-that but it grew to be my favorite.

Looks yummy, does it not? It's really simple to cook, too.

Simply chop all the veggies (yeah, just toss those tori, laukis also, you won't regret it...). Heat some olive oil directly in a pressure cooker. Its slightly sour and adds the perfect tangy taste. Add all the veggies (starting with onion and garlic, if you are adding them). Add pasta (no need to pre-cook) and sauté for a minute. Once olive oil has coated each piece nicely, add water so that the mixture drowns in it. Add basil, oregano, red chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt. Close the cooker lid and cook till 2 whistles.

Enjoy along with the evening rain.... :)

Mini Pizza

Here’s how you can make quick and delicious mini pizza:
Mix a cup of sooji (semolina) with about half cup of dahi (curd).
Add finely chopped pieces of onion, tomato and capsicum, salt and red chilly powder per taste.
Adjust water to the consistency of idli batter.
Spread this mix on a sliced white bread.
Roast both sides on a hot tawa with some oil.
Enjoy with tomato sauce or chutney.
Tip: You can premix the batter the night before and store it in the refrigerator to make these a quick tiffin item on Monday mornings.

Lemon rind + Curd curry (Nimbu ke chhilke wali kadhi)

Ingredients:
1. Curd (Dahi) - sour, about 250 gms.
2. Rice flour - 2 tbsp.
3. Lemon rind (Nimbu ka chhilka) - Take half a lemon and squeeze out the juice and the seeds. You'll need only the skin for this preparation.
4. Grated Coconut - ripe but not dry. 1 tbsp.
5. Green Chilli (hari mirch) - 2
5. Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 2 tsp.
6. Black pepper (Kali Mirch) - 4~5 seeds.
7. Salt to taste
8. Water - 1/2 to 2 cups.

For spluttering (tadka):
1. Mustard (sarson/rai) seeds - 1 tsp.
2. Asaefoetida (hing) - 1/2 tsp.
3. Curry leaves - 4 / 5

Procedure:
1. Add water and churn the curd so that no lumps appear.
2. Cook lemon rind in water till it becomes soft.
3. Grind cooked lemon rind, coconut, cumin seeds (jeera), black pepper (kali mirch), green chilli (hari mirch) with a little water.
4. Mix well - churned curd, ground mixture of coconut, rice flour and salt. Add little more water if needed.
5. Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients of spluttering one-by-one.
6. Once the contents splutter, add the mixed curd and bring to a single boil.
7. Take off the heat and server hot with plain rice or roti.


Tips:
1. If fresh lemon leaves are available, 2~3 leaves can be substituted for the lemon rind.
2. In case you do not like the tangy flovour it yields to curd, a tsp of sugar can be added to the preparation.
3. A single red chilli addded to the spluttering will give the dish a spicy taste.
4. Optionally dry urad dal (split Black Gram, polished, without cover) + dry chana dal (split Bengal Gram, polished, without cover) can also be added to the spluttering.