Cookbook:Wheat Modak (Coconut Pastries)

| Indian Cuisine | Dessert

Modak is a deep fried Indian sweet that is almost exclusively prepared during the Ganesha Festival around August, when it is often given as an offering to Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed Remover of Obstacles. Modak is reportedly his favorite sweet. In some parts of the country (coastal Maharashtra), modak is prepared using rice flour, as rice is the main crop of that region. They are usually filled with a syrupy mixture of sweetened coconut, sometimes with saffron.

Dough

 * 1 cup white wheat flour
 * 1 cup semolina flour
 * 1 pinch of salt
 * 1 pinch of turmeric powder
 * 1 cup warm water
 * Oil for frying

Filling

 * 1 coconut, grated finely (makes about 2 cups)
 * 1½ cups jaggery (or substitute raw sugar)
 * ¾ tablespoon powdered cardamom

Procedure

 * 1) Combine all the dough ingredients; it should be dry but should a little sticky.
 * 2) Grease the dough with oil and leave covered for 1 hour.
 * 3) Melt the jaggery with 4 tablespoons of water in a non-stick skillet until it is liquid.
 * 4) Add coconut. Sauté for 15–20 minutes, until the mixture becomes very thick and almost dry.
 * 5) Mix in the cardamom powder and remove from the fire.
 * 6) Spread the mixture out on a metal tray to cool.
 * 7) Take a tablespoon-sized ball of dough and roll it out—using flour if it is sticky—into a disc 4 inches across.
 * 8) Put a tablespoon-sized lump of filling in the middle (it should be hardening well by now), wet the edges with a finger, and fold up the sides, crimping the dough into a peak at the top to completely seal in the filling.
 * 9) Deep fry the modak in oil until golden brown.