Ukadiche Modak

Ingredients

• 200g fresh coconut, grated
• 150g jaggery, grated
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 tbsp white poppy seeds
• 1 tbsp ghee, for the filling
• 2 tbsp cashews, chopped
• 200g fine rice flour
• 400ml water
• 1 tsp ghee, for the dough
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp warm ghee, to serve

Before you cook

• Grate the coconut and the jaggery and keep them in separate bowls.
• Sift the rice flour to break up any lumps.
• Grease a plate and a small bowl of ghee ready for shaping, and keep a damp cloth to hand.

Steps

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan over medium heat and fry the cashews and poppy seeds for 1 minute.
2. Add the grated coconut and jaggery and stir over low heat for 8 minutes, until the jaggery melts and the mixture pulls together.
3. Stir in the ground cardamom and grated nutmeg.
4. Take the pan off the heat as soon as the filling is glossy and moist enough to just hold its shape, because a dried-out filling makes a dry modak.
5. Spread the filling on a plate to cool.
6. Bring 400ml water to a rolling boil with 1 teaspoon of ghee and the salt.
7. Tip in all the rice flour at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains.
8. Cover the pan, take it off the heat, and let it steam in its own heat for 5 minutes.
9. Turn the hot dough onto a greased plate and knead it with oiled palms for 4 minutes, until it is smooth and completely free of cracks.
10. Keep the dough under a damp cloth and take one piece at a time.
11. Roll a walnut-sized piece into a ball, then press it out into a thin cup about 8cm wide, thinner at the rim than at the base.
12. Pinch the rim into small pleats all the way round, aiming for somewhere between eleven and twenty-one folds.
13. Spoon a tablespoon of filling into the pleated cup.
14. Gather the pleats up over the filling and twist them together into a neat peak.
15. Shape the rest of the modak the same way and set them on a greased steamer plate with space between them.
16. Steam over boiling water for 12 minutes, until the shells turn glossy and slightly translucent.
17. Rest them for 2 minutes so they firm up.
18. Lift them off the plate with a greased spatula.
19. Serve warm with a spoonful of ghee poured over the peak of each one.