Kozhukattai / Modak

When I was newly married, making kozhukattai (modak) was always a nightmare. The tension used to start on the eve of Ganesh Chaturti itself. Grating coconut, preparing the dough and everything used to seem as a tedious task. Over the years, I have slowly grasped the techniques and have reached a stage where I look forward to making them. I usually make the kozhukattais with homemade idiyapam flour, which my mother used to prepare at home and send it to me. But this time, for a change, I wanted to try out a traditional method, which I had never tried before. The first time I made it was for this post. In this method, we soak the raw rice, grind it and make the dough with it.

All the credits of this post goes to Vijayalakshmi amma, my friend Anandhi’s mother-in-law. She not only gave me the recipe, but also came over and guided me from the scratch. As she was helping me throughout the cooking process, I didn’t find it difficult in trying out this new dish. I got all my doubts cleared on spot and made a note of the tips. She has also agreed to teach me a few other traditional sweets for Diwali. She is as sweet as the kozhukattais we made together😊 .

The kozhukattais (modaks) are soft, and the poornam (filling) is sweet, crunchy and melts in the mouth. I have chosen the traditional method due to the softer kozhukattais it yields. After you have a bite of it, you will wish for Ganesha’s birthday to come more often. Happy Ganesh Chaturti!

Preparation time: 15 minutes| Cooking time: 15 minutes
Cuisine: Indian| Course: Snacks.

Ingredients:

For filling:

Grated coconut- 2 cups

Powdered jaggery- ¾ cup

Ghee- ½ tsp

Elachi -2

For dough:

Raw rice- 1 cup

Salt- as needed

Oil- 1 tsp + ¼ tsp

Method:

1. Soak the raw rice in water for an hour. Grind it in mixer, into a smooth batter of dosa batter consistency. Keep it aside.

2. Heat ¼ glass of water in a kadai and add the jaggery powder. Stir and let the jaggery dissolve well. Bring it to a boil.

3. Add the grated coconut to this jaggery syrup. Mix well. Keep stirring for some time.

4. Crush the elachi and add it to the coconut and jaggrey mix. Stir well.

5. Add half a teaspoon of ghee, mix well and switch off flame. Let it cool for some time.

6. In the meanwhile, get ready to prepare the dough.

7. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a kadai. Add ¼ glass of water to it.

8. Then add the raw rice batter. Add salt. Keep stirring continuously. Even if small lumps are formed, no need to worry. Just keep stirring continuously.

9. Within few minutes the batter will become as thick as dough. Switch off the stove when it is half cooked. If you over cook it, the kozhukattai may turn hard.

10. Take it and place it on a plate. Once it becomes warm add ¼ tsp oil to it. Use your hands and spread the dough forward (as shown in stepwise picture). Collect it together again and repeat the process for four to five times. This will ensure we get soft kozhukattai.

11. Now grease the mould with oil. Take a gooseberry size of dough and shape it inside the mould shown in pic below.

12. Then fill it with the coconut filling and seal it with dough (refer pic). Remove the shaped kozhukattai from mould. Repeat the process.

13. Place the idly cooker on stove. Arrange the shaped kozhukattai on the idly plate. Cover it with a clean cloth, so that the steam doesn’t spoil the kozhukattai.

14. Steam it for 10 minutes. Switch off. Open the lid and leave it for few minutes. Then remove from the idly plate

15. Yummy kozhukattai ready for vinayagar chaturthi.

Notes:

· This recipe yields around 25 to 30 kozhukattai.

· There is a variety called dosa rice in raw rice. That works best for this recipe. If you don’t get it, use normal raw rice.

· Stirring batter continuously, is a very important process in this recipe. Even if lumps are formed, no need to worry. It will become okay when you knead the dough with your hands.

· Incase you find the jaggery to be impure,you may want to first dissolve the jaggery in water, filter it and then add it to kadai for preparing the coconut filling.

· I have used a mould to shape the kozhukattai as my daughters enjoy that and it looks good for the pic too😉 . You can also shape it with your hands.