Gourmet Chocolate meets Ganesha

Sandeep Karode
26-Aug-2020

It’s that time of the year. Time to welcome the Obstacle Remover!

Traditionally, Vighnaharta (obstacle remover) is welcomed with an offering of Modak.

The traditional #modak has a Rice Flour outer covering with an inner filling of coconut, jaggery and spices. Several recipes are available online, for example.

This year, after making the traditional #modak, Madhuri Karode decided that it was time to facilitate a meeting between Gourmet Chocolate and Ganesha!

This is the story of that inspired moment.

Ingredients For the Outer Covering
1 cup Rice flour
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Milk
2 tbsp Cocoa powder
3 tsp Jaggery
… A variation is to replace the Cocoa powder and Jaggery with a Hot Chocolate mix, preferable unsweetened.
1 tsp Ghee
1 tsp Orange rind

Method
Bring the Water and Milk to a boil.
Add the Jaggery and Ghee.
Once the Jaggery dissolves, add the Cocoa powder (or Hot Chocolate mix)
… Mix continuously to avoid lumping
Add the Rice flour while stirring occasionally to avoid lumping.
Keep stirring on low flame until all the liquid is absorbed. Switch off the flame and keep covered for about a minute. Stir again to homogenize.

Transfer to a large pan. Traditionally, this pan is called a Parat in Marathi.

The Rice Flour mixture with Orange rind in a Parat

Knead well. The magic of this dough is all in the kneading. Add tiny amounts of water while kneading thoroughly until a soft dough is made.

Soft dough after kneading the Rice flour mixture

Ingredients For the Inner Filling
Gourmet Chocolate
Grated Coconut

Chocolate squares / finely chopped. Grated Coconut.

Our go-to Gourmet Chocolate is Elements Truffles. This is an #ayurveda inspired #artisanal chocolate made in small batches.

Elements Truffles: Ayurveda inspired artisanal chocolate

In case Elements Truffles is not available in a store near you, yet, another recommendation which we used in this recipe is Royce’:

Method

Flatten a small piece of the dough into a palm size thin round ish disc. Top left of the above image. The disc could be flattened via fingers & thumb as is traditionally done or via a rolling pin.

Fill the disc with Gourmet Chocolate and pleat the dough to start covering the chocolate filling. Top right of the above image.

Progressively pinch the narrow opening to close it taking care to preserve, as much as possible, the pleats. Bottom right and left respectively in above image.

Steam the formed #modak for 10 minutes