DRY COCONUT MODAK

 This Ganesh Chaturthi, I have tried so many variations of modak from traditional to modern choco lava modak. Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the important Hindu Festivals celebratde throughout India with great pomp and fare. This day is celebrated as the birth of Lord Ganesha. On Ganesh Festival the prasad or naivedya is offered to Lord Ganesha first and then distributed between the family and friends, the feast consists of many varities of savories and sweet dishes, but modak is a must in the menu as it is Ganapati Bappa's  favourite sweet.

 Festivals in India are incomplete without sweets. You can opt to buy sweets from the market. But preparing them at home has its own charm and a personal touch. Dry Coconut Modak with condensed milk, a super easy and quick recipe just made in 15 minutes. Here for this recipe just 2 basic ingredients we need that dry grated coconut and condensed milk. Here I used homemade condensed milk for my recipe and the recipe of homemade condensed milk I have already shared here in my blog. A  quick  delicious treat to make for any occasion, celebration or festival. I prepared this for Ganesh Chaturthi last year. Everyone like it at my place, so I am going to make again this year. By your imagination, you can make many variations to this recipe like using cocoa powder to make chocolate coconut modak, or you can dip them in melted chocolate and make chocolate coconut modak. Khoya can be also used for this recipe. In that case you have to reduce the quantity of condensed milk in it. So let's move on to the recipe.
INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Dry  Desiccated Coconut

½ Can / 200 gms Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 teaspoon Rose water

115 gm Melted Semi Sweet Chocolate

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Take a bowl, add coconut and condensed milk in it.

 Add rose water and mix well.

STEP 2 – If you take small portion and pinch together you should be able to from a ball. This means your dough is ready for making modak. But if not then add little more condensed milk in it and mix it again.

STEP 3 – Now grease the modak mould using ghee and start shaping modak.[see notes] Fill the coconut mixture from the bottom of the mould and press it.

STEP 4 – Then open the mould and gently remove the modak and place it on a plate.

STEP 5 – Like this make all the modak with rest of the dough. Chill them for 10-15 minutes in refrigerator.

STEP 6 – For making chocolate dip- Take grated chocolate in a bowl and melt in microwave. Remove the bowl from microwave after every 15 seconds and give a nice stir till the chocolate becomes smooth and shiny.

STEP 7 – Now fill it in a piping bag. Keep aside.

STEP 8 – Remove the ready modak from refrigerator . Pipe out the chocolate and make a design on chocolate as per your liking. Or you can simply dip half side of the modak in melted chocolate and cover the modak with chocolate .

STEP 9 – Now again keep the modak in refrigerator to set the chocolate completely for half an hour.

Remove and serve coconut modak.

NOTES: I usually keep the mould close and fill it with mixture tightly by pressing from the bottom.

KANDA BATATA BHAJI / CURRY

A vegetarian curry, made with baby onions and small potatoes / cubed potatoes which is simple and quick to make. It is very simple and delicious curry, one will never get bored with it and just the smell of it can make you hungry. Potaoes is one of the staple foods and all most everyone loves potatoe. In India, aloo ki sabzi is the most popular dish. This simple dish is cooked with so many different ways. Every household has it’s own unique way of cooking. This can be made even in pressure cooker to fasten cooking the potatoes. In that case avoid frying potatoes in oil. The flavours and texture of this curry are spectacular. Imagine melt-in-mouth potatoes with velvety onions and spicy, creamy flavour. The potatoes are fried and then simmered in creamy and spicy tomato based gravy. Each bite of this curry will make you want to back for seconds. If you like any spicy vegetarian curry, then you are going love this. This kanda-batat bhaji goes very well with rice, pulao or chapatti. Give a try to this version of aloo[potato] and pyaaz[onion] curry and you will definitely like it.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Large or 4-5 Small Potatoes

4-5 Baby Onions

Oil for frying

2 Bay Leaves

1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

Salt to taste

¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

¼ teaspoon Asafoetida

1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder

Fresh, chopped Coriander

For grinding:

1 Big Onion

2-3 Tomatoes

2-3 Green Chillies

1”Ginger Piece

4-5 Cloves Garlic

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Wash and peel the potatoes. If using bigger potatoes then cut them into big chunks. Prick them all over with a fork.

STEP 2 – Heat oil in kadai, deep fry potatoes till light golden brown in colour. Remove and drain excess oil on a tissue paper. Keep them aside

STEP 3 – Boil 1 cup water in a small bowl, add peeled onions in it and boil for about 5 minutes or until they become transparent.

STEP 4 – Take all ingredients under title “For Grinding” in a mixer pot and make a fine and smooth paste. Keep aside.

STEP 5 – Heat oil in a pan, crackle cumin seeds and add asafoetida. Then add bay leaves, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder.

STEP 6 – Quickly add ground paste and give a nice mix. Keep sautéing till oil floats on the top, stirring it continuously.

STEP 7 – Add fried potatoes, boiled onions in it and mix well.

Add garam masala podwer and mix it again.

Add 1/2 – 1 cup water, season it with salt as needed.

STEP 8 – Cover it and cook it for 4-5 minutes. Gravy should be thick, so add water accordingly. Once gravy achieved desired consistency, remove from heat.

STEP 9 – Granish with chopped coriander and serve it hot.

Enjoy potato-onion curry with naan, paratha, roti or steamed or jeera rice.

SINGHADA ATTA HALWA / SINGHARE KE ATTE KA HALWA

During fasting, Hindus are not allowed to break their fast with anything that contains cereals, lentils and ordinary salt. Therefore, traditional ‘fasting food’ or ‘vrat ka khana’ as it is called in India. It is prepared with other ingredients like sago, varai or sama ke chawal, roots like sweet potato, potato, singhara and buckwheat. One among these foods is Singhara Halwa. It is a sweet dish which is rich in protein and also high in calories. Singhara Halwa is one of the most popular dessert during fasting season and in the Month of Shravan when many of the fasting festival lines up for you. Rich and delicious Singhara Halwa can be eaten warm or cold, but I prefer hot. I prepared it for Shravan somvar fast today. It turned out super delicious and my family liked it. It is very simple yet delicious halwa recipe. It is very easy and quick which hardly takes 15-20 minutes. So on next fasting day, try to make this and share your suggestions if any.

INGREDIENTS:

½ Cup Singhare ka Atta / Singhada Flour

½ Cup Jaggery

3-4 tablespoon Ghee

¼ teaspoon Cardamom Powder

1 Cup hot, boiling Water

Some Almonds, Cahsews and Raisins, chopped

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Heat 1-2 teaspoon ghee in a pan. Add almonds, cashews in it and roast till golden in colour. Remove in a plate and in same way roast raisins till they puff up. Remove and keep aside.

STEP 2 – Heat rest of the ghee in a pan, add singhara atta in it and roast it on medium flame stirring continuously till it turns light golden brown or you can feel a nice aroma. It will take approximately 7-8 minutes. [see notes]

STEP 3 – On the other stove, keep water for boiling.

STEP 4 – Now after roasting atta well, add hot water in it, mix pretty well to avoid lumps. [see notes]

STEP 5 – Cover the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Once the water is nearly absorbed, add grated jaggery in it and give a nice mix.[I added sugar in my halwa] Keep stirring constantly.  

STEP 6 – Keep cooking till ghee starts leaving from sides. Add nuts in it and mix. Turn of the stove and halwa is ready.

STEP 7 – Add cardamom powder in mix and serve hot. [see notes]

NOTES: *Always roast the flour on low-medium flame as there are chances of burning it.

               *When you add water in roasted flour, it may splutter, so be careful.

               *Always add cardamom powder at the end.