Not just sweet modak by the (Bom)Bay
Beyond Ganpati’s favourite Ukdiche Modak, there’s another modak that finds favour in the Maharashtrian kitchen
Modaks were a beloved preparation in a quiet home in Narayan Peth, Pune. The traditional sweet preparation honoured the bounty of the Konkan and hid years of practice within its neatly folded pleats.
Ukdiche Modak, a rice flour dumpling stuffed with coconut, jaggery and cardamom, and steamed, is an integral part of Ganesh Chaturthi naivedya (offering) and celebrations. Beyond the Ukdiche Modak, there were others vying for attention in this home. One such deserving candidate was the ‘fasting modak’, made with varai (kodo millet) and a stuffing of fresh coconut, ginger, green chillies, coriander, lime juice and salt. These bite-sized modaks were either eaten plain or served in an amti, a thin curry of peanuts, with a tadka of ghee and jeera. “My grandmother would make this dish for those who were fasting. Our relatives would come over specially to eat it,” says home chef Shilpa Bhide talking about the dish that was a favourite in her grandmother’s home. “This Upasachi Modak Amti is one of our lost recipes.”
In Bhide’s home, besides the fasting version, there is another amti that was popular. As she says, “it has everything in it”. This Modakachi Amti was also prepared on Chaturthi or in last days of the festival. It offered relief from all the sweet items. The modaks had a besan (gram flour) coating with coriander, jeera, red chilli powder and salt and the same coconut-heavy stuffing. The amti was heavier on the flavouring, with liberal amounts of goda masala (a Maharashtrian spice blend), poppy seeds, sesame seeds blended with tur dal, coconut, tamarind or kokum and jaggery. It was eaten with ambemohar rice, the fragrant variety commonly found in the Western Ghats. This version differs from the fasting version in its colour — it has a dark reddish-brown gravy, and in taste — it is a heavy, spice-laden gravy.
The preparation of these dishes required effort and time. The reduced pliability of the dough required adept handling to ensure it didn’t break when cooking, and the ratio of the filling to the stuffing had to be perfect. Bhide recalls watching the women of the house sit together swapping stories, their hands busy shaping the delicate bite-size modaks. “They would share stories of their childhood and talk about their first memories of this dish. It was believed that this was one of the first cooking basics taught to girls. Even if the shape wasn’t good, the modaks would still be cooked,” she says.
They had to be. Modaks, after all, are believed to be Ganesha’s favourite food.
It is no surprise that Bhide grew up with a deep knowledge of Maharashtrian food and a fascination with making perfectly shaped modaks. The assistant lecturer in Pune conducts classes on the art of making these sweets, and she is very particular that her students learn the correct technique.
It is from her that I first learn about the beauty and deliciousness of savoury modaks as witnessed in Modakachi Amti. As I set about attempting to learn more about this unique dish, I soon discovered it wasn’t restricted to the festival. In fact, in many parts of the state, this dish isn’t prepared during the festival but eaten through the year.
Marathi ravioli, anyone?
Food writer and culinary consultant Saee Koranne Khandekar’s well-researched and informative book, Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens, has a recipe for what she calls the Marathi version of ravioli.
‘These are gramflour dumplings stuffed with coconut and coriander and cooked in a ‘spiced’ sauce made with onions and coconut. They are a complete contrast to sweet modaks but every bit as delectable. Made using fresh coconut in the Konkan and dried coconut in the Khandesh and Vidarbha region, this is a dying recipe because of how labour intensive it is, but it is worth preserving!’
Modak Amti is anything but a simple dish. It requires skill and patience and years to practice to get the shape right — too big and they burst when boiled, too thin and the filling seeps through, too thick and they won’t cook evenly. Bhide’s tricks for making a good dish: use a spoonful of maida in the dough to make it pliable, add some gud (jaggery) to temper the spices in the amti, and keep aside some of the stuffing ‘masala’ to mix into the curry.
A search for the origins of this dish takes me to Marathi cooking videos on YouTube, which share detailed recipes and tricks to make what they call Modakachi Bhaji or Masala Modakachi Amti.
There, I learn that Modakachi Amti is a Khandeshi specialty eaten throughout the year but particularly in the summers for its ‘chatpata’ flavour and in winters because of its warming properties.
“This dish came about because of necessity,” says Gitesh Joshi, head chef, Austin40 Café House, Pune. “In hot summer days, the absence of a refrigerator meant vegetables would spoil easily. On days when there were no fresh vegetables, this item was made. It was fun, hearty, and had ingredients commonly found in most kitchens.” The dish, he says, is like patodi ki amti, a simple curry containing rolled and cut out pieces of besan dough.
Joshi grew up in Dhulia or Dhule City in western Khandesh. This ‘teekha modak’ is the most popular item in his house. He lives in a joint family and learned how to make this as a child, watching the women in the house. On lockdown at home, he recently shared his recipe on his new YouTube channel.
Joshi’s recipe is heavy on khopra (dry coconut), a common feature of dishes in the region. He uses coconut in the stuffing — dry roasting it with hing, sesame seeds, goda masala, khus khus, and finely chopped coriander and curry leaves; and in the amti. The dry roasting of coconut with spices and masalas gives a dark colour to the ‘teekhi wali amti’. His modak dough has besan, turmeric, red chilli powder, oil and for some oomph, a little hing. The amti is brought to a boil before the modaks are added in and cooked till they turn opaque. This dish is served with bajre ki bhakri, sliced onions and a wedge of lemon.
The proper way to eat Modakachi Amti is to break the modaks into small pieces, mix them with the rassa (gravy) and then scoop it up with rice or bhakri.
Note that Joshi’s recipe doesn’t use any dal but relies on coconut and onions to give the curry some body. Similarly, other variations of this dish play on the spice levels, swap out dry coconut for fresh coconut (depending on region), and sometimes, include coconut milk for some relief.
A seasonal treat
Pune-based food blogger Aparna Apte Karandikar learned to make Modakachi Amti from her mother, who liked to experiment and often treated the family to dishes from across Maharashtra. Karandikar has carried on that tradition. Her Modak Amti has freshly grated coconut milk for a natural sweetness and to balance the spices, and she adds bajri (pearl millets) for some texture. She sometimes fries the savoury modaks and eats them as a snack. “This can be eaten throughout the year, but it is preferred in winter when you need something hot and spicy. The dish tastes better if eaten a day later when the spices have soaked through,” she says. “I like making it during the Ganpati season because it has modaks.”
Eaten during the festival or not, there’s no denying this is a beloved dish. Because, a modak with any other filling does taste just as sweet.
