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The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is here and India gears up to bring Lord Ganesha home today. The 10-day long extravaganza commences today i.e. September 10 and will end on the 19th of this month. One of the most significant festivals among the Hindus, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with lot of enthusiasm by fans and followers of Lord Ganesha. Devotees bring the idol of their beloved deity home and organise pujas for him. Food is undoubtedly an important part of the festival as well since people prepare many decadent sweets to offer Ganesha in the puja ritual. These sweets are offered to him as bhog. And while one can offer any sweet of choice, modak is the star of the festivity. The dumpling delight is known to be Lord Ganesha's favourite sweet and is thus prepared in large quantities everywhere.
Modak is primarily made from rice flour and stuffed with a sweet mixture of coconut, jaggery, nutmeg and saffron. But people have also started to experiment and you can get chocolate, dry fruits and many other types of modaks too. But have you ever tried the south Indian-style modak? Kozhukatta is a popular prasad in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which much like modak, is made of rice flour dough and coconut-jaggery stuffing. However, one can always experiment with the stuffing.
How To Make South Indian Style Modak At Home
While making modak at home isn’t such a tough task, Kozhukatta can be a bit tricky for anyone trying it for the first time. From kneading a smooth dough to the stuffing and finally to assembling and steaming, one can divide the process. You first need to mix rice flour with water, ghee and salt on flame and let it cool down completely before kneading the dough. Meanwhile, you can make the stuffing by mixing coconut, jaggery, cardamom and cashews together in another wok until they dry up. Let it cool while you come back to the dough and knead it smoothly to make dough balls. Then all you need is to place the coconut-jaggery stuffing at the centre of each dough ball, press and seal well. Steam and Kozhukatta is ready to be offered to Lord Ganesha.
The difference between modak and kozhukatta could be just about the shape and certain ingredients, since the latter does not include saffron and nutmeg.
Find the full recipe here. Try it out and share your experience with us.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!
