The modak gets a makeover!
From mouse cupcakes and mithai pops to peanut butter and chocolate modaks, there’s a lot to choose from while making a sweet offering this Ganesh Chaturthi
It’s that time of the year again, when the elephantheaded God Ganesha is brought to public pandals and homes for the 10-day Ganeshotsav. And apart from the prayer and spirituality with devotees thronging the mandals and performing pujas and aartis, sweetmeats are also a big part of the festive occasion. And in homes and mithai shops across the city, Ganesh’s favourite sweet, the ‘modak’ is also being made in delicious and exotic new flavours and avatars. “I love modaks,” declares actress Tejaswini Kolhapure. “We make the steamed variety at home each year and I hope that tradition always continues.”
NEW MEETS THE OLD Traditional ukadiche (steamed) modaks are stuffed with a generous filling of coconut, jaggery and cardamom powder. But along with the usual varieties in kesar, elaichi and mawa with khoya stuffing, now try mint, orange, cranberry and strawberry fillings as well.
Fusion seems to be the keyword and the traditional modak has got a fun, new twist. Says dessert specialist Neeru Mehra, “People want something new every time, so this time I tried thandai, blueberry, paan, rose as well as brownie and fudge modaks. Also popular is the gold dust modak with a variety of fillings; it’s pricey, but innovative.”
HOW ABOUT MODAK CAKE POPS? “These are easy to do,” says food expert Rakhee Vaswani. “All you need to do is mix the crumbled cake with frosting and set in the mould of modaks and refrigerate. Then take a few lollipop sticks and dip them in melted chocolate, add sprinkles on top and set them. You can place them in jars as bouquets.” She has also replaced the traditional cashew and rice modak to soft truffle center ones. “I also tried date and walnut chocolate modaks, which are low on sugar, plus chewy dark chocolate ones; they’re just as delicious,” she admits.
GOING SUGAR-FREE For calorie-conscious folk there is the sugar-free variety. Says a sweet-vendor from Worli, “So many people are suffering from diabetes and related problems, so we make sweets with a sugar substitute. It’s costlier, for instance a kilo of pista modak will cost a Rs750, but a sugar-free version will cost Rs1,200.”
Another Vile Parle eatery has come up with ‘healthy oats’ modaks that have oats and muti-grain atta. “It is also less sweet and has very little mawa,” says a source.
PRICE CHECK (PER KILO) Peanut butter modak: 15,00 Blueberry and paan modaks:
1,200 - 1,500 Chocolate modak: 400 Mawa modak: 450 Kaju modak: 660 Sugar-free anjeer modak: 950 Sugar-free khajur modak: 850
Tejaswini Kolhapure
Orange flavour
Cupcake theme
Go with chocolate ones too
Modak-shaped cake pops
Anjeer modaks, minus the sugar
Strawberry ones too
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