Wet Coconut Modaks & Karanjees
Wet Coconut Modaks & Karanjees
Cooked, tested & tasted by: Meera Deshpande
Photo credit: Meera Deshpande
List of ingredients:
For the outer covering :
• 1 vati fine Rava and Maida each
• 4 Tbsp Dalda/ Crisco
• Enough milk to moisten and mix the above two
For the saran/ inner filling of modak/ karanjees
• 1 Shredded coconut i.e. 2 vatis (pressed)
• 2 vatis milk
• 1.5 vatis sugar
• 10 elaichis’ powder (cardamom)
• A few cut badaams
• 1 Tbsp rava for saran
• 1 Tbsp khas khas (white poppy seeds)
• Pinch of keshar (saffron)
Procedure:
For the outer covering
1. Mix rava ,maida and dalda.
2. Moisten it with just enough milk.
3. Cover it with a lid and leave it for three hours.
4. Then beat it up with a khalbatta so that it becomes real soft.
5. The grains of the rava should disappear and it should be a soft and homogenous mass.
6. Keep it covered so that it does not dry out.
For the saran/ inner filling of the modak/ karanjees
7. Boil milk in a right sized vessel.
8. Add the shredded coconut to it. Stir till it thickens i.e. all the milk should evaporate.
9. Then add sugar to this mixture and continue cooking on slow fire.
10. Let the sugar coagulate fully.
11. Then add one Tbsp. roasted rava and mix well.
12. Add khas khas and elaichi powder. Mix well.
13. Add keshar soaked in very little warm milk. Mix well.
14. Let this all cool to room temperature.
For the Karanjees
15. Make a small ball of about 1 cm. diameter with the outer covering.
16. Smear it with maida (all purpose flour) and roll it out into a circular shape.
17. It should be large enough to slightly overflow out of the karanjeecha sacha (mould).
18. Sprinkle some dry maida into the mould and place the rolled out outer covering in it to check the size.
19. Always keep the main source of the outer covering covered so that it does not dry out.
20. Gently pat half of the rolled out outer covering into the mould.
21. Gently fill it with the saran. Press the saran down so that it is compacted and the mould is dense with it.
22. Fold over the second half of the outer covering over the saran.
23. Apply some warm milk on the edges and press them together so as to seal the karanjees.
24. You can articulate and strengthen the sealed edge with your fingers. Be creative.
25. Place it on a plate and cover it with a thin piece of cloth so that it remains moist.
26. Repeat steps 15 to 25 to make about 5-7 raw karanjees. Cover them all with a piece of cloth.
27. Turn the gas on. Place a kadahi on it and add enough dalda in it so that you can deep fry one karanjee at a time on slow fire. You can also fry more than one at a time, but this will need a lot of Dalda and a skillful hand to juggle them all without getting any dark brown spots. Let the dalda melt fully.
28. To check if it is the right temperature add a pinch of raw outer covering to it. When it bubbles and floats the dalda is ready for frying the karanjees.
29. Fry the first batch of karanjees, one at a time, or more if the kadahi is large.
30. Shut the gas and then make the next batch of raw karanjees. Then fry them.
31. Keep doing this till you finish all the outer covering and saran.
32. Once ready, show navedya to God.
33. Then eat it at room temperature.
34. Before boxing them make sure they have fully cooled off.
For the Modaks
35. Basic steps are same but the shape is different. No mould is required as everything is shaped with hands.
Notes/ Tips
1. This is a very special Maharashtrian sweet. It is made during Ganpati utsav and other festive occasions such as Diwali, weddings etc.
2. To make it efficiently and fast, work as a assembly line i.e. one person should make polis, second person should fill it with saran and a third person should fry it.
x--------------------x
नक्की बनतील
ReplyDeleteThanks Meera for trying out this recipe and sharing user friendly images . Great job !
ReplyDeleteVery good
ReplyDeleteSnehalata fadnavis
Wow kaku khayla yava lagel
ReplyDeleteWow Mami mast
ReplyDelete