Modak Curry

Name: Modak Curry
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Maharashtra)
Ingredients: 1.5 cups (200 g) rice flour, fine-ground; ½ tsp salt; 1.5 cups (360 ml) boiling water; 1 tsp ghee; 2 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed; ½ cup (80 g) green peas, boiled; 1 tbsp oil; 1 tsp cumin; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste; ½ tsp turmeric; 1 tsp red chilli powder; ½ tsp goda masala; salt; 2 tbsp oil; 1 tsp mustard seeds; 8 curry leaves; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 1 medium tomato, chopped; 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste; ½ tsp turmeric; 1 tsp chilli powder; ½ tsp goda masala; ½ cup fresh grated coconut, blended with 200 ml water and strained for coconut milk; 1 tsp tamarind paste; 1 tsp jaggery; 1 tsp salt; 200 ml water; The rice dough must be made with genuinely boiling water — warm water won't hydrate the rice flour properly and the shells will crack when shaped; Shape the modaks quickly while the dough is warm — cold rice dough cracks; Add modaks to simmering (not boiling) gravy, and cook on low — hard boiling breaks the rice shells

🟢 Veg📊 Hard

Savoury rice flour modaks filled with a spiced potato-pea stuffing, simmered in a thin, fragrant Maharashtrian coconut-tamarind gravy. The festival modak transformed into a complete dinner dish — rare but profoundly satisfying when made.

⏱️45 minPrep

🔥30 minCook

🕒75 minTotal

🍽️4Serves

🧺 Ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to make Modak Curry

Heat oil. Fry onion 6 minutes golden. Add ginger-garlic paste — fry 1 min. Add masalas — stir 30 seconds. Add mashed potato and peas — mix well. Season. Cool.
Make rice dough (No heat): Pour boiling water over rice flour and salt. Add ghee. Mix quickly with a wooden spoon. Knead when cool enough to handle into a smooth, pliable dough. Divide into 16 portions.
Shape modaks (No heat): Flatten a dough portion into a 7 cm disc on a wet palm. Cup in hand. Place 1 heaped tsp stuffing in the centre. Pleat the edges by pinching and folding upwards to create the characteristic modak shape — 10–12 small pleats converging to a topknot. Seal firmly.
Steam modaks (Heat: medium-high): Steam modaks in a greased steamer basket for 10–12 minutes until rice shells are cooked through (no longer raw-looking and slightly translucent). Remove carefully.
Build gravy (Heat: medium): Heat oil. Crackle mustard and curry leaves. Fry onion 7 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste — fry 2 min. Add tomato — cook 4 min. Add masalas — stir 30 sec. Add coconut milk, water, tamarind, jaggery and salt. Simmer 8 minutes until gravy is slightly thickened and fragrant.
Add modaks and serve: Gently lower steamed modaks into the simmering gravy. Simmer on low for 5 minutes — the modaks will absorb a little gravy and the shells soften slightly. Serve 3–4 modaks per person with generous gravy ladled over.

📖 Cultural notes

|---|---|---|---|---| | 380 kcal | 7 g | 56 g | 14 g | 5 g | Sweet modak is the sacred offering to Lord Ganesha during Ganesh Chaturthi — Maharashtra's greatest festival. The savoury modak curry is a home cook's creative adaptation of the festival food into a complete dinner. Made in coastal Maharashtra households on the day after Chaturthi (when there is leftover rice dough), it represents the Maharashtrian art of making something spectacular from simple ingredients. ---

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