History

Modak is Lord Ganesh's favoured offering and Maharashtra's signature festival sweet, a steamed rice-flour dumpling filled with jaggery and fresh coconut. Mumbai's sweet shops fire up modak production through the 10 days of Ganesh Chaturthi in August or September, when families order trays for daily home-puja and the visarjan procession. Chitale Bandhu and Prakash in Dadar are the canonical sources.

Common allergens: Coconut

Make it at home

Yield Makes 12 modakHands-on 45 minTotal 80 minDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 200g fresh coconut, grated
  • 150g jaggery, grated
  • 2 teaspoons cardamom powder
  • 1 tablespoon ghee
  • 200g rice flour (preferably soft rice flour)
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon ghee for dough
  • Banana leaves or muslin cloth for steaming

Method

  1. Heat ghee in a pan. Add jaggery, stir until melted. Add grated coconut and cook 4 minutes until the mixture comes together.
  2. Add cardamom powder, stir 30 seconds, remove from heat and cool.
  3. Boil 250ml water with salt and 1 teaspoon ghee. Remove from heat, add rice flour all at once, mix.
  4. Cover and rest 5 minutes. Knead the dough while warm into a smooth ball (oil your hands).
  5. Divide dough into 12 balls. Flatten each into a 4-inch disc with greased fingers.
  6. Place 1 tablespoon coconut filling in the centre of each disc.
  7. Pinch the edges into pleats and pull to a peak at the top, sealing in the filling.
  8. Steam over boiling water in a banana leaf-lined steamer 10 to 12 minutes.
  9. Serve warm with a drizzle of ghee.

Tip from the editors. Work fast with the dough; it dries quickly. If it cracks, dip your fingers in water and smooth before pleating.

Where to eat modak

Modak in Mumbai

Sardar Pav Bhaji ★ 4.6

Street food$tardeoDaily 12:00-00:00

Sardar charges INR 150 for the canonical Mumbai pav bhaji. Cheese version runs INR 200; counter service is faster than table service at busy lunch hours.

Try: Pav bhaji

Order: Pav bhaji with extra butter and a sweet lassi.

Tip: Counter service is fastest; ask for the extra-butter version.

166-A Tardeo Main Road Junction, Tardeo, Mumbai 400034

Soam ★ 4.1

Gujarati and Maharashtrian$$chowpattyDaily 11:30-22:30

Soam is opposite babulnath temple, away from chowpatty's tourist bhel carts; pinki dixit cooks the home-style gujarati menu locals send friends to find.

Why locals love it: Opposite Babulnath Temple, away from Chowpatty's tourist bhel carts; Pinki Dixit cooks the home-style Gujarati menu locals send friends to find.

Tip: Saat dana khichdi is the dish to order. Cash and card both accepted.

Sadguru Sadan, Ground Floor, Babulnath Road, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400007

Cream Centre ★ 4.2

Indian$$chowpattyDaily 11:30-23:30

Cream Centre opened at Chowpatty Seaface in 1958 as a vegetarian sweets and snacks counter. The channa bhatura is the canonical dish; the hot fudge sundae.

Signature: Channa bhatura, Sizzler, Hot fudge sundae

Order: Channa bhatura with a Spanish omelette sizzler and a hot fudge sundae.

Tip: Family-friendly with a high-chair stock; weekday lunches are quietest.

25/B Chowpatty Seaface, Chowpatty, Girgaon, Mumbai 400007

More cities are in research. Want modak covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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