JOIN USUkdiche modaks
Ingredients: A cup of rice; a cup of grated coconut; ¾ cup of jaggery (grated or powdered); 3 to 4 cardamom pods (powdered); oil or ghee and a pinch of salt.
Method: Wash the raw rice, dry it on a cloth and grind it to a dry flour. For the filling, melt the jaggery, and add coconut and cardamom powder to it. Cook till the mixture comes together and take it off the heat. Boil a cup of water and add a tbsp of oil and pinch of salt to it. Once the water starts boiling, add the rice flour and mix it well till it forms a dough. Take it off the heat. After 5 minutes, transfer it to a plate and knead the dough by hand. Grease your palms with ghee or oil and flatten balls of dough on your palms. Place a spoonful of the filling on them and close in to a modak shape. Steam these in a steamer. Serve hot with ghee.
(Courtesy: Vaidehi Durve)
Rishi Panchamichi Bhaji
Ingredients: One bunch of chopped colocasia or alu leaves (the thin variety); a bunch of red amaranth leaves or lal math; a cup of red pumpkin (diced); a cup of bitter gourd (diced); a cup of ridge gourd (diced); 3 to four okras (diced); 1 raw banana (chopped); a handful of corn kernels or diced corn cobs; a handful of peanuts; 2 or 3 green chillies (chopped); a tsp of cumin seeds; 2 tbsps of grated coconut; some kokum and jaggery (soaked in water); salt to taste and oil for cooking.
Method: Heat oil in a kadai and add cumin seeds and green chillies and sauté them. Now add the colocasia leaves and lal math and sauté them lightly before adding the rest of vegetables along with the peanuts and corn. Sprinkle the salt and cover the kadai and let the vegetables cook in their own juices. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the grated coconut and the jaggery-kokum mixture. Adjust the seasoning and turn off the heat. Serve hot.
(Courtesy: Surekha Sawant)
Patolya
Ingredients: A kilo of rice (washed, dried and powdered); a cup of jaggery (grated or powdered); one coconut (grated); 3 to 4 cardamom pods (powdered); 5 to 6 fresh turmeric leaves, oil or ghee and a pinch of salt.
Method: Take the powdered rice, and sift it to remove the lumps. Now heat two cups of water, add a pinch of salt and a dollop of ghee to it. Now gradually add the rice flour and mix till it forms a dough. Take it off the heat. Grease your palms and work the dough till it is smooth. To make the filling, melt some jaggery in a pan, and add the grated coconut along with powdered cardamom and a dollop of ghee.
Cook the mixture well and take it off the heat. Now grease the turmeric leaves with ghee. Take a leaf and pat a small amount of the dough onto it to make a thick layer. Now place a spoonful of the jaggery-coconut filling and close the leaf. Follow the same procedure for the rest of the patolayas. Steam these in a steamer. Serve hot.
(Courtesy: Shubha Tambe)