Fried Modak or Talniche Modak

Here is the recipe for my favorite sweet: Modak.

This is the most common sweet made in Maharashtra as part of Ganapati celebrations. My favorite god being Ganapati, I love his sweets too;) I wanted to make this on the first day of His arrival during the festival but this time we had to skip it due to some family reasons. So I made it on Anant chaturthi i.e. today.

Ingredients
Outside dough:
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
2 tbsps rava
1 tbsp ghee
A pinch of salt

Filling:
1 cup grated coconut( I used fresh one)
1 cup jaggery(I grated it)
1 tbsp poppy seeds(roasted)
1 tbsp cashewnuts(make small pieces)
1 tsp elaichi powder (i used about 6 cardamoms )

First prepare the dough by taking the flour, 1 tbsp ghee, rava and water. Make a medium consistency dough with it, cover it with a wet kitchen paper towel and keep it aside for atleast 15 mts.

Next, prepare the filling. On a medium flame, add about 1 tsp ghee and saute coconut lightly for about 1 min. Then, add the grated jaggery till just about it starts to melt. Switch off the gas and add the elaichi powder, cashews, poppy seeds and mix well and let it cool down. Dont heat too much initially else when it cools down, it will harden.

Finally, make small round pieces using the dough, I used a round cutter to make equal pieces to get equal sized modaks. Add the filling in each after pinching around the round pieces and close the individual modaks. Deep fry these on medium flame till golden brown so that they cook evenly.
This recipe made 26 modaks. I still have some remaining dough but the filling got over.

I kept 21 modaks for naivedya.

Enjoy!!!

Moong Dal Ladoo

1 cup moong dal
1/2 cup sugar
Dry coconut - Based on taste, I used 1/4 cup or less
Dry fruits -cashews, almonds, pistachios
Elaichi - 2
Ghee - 5-10 tbsps

Roast whole green mung dal on pan on medium flame for 10 mts. No oil or ghee required for this.
Next grind this in mixer and also add the elaichi in the same.
Ground it till fine or as much as you want your ladoo to taste :)

Next take 2 tbps ghee in pan, add coconut, dry fruits and lightly saute.
Remove from flame and add to the grounded mung mixture.

Powder sugar in mixer and also add this to the above mixture.
Add fresh ghee to the mixture as much as required to make round undos or ladoos..!

Attitude !!!

Author unknown

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. “Well,” she said, “I think I’ll braid my hair today!”

So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

“H-M-M,” she said, “I think I’ll part my hair down the middle today!”

So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.

“Well,” she said, “today I’m going to wear my hair in a pony tail.”

So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn’t a single hair on her head.

“YEA!” she exclaimed, “I don’t have to fix my hair today!”

Attitude is everything.

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly…..

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

Recipe for Tila Undo (Tillgull)

Come Makar Sankranthi and I remember Tila Undo. I have always loved mom's homemade tila undo but hadnt tried preparing it. This time I tried it and it did come out well.
So here's the recipe. Hope it turns out well...I must say its the most easiest undo I've made till date :)

Ingredients:
Chikki Jaggery(Sticky Jaggery) - 1/4 kg
Sesame seeds - 1/4 kg
Groundnuts(polished) - 2 tbsps/taste
Dalia - 2 tbsps/taste

1. Roast the sesame seeds in a heated pan. No oil required. As soon as they start spluttering or popping up, remove in another dish.
2. Next roast the groundnuts and dalia separately and remove them from the gas and keep along with the sesame.
3. In another vessel/pan, take 2 tbsps of water and heat the jaggery in it. I didnt know which is the chikki jaggery here so I used the regular jaggery which I had(looked like a small mount). Heat this jaggery, till the time it melts. To test if its done, take a drop of the hot jaggery and put it in a glass of water. If it hardens immediately, that means the jaggery is done, else continue heating it. If you like harder tila undos, dont add water while melting the jaggery.
4. Once jaggery is ready, turn off the gas, and add the other roasted ingredients well.
5.Grease your hands with ghee and start making small round tila undo. After some time, if the mixture starts getting harder, heat the mixture again with little ghee for 2-3 minutes and prepare undos.
Yummy Tila Undos are ready to savour!!!