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Tri-Color Modak

Steamed modak or kozhukkatta made with coconut and jaggery stuffing wrapped with coconut and jaggery, popular during Ganesh Chaturti.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Indian
Servings 7 Pieces

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Rice Flour
  • 2 tbsp Milk
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1/2 tsp Ghee
  • 1 tsp Poppy Seeds
  • 1 Cup Shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup Jaggery
  • Green food color
  • Orange food color

Instructions
 

  • Heat up water in a medium sized pan
  • Add milk, salt and ghee and bring it to a boil
  • Once it starts boiling, turn off the gas and add the rice flour
  • Mix it well with a spatula till everything is combined well
  • Keep it covered for 10 minutes or till you are done preparing the filling
  • Heat up another pan on medium heat and add in the poppy seeds
  • Dry roast the poppy seeds for about 1 to 2 minutes. Make sure you don't burn them!
  • Add in the shredded coconut and dry roast till its about slightly brown in color.
  • Add in the jaggery and keep roasting it for 5 to 7 minutes
  • Add 1 tbsp of water in between to make the filling slightly wet
  • Let the filling cool down
  • Take the dough into a clean plate and start kneading it for 7 to 8 minutes
  • If the dough is too sticky, rub some ghee on your hands for kneading
  • Divide the dough into three equal portions, one for each color
  • Add orange gel food color into one of the portions and knead it till the color is mixed in well
  • Repeat the above with green gel food color with the 2nd portion of the dough
  • Leave the third portion as it is. Now you have three colors
  • Start making smaller 1 inch size balls from each of the dough portions. You should get around 7 to 8 balls for each color
  • Take one ball of each color and press them together as shown in video, with no gaps in between any of the three different balls. This step will require some practice so make sure you check out the video
  • Once the dough is somewhat pressed out flat and thin, fold and pinch along the edges to make a form of dip in the center.
  • Add in the filling and close up the dough by pinching the top of the folds to the center
  • Now the modak is ready to be steam cooked
  • Bunch up some aluminum foil into three small balls and place it in a deep pan. The foil balls are kept to give some clearance between the bottom of the pan and the modak
  • Add in an inch of water to the pan
  • Grease a plate with ghee and place the modaks on it. Place this on the aluminum foil. If you want, you can improvise a steamer like what I did by poking holes on aluminum foil, wrapped around an Instant Pot wire roasting rack, and placing the modak on it
  • Close the pan with a lid and steam the modak on medium heat for 20 minutes. Do not steam at high heat
  • After 20 minutes, take the modaks out. Drizzle some ghee on it and serve it hot.
Keyword kozhukkatta, modak, rice flour, tiranga, tri-color
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