Ganeshotsav 2026: How to make soft, tasty ukadiche modak at home

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Bappa's arrival is near, and every household has begun preparing his favourite offering, the modak. Modak is considered Ganpati's most beloved sweet, and among its varieties, the ukadiche modak, made with a soft rice-flour covering and stuffed with a fragrant jaggery-coconut filling, holds a special place in Maharashtra's traditional food culture.

Two things matter most while making ukadiche modak: kneading the ukad (steamed rice-flour dough) correctly and keeping the modak's outer covering thin. If the ukad is prepared with the right amount of water and kneaded well while still hot, the covering comes together easily. Here is a simple, traditional Maharashtrian method for making soft and tasty ukadiche modak at home.

For the ukad, you need one cup of fine rice flour, one cup of water, a teaspoon of ghee and a pinch of salt. For the filling, you need one cup of freshly grated coconut, three-quarters cup of chopped or grated jaggery, a teaspoon of ghee, half a teaspoon of cardamom powder, a little nutmeg powder and a teaspoon of poppy seeds to taste.

First, heat ghee in a pan and add the grated coconut and jaggery. Keep stirring the mixture on low heat. Once the jaggery melts and the mixture thickens slightly, add the cardamom and nutmeg powder. Do not cook the filling for too long, or it can turn dry.

Next, take a cup of water in a vessel, add ghee and salt, and let it come to a boil. Once the water boils well, lower the flame. Add the rice flour to the boiling water all at once and immediately cover the vessel. Let the flour steam-cook, covered, for about one to two minutes, then mix the mixture thoroughly with a spoon.

While the ukad is still a little warm, apply water or ghee to your hands and knead it until soft. Make sure there are no lumps in the ukad, as the softer and more pliable it is, the better the modak's covering will turn out. Take a small portion of the ukad, flatten it into a round on your palm, and use your fingers to make the covering as thin as possible. Create fine pleats along the edge of the covering and fill the centre with the filling.

After filling, bring all the pleats of the covering together to seal the modak's tip and shape it like the traditional modak peak. Prepare all the modaks this way. Heat water in a modak steamer, apply a little ghee on the strainer or on modak leaves, place the modaks on it, and steam them on medium heat for about ten to fifteen minutes. When the modak's covering looks slightly translucent and glossy, the modaks are ready.

To make perfect modaks, use fine, good-quality rice flour for the ukad, and getting the water quantity right is very important. Kneading the ukad before it cools completely makes it softer. Keep the covering thin, as a thinner covering makes the modak look more delicate. Do not overcook the jaggery in the filling, or it can turn hard. While steaming the modaks, make sure there is a continuous supply of steam. The taste is enhanced further if the finished modaks are topped with a little ghee and offered warm as naivedya.

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