Chocolate Modak Recipe / Ganesh Chaturthi Special

Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is a Hindu festival which is celebrated as birth anniversary of Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha is worshipped as the god of wisdom , prosperity and good fortune. The 10 day long festival starts on the 4th day of Hindu luni-solar calendar month Bhadrapada. This year it will fall on 25th Aug , Friday. 

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with great devotion all over India. People bring home murtis (idols) of Lord Ganesha and celebrate the festival by worshipping the lord in a special way for a day and a half, 3 days, 5 days, 7 days or 11 days depending on the family tradition and commitment of each individual. On the last day of worship the idol is taken out in a colorful and musical procession to be immersed traditionally at water bodies like river or beach.

We have Lord Ganesha for 5 days at my place during the festivity. There is an atmosphere of enthusiasm and excitement days before the arrival of lord Ganesha. The entire house is cleaned and decorated. A Makhar ( throne) for Ganesha is prepared. The place is decorated with flowers, lighting and rangoli. And last but not the least is a long list of food items that is prepared to be offered to Ganesha during this 5 days. Onion garlic free satvik food is cooked during the entire festival and is offered to lord before consuming it.

Last year's pic of Ganesh Chaturthi at my place

To please Lord Ganesha , various kind of  food is offered as Naivedhyam during the Pooja. Modak and Ladoo are supposed to be Lord Ganesha's favorite sweets. Traditionally we make Ukadiche Modak which are steamed rice flour dumplings stuffed with fresh scrapped coconut, jaggery and nuts , every year on Ganesh Chaturthi. Apart from this , i also offer Talniche Modak ( Fried Modak) for arti on all 5 days during the festival. Last year apart from these two types of modak , i prepared Chhena Modak (Paneer Modak) which was a big hit at my place. The recipe also got featured in Indian Express. This year i have planned to make chocolate modak . So tried out this easy recipe using khoya. The modak came out to be far more better than my expectation. Now that i have already tried it , making them again on Ganesh Chaturthi would be an easy task.

Chocolate Modak is a chocolate flavored rich and delicious modak which can be made easily at home and offered to lord on Ganesh Chaturthi. The recipe calls for use of  just three ingredients - milk solids (khoya) , unsweetened cocoa powder and sugar. If you have khoya ready at hand, then these tasty treats can be ready withing 30 minutes. If you are also cautious regarding adulteration of khoya and prefer making it home, you may prepare the khoya a day ahead. Get the link to the recipe of home made khoya here. You can also make these modak ahead of the pooja day as it stays good for 1-2 days at room temperature and about 1 week on refrigeration. These chocolate modak are perfect treats for kids during the festivity. They are soft and chewy, have grainy texture and they just melt-in-the-mouth. To give a bite and crunch to the other wise soft modak , i have stuffed them with chopped nuts (almonds and pistachio). This step is purely optional. I have used a mould to shape the modak. If you do not have a mould, you can make round balls and flatten slightly to make chocolate peda. 

  Sending this recipe to #106th #FoodieMondayBlogHop where the theme for this week is #GaneshChaturthiRecipes.

 Preparation Time: 15 minutes

 Cooking Time : 15 minutes

 Serves : 12 medium sized modak

Ingredients:

• 200 grams khoya / milk solids
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 2 tablespoon unsweetened coco powder 
• 2 tablespoon chopped nuts of your choice - optional (i have used almonds and pistachios)

Method:

1. Heat a heavy bottom non-stick wok with khoya and sugar . Keep stirring the mixture on low to medium heat.

  2. Sugar will melt and the mixture will become runny. Keep cooking for 7-8 minutes or until the khoya sugar mixture begins to leave the sides of the wok.

  3. Add coco powder and mix well. Cook the mixture again for 4-5 minutes on low heat. Put off the flame.

  4. Remove the mixture onto a plate to cool down for 2-3 minutes. Once the mix is cool enough to handle divide it into 12 equal portions. 

  5. Chop the nuts of your choice into small bits. I have used almonds and pistachios. Stuffing the chocolate modak with nuts is purely optional. I love the bite the nuts give to the soft chewy modaks.

  6. Shape the chocolate dough into a ball shape using your palms. Flatten it slightly and press it in the centre with the thumb. Fill it with chopped nuts and close the ball again.

  7. Keep the nut stuffed chocolate ball in the centre of the greased modak mould and close the other two ends. Now press the dough from the hole at the lower side.

  8. Apply light pressure on the mould and then open it. The chocolate dough will get a beautiful cone shape with pleat marks . Repeat the same with rest of the chocolate dough.

  9. Offer the delicious chocolate modak to lord Ganesha and then enjoy it as prasad. Traditionally 11 or 21 modaks are offered to Ganesha. 

  Notes:

• Cardamom powder  can be used to flavor the chocolate modak.
• If you do not have a modak mould, just make round ball of the chocolate mava dough and lightly flatten it and enjoy as chocolate peda.
• Stuffing the modak with chopped nuts id purely optional. 

   I hope you would love to try out these easy and delicious chocolate modak this ganesh Chaturthi. If you do so, please feel free to share your valuable feed back with us.

For more Ganesh Chaturthi Recipes, check my posts on

• Ukadiche Modak

Ukadiche Modak

• Fried Modak

Fried Modak

• Chhena Modak

Chhena Modak

• 21 Veggie Stir Fry

21 veggie Stir Fry

• Pudachi Karanji / Layered Gujiya

Layered Gujiya

• Dates and Nuts Ladoo

Dates and Nuts Ladoo

• South Indian Tamarind Rice / Puliyodharai

Tamarind Rice