Chocolate modak is the new-generation prasad — the sweet that appeared in festival thalis barely a generation ago and now refuses to leave. It keeps everything that matters about the original idea: the pleated, peaked modak shape, pressed in the same little mould, and the soft, fudge-like bite of a mawa sweet. What changes is the flavour. Cocoa worked into warm khoya turns the familiar milk sweet deep brown and faintly bittersweet, somewhere between a peda and a truffle, and it is precisely the modak that children reach for first and ask for again in October. There is no steaming and no frying here — the mixture is cooked for a few minutes, pressed into the mould, and chilled until it holds its shape. If the traditional sweets on the thali are for Bappa, these, if the family is honest, are also a little bit for themselves.
Ingredients
Method
- Keep the modak mould, a small bowl of ghee and a plate for the finished sweets ready before you start. Sift the cocoa powder if it is lumpy — lumps of cocoa are almost impossible to smooth out once they are inside the mixture.
- Heat the ghee in a heavy, non-stick pan on the lowest heat. Crumble in the mawa and cook, stirring and mashing continuously, for 5 to 6 minutes. The mawa will soften, turn glossy and come together into a loose mass that moves as one piece when you stir. It should not brown or catch at the base.
- Take the pan off the heat for a moment. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and cardamom, and mix vigorously until the colour is an even, deep chocolate brown with no pale streaks. The sugar will loosen the mixture slightly — that is expected.
- Return the pan to low heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, stirring without stopping, until the mixture thickens into a soft dough and leaves the sides of the pan cleanly. It is done when a small pinch, cooled for a few seconds, can be rolled into a smooth ball that does not stick to your fingers.
- Tip the mixture onto a plate and let it cool for 8 to 10 minutes, until it is just warm and comfortable to handle. Do not mould it hot — the modaks will slump — and do not let it go cold, or it will crumble as you press.
- Grease the inside of the modak mould lightly with ghee. Take a portion of the mixture, press it firmly into the mould so every pleat is filled, level off the base, close and press once more, then open the mould and ease the modak out. Repeat with the rest of the mixture — you should get about 12.
- Arrange the modaks on a plate, press a few chopped pistachios or almonds onto the top of each if you are garnishing, and refrigerate for 30 minutes so they firm up and the pleats set sharply. Serve at room temperature.