Ingredients
Makes 14 modaks. Scale using the Modak Calculator. Tap any ingredient to tick it off.
Method
Make the coconut mixture
Combine desiccated coconut and condensed milk in a pan over low heat. Stir continuously for 6–8 minutes until the mixture comes together, leaves the sides of the pan, and holds shape when pressed. Add cardamom and rose water off heat.
Divide and colour
Divide the mixture in half. Leave one half white. Add pink food colour (or beetroot juice) to the other half and mix thoroughly until evenly coloured.
Layer in mould
In a greased silicone modak mould, press a thin layer of pink mixture first into the mould. Then fill the rest with white mixture. Close and press firmly. The two colours will create a striped effect when unmoulded.
Refrigerate to set
Refrigerate 45 minutes to 1 hour. The mixture sets firm quickly due to the sugar in the condensed milk crystallising as it cools.
Unmould and serve
Unmould carefully — the pink and white stripes are revealed. Serve at room temperature. Coconut ice modak can also be served cold for a refreshing effect.
Tips & Variations
Coconut ice is a British confection made with desiccated coconut and condensed milk — ingredients that arrived in Britain through the Indian colonial trade. Reshaped as a modak, it returns to India in a form that honours both traditions simultaneously.
Beetroot juice (1–2 tsp) gives soft pink. Rose water tinted with a tiny amount of red food colour. A few drops of pomegranate juice. All give slightly different shades of pink.
Replace condensed milk with 80ml regular milk + 60g icing sugar. Heat until the sugar dissolves completely, then proceed. Less rich but still delicious and more accessible to those avoiding concentrated dairy.
About This Recipe
Coconut ice modak is a cultural artefact — the Anglo-Indian confection reshaped as a Hindu sacred offering. Coconut ice itself is a British sweet made with the desiccated coconut that came from India and the condensed milk that was a Victorian-era British invention. In modak form, it travels full circle: back to India, back to Ganesha, in the shape it was always destined for.