Ingredients
Makes 12 modaks. Scale using the Modak Calculator. Tap any ingredient to tick it off.
Method
Bloom the saffron
For shell: dissolve ¼ tsp saffron in 2 tbsp warm milk for 10+ minutes. For filling: smaller amount in 1 tsp warm milk. Longer blooming = deeper colour and flavour. The milk turns vivid orange-gold.
Make the saffron filling
Make standard coconut-jaggery filling. Off heat, slightly cooled but still warm — stir in saffron milk, pistachio, cardamom, nutmeg. Filling turns warm golden. Cool completely.
Make the saffron dough
Boil water with salt, ghee, and bloomed saffron milk — the water will be golden-orange. Add rice flour at once off heat, stir, rest 5 min. Knead 2–3 min. Dough will be vivid golden-fragrant.
Shape with saffron garnish
25g portions. After shaping each modak, press 2–3 saffron strands gently into the peak. They set into the shell during steaming.
Steam and finish
10–12 minutes on banana leaf. The saffron fragrance during steaming is extraordinary. After steaming, add a small pinch of chopped pistachio to each peak.
Tips & Variations
Kashmiri Mongra grade for best flavour. Iranian for most intense colour. Both excellent. Increase to ½ tsp saffron for a deeper golden colour on the shell.
With golden shell, saffron fragrance, and pistachio garnish — 12 keshar modaks in a gold box make an extraordinary Ganesh Chaturthi gift.
About This Recipe
A saffron modak on the puja plate is a statement: this offering is made with the best that exists. The visual effect — small golden domes, red saffron strands at the peak — is remarkable. The fragrance from a freshly steamed batch is one of the most beautiful smells in Indian cooking.