Modakachi Amti (Stuffed dumpling curry)

This is a family recipe passed down for several generations. My aunt used to make it whenever we visited them in Mumbai. Her apartment was in a nice neighborhood, very close to Shivaji Park. The Gypsy restaurant, which was one of our favorite places to eat in Dadar and a great place to catch celebrity sightings, was just steps away. Visits to my aunt's place meant delicious food made by her, watching Bollywood movies in the afternoon and enjoying tea - morning and evening - on their charming balcony overlooking a surprisingly quiet street. Not to mention walking over to the kulfi vendor for some amazing late night pistachio and malai kulfi.

I always wanted to learn to make this recipe and finally got a chance to make it together with my aunt! The end result was as delicious as I remember it from decades ago.

First you make the dough for the modak (dumplings) and keep it aside for an hour. Meanwhile you make the filling for the modak. Part of the filling would be ground to a fine paste that would form the base of the curry.

To start with, make the dough out of whole wheat flour and besan (chickpea flour) and set aside.

 Combine dry, roasted and shredded coconut and sesame seeds to make the filling.

Add spices, cilantro and lemon juice to the filling mixture.

Put on your favorite music (this step takes time) and make small modak from the dough and filling.

    

Ta-da!

Serves 4-5. Makes about 25 modak.

You will need

For the dough:

whole wheat flour              1 1/2 cups
chickpea flour AKA besan 3/4 cup
oil                                      2 tbsp

turmeric                            1 tsp

red chilli powder              1 tsp

salt                                    2 tsp

For the filling:

dried shredded coconut    1 1/2 cups
sesame seeds                  3/4 cup

cilantro                             1 cup

lemon juice                       2 tbsp

Spices to taste:

red chilli powder, salt, sugar, asafetida (hing), black masala, cumin powder, turmeric

For the curry:

Jaggery and amsool or tamarind to taste.

Method:

1. Dry roast the coconut on a pan and set aside to cool.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the dough. Combine everything while adding just enough water to form a firm dough. Set aside for an hour at least
3. Pulse grind the sesame seeds just until they are a bit broken but NOT ground to a powder.
4. Combine the roasted coconut, roughly ground sesame seeds and all the spices for the filling. At this point you could store this mixture in the fridge and use within a week. Great way to make-ahead a part of this recipe.
5. Add the cilantro and lemon juice to the filling mixture.
6. Set aside about 3/4 cup of the mixture to make the curry base.
7. Make small balls of the dough. Take a ball, make a flat disc out of it with your fingers such that the outer edge is thin. Put a teaspoon of the filling in the center. Pinch the dough 6-7 times on the side and bring the edges together to form a modak. Refer to the picture above. Repeat for the rest of the dough balls.
8. Take the filling mixture set aside in step 6, grind it to a fine paste in your blender. 
9. Add 2 cups water to the above paste and bring it to a simmer in a pot. Add all the modak to this curry. Adjust salt and spice levels. Add some jaggery and amsool or tamarind for sourness.
10. Let the modak cook for about 10 mins. They are done when firm.
11. Serve hot with rice or chapatis.