Rice modak or akki hittina kadabu

People celebrate the fifth day of full moon in Shravana month as ‘Nagara Panchami’, a day dedicated for the worship of serpents. According to Tuluva calculations, Nagara Panchami comes at the end of Ashadha and in the beginning of Shravana month. It is one of the key festivals of Dravidian culture. For more information click here.

We don't fry or roast anything while cooking. Every dish prepared on this day is baked or steam cooked. One of the main dishs made is the rice modak or popularly know as patolleo or paathoLi in Goa and akki hittina kadabu in Karnataka. It's made on turmeric or banana leaf.

The difficult part in the preparation is the making of the rice dough with proper consistency.

Ingredients: -

For the rice dough: -

2 cups Rice flour

1.5 cups of water

Salt

Oil

For the hurna/stuffing: -

Sweet: -

1 cup of grated coconut

3/4 cup of jaggery

2 tsp Cardamon

3 tbsp oil

1.5 cups of water

Khara / Spicy: -

1/2 cup toor dal (togari bele)

3 chilies

1 tsp chili power

2 tsp jeera

1 tsp turmeric/haldi

2 tbsp grated coconut

2 tsp coriander

Salt

Method: -

For the preparation of the dough: -

1. Put 1.5 cups of water in a pan.

2. Add very little salt and 3 tbsp of Oil. Bring it to boil on a low flame.

3. Now slowly add the rice flour, 1 tbsp at a time. Once the rice flour is added, keep on stirring it continuously till the rice flour mixes well in water and no lumps are left.

4. Repeat the same till all the rice flour is mixed well to form the dough.

5. The consistency of the dough should be that of chapati dough.

6. Remove from fire and keep it aside for cooling.

For the preparation of the hurna: -

Sweet: -

1. Add very little water in a pan and put jaggery in it. Cook on medium flame.

2. After the jaggery has completely melted, add the coconut gratings.

3. Stir continuously and mix well. To this mixture add cardamom powder and remove from fire.

4. The mixture has to cool down completely before it can be used for stuffing.

Spicy: -

1. Soak toor dal over nite or for a minimum of 6 hours. The dal should break easily if squeezed in between the fingers after the soaking time.

2. Strain all water from the dal. No water should be present.

3. Put the dal, jeera, salt, chilies, chili powder, grated coconut & turmeric in a mixer and form a coarse mixture. It should have the consistency of the Ambade mixture.

4. Add coriander.

5. No water has to be added at any point of time. Presence of water will make the stuffing difficult.

Preparation of the modaks: -

1. Make small balls of rice dough.

2. Roll into to oval shape or the classic modak shape and place the stuffing.

3. Dip hands in the rice flour and fold it in the oval shape.

4. Put all the modaks in the microwaveable steamer or in a pressure cooker container and then steam cook for 10 minutes.