Modak - Baked or Steamed- What do you like?

This is my second modak related post and it made me realise that its been a year since I started blogging! Time truly does fly. I had made steamed modaks last year for Ganesh Chaturthi and my family had absolutely loved it. I on the other hand am not very fond of the steamed ones and prefer the fried ones. So, this year, I decided to make both kinds. For those following the blog, you know that I prefer to find alternate cooking methods to frying. So, inspired by my baked samosa recipe, I decided to try baking the modaks instead of frying them.

Ingredients
For the stuffing
See the modak recipe for stuffing ingredients. I also added
1/8 tsp of cardamom powder
1/8 tsp of nutmeg powder
2 tbsp of golden raisins

For the cover
For the steamed method, see the modak recipe for ingredients. This year I skipped the saffron and hence they turned out bright and white.

For the baked method, see the samosa recipe for cover ingredients.

Method
For the stuffing
See the modak recipe for the method. Add the nutmeg, cardamom powders and raisins towards the end of the cooking process.

For the cover
For the steamed method, see the modak recipe.

For the baked method, roll out the dough into a small round roti, about 3 inches in diameter. Pinch the sides of the rolled roti and create a bowl. Add a spoonfull of stuffing in the center. Bring all the sides together to form a modak. While you are moulding the modaks, preheat your oven to 375F. Grease a baking dish with some oil and then place all the modaks in the baking dish and bake for about 20-30 mins till the cover is well browned.

Tips
Keep the modaks and the dough under a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out. Make your entire batch and bake it at once. You can substitute jaggery with sugar if you do not have this ingredient handy to make the stuffing. Brown sugar is a better alternate if using sugar, as it has molasses and the taste is very close to that of jaggery.