DEBOLINA ROY
Prepare the base
Using a pan, melt two teaspoons of ghee and roast chopped cashew nuts, almonds, raisins, and poppy seeds until they are a nice golden brown. This improves the texture and aroma of the filling, plus it gives a delightful, rich flavour.
Cook the filling
Incorporate the finely minced dates with the powdered milk, grated coconut, and milk into the toasted nuts and continue stirring over a low flame until the dates melt into a thick and sweetened paste that is enriched with cardamom powder.
Boil the rice dough
Add salt and ghee to boiling water. Then add the finer rice flour powder to the boiling water. Turn off the heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes so that the flour can absorb water properly.
Knead until smooth
Put the warm rice flour mixture into a large bowl. Gently knead with wet hands to make a smooth, soft, and non-cracking dough, making sure the covering is flexible during the moulding of the sugar-free modak.
Shape and steam
The dough balls should be filled with the date filling mixture, then either pleated or moulded before steaming them for ten minutes. Once the outside is shiny, your sugar-free modak is done and ready to be offered as a prasadam.