You might think I am becoming religious with all my talk of gods and goddesses – and there is more to come in this post on that topic – but I can assure you there that there is no conversion going on. The reason for so much talk of immortals is that food in used extensively in daily worship and annual religious celebrations in India and much of it is of the sweet variety. And this is where my – purely visceral -  interest lays as I have a sweet tooth and I am always happy to celebrate – gods and humans alike – with sugary treats.

One of the most popular Hindu gods – amongst the thousands that are available to choose from – is the elephant headed god Ganesha: amongst his powers he can remove obstacles and bestow good fortune. The holy pachyderm is particularly loved in Maharashtra (the state I am currently visiting) where he is robustly celebrated each year with a festival devoted solely to him (Ganesh Chaturthi).

Ganesh’s favourite food is a confection called modak (images of Ganesha often have him balancing one of these sweets in the palm of his hand). I have just polished off a plate of these delicious sweets at the home I am staying at in the Sindhburg region of Maharastra (visit www.cultureaangan.com for details of the home stay options in this beautiful, ‘German bakery’ free destination).

I do not as yet have a tested recipe for modak so I will just explain how to make them as told to me by my host Amrutha.

Modak

Measure equal quantities of water and rice flour – a cup of each as a minimum.

Put the water in a saucepan with a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of ghee and bring to the boil.

Remove the water from the heat and stir in the rice flour to create a smooth paste/mix. Cover the pot and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes. The mix should become a smooth dough.

Mix equal quantities of roughly grated fresh coconut or shredded coconut (moisten with a little water or coconut milk if using this form) and gur/jaggery* to create the filling.

Take a small ball of the dough and pat out to form a circle (you might need to do this between banana leaves or foil if it sticks to your hands). In the centre of this place a teaspoon of the filling. Fold the dough around the filling to create a ‘tear drop’ shape and make a pattern with a fork around the tapered end.

Steam the modhka for 5 minutes and allow to cook before serving.

These sweets are truly delicious but I cannot guarantee this recipe to be fail proof as I have not yet tried my hand at it so proceed in a spirit of adventure if you try this at home.

* Gur/jaggery is made by crushing sugar cane and boiling the juice in big open pots until it reduces to a fudge like consistency –in which state it is can be eaten like a sweet. The fudge like gur then dries out and hardens as it ‘ages’. It has a wonderful deep rich flavour and retains the minerals that modern sugar processing takes out. You should be able to buy gur/jaggery  at an Indian grocery stores but if it is not available you can substitute palm sugar or dark brown sugar – although the modkhas will not be anywhere nearly as delightful without it.

There is a feasting frenzy taking place outside my Konkan villa at Swasara. Apart from being paradisiacal this resort is also genuinely eco-conscious. Nearly all the water used here is harvested rainwater (the rest is recycled through a natural water recycling system) and my room overlooks one of large storage pools. This sparkling expanse of water is the scene and cause of the aforementioned feasting as it attracts a plethora of insects.
For the past 20 minutes I have watched what looks to me like an oversized goldfish work the surface of the pool snapping up buggy tidbits. He disappeared back to depths when the sun began to sink and the sky filled with hundreds of black swallows that were swooping and catching their fill of the same creatures. I don’t think there was any chance of the swallows being able to catch the fish as he was too large for them but he was wise to hide as I saw a white-breasted kingfisher (whose breast is actually cream, which goes very well with his chocolate head and bright blue body – he is my favourite bird in part due to his sartorial splendor) flitting around in the bushes. This a bird who could have easily snatched a fish his size from the water if he had continued to hover near the surface.

While I was taking my fill of this scene the little black – almost human- face of a baby languor (grey monkey) popped out from the leaf line of one of the large trees nearby. His charming visage bobbed in and out of it as he set about making his dinner from the foliage.

I have also been doing some serious feasting of my own here.. Swasara specializes in serving local cuisine and as it is located on the Konkan coast in Karnataka that means seafood and coconut in abundance. I have eaten mackerel, baby snapper, Indian salmon (a white flesh fish with a finer drier flesh than the rich oily pink species we are more familiar with), sea bass, kingfish/sea bream, prawns, squid and plenty of crab; all bought from local fisherman. To achieve this I have had to eat seafood each day at lunch and dinner; a task I have undertaken with gusto ( all in the name of research of course).

Each morning the affable Chef Kathierson has demonstrated the day’s lunch dishes to me giving me an in-depth education in the use of fresh coconut in India’s coastal cuisine. There are few dishes that get by without the addition of coconut in some form be it: roughly grated; finely ground; ‘80%’ ground; 1st extract of the milk, or 2nd extract of the milk – each adding its own unique flavour and texture to a dish. The opaque coconut water found at the centre of this nut is not used in cooking but is taken as a drink.

I have many been given many recipes that I need to work up but in the meantime I am offering one of my own recipes featuring fish and coconut that was inspired by the cuisine of the neighboring Malabar coast (Kerala) for your own feasting pleasure.

Malabar Coast fish kofte with coconut sauce
Serves 6
Ingredients
500g white fish fillets
½ tsp turmeric
1 ½ tsp white vinegar
3 shallots, grated or minced
2 green chilies, finely chopped
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp dried coconut
the zest of one lime

Sauce
1 tbsp garlic paste
2 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
I red onion, grated
1 tsp white poppy seeds ground to a paste*
½ cup yoghurt
½ cup thick coconut milk
50g butter
fresh coriander leaves
vegetable oil for cooking

Method
To make the kofte
Cut the fish into chunks. Mix the turmeric and vinegar with a little salt. Marinate the fish in the vinegar mix for 30 minutes.
Drain the fish and process it in a food processor with all the remaining ingredients. Do this on the pulse setting as you want the fish to retain some texture; it should come away from the sides of the processor jug and form a large ball (just as dough does)
Shape into golf-ball size balls gently between the palms of your hands and then slightly flatten them so that are more disc like.
Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
You can choose to gently shallow fry or steam the kofte. Set aside when cooked.

To make the sauce
Mix the garlic and ginger pastes with a little water to make a paste.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok or a heavy based pan over a medium-high heat. When hot add the cumin seeds and allow them to ‘pop’ then mix in the onion and stir until it softens a little. Mix in the garlic and ginger and the poppy seed paste and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the salt and then the yoghurt and stir for 1 minute.
Stir in the coconut milk. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the sauce for 10 minutes. Stir the butter into the sauce.
Just before serving slide the kofte into the sauce and allow to warm through. Serve garnished with fresh coriander leaves.

* White poppy seeds are available from some Indian grocery stores and can be difficult to find. If you can’t get any please do not substitute black poppy seeds – these are not the same thing and they make the sauce look like black sludge. The best substitute is raw cashews or blanched almonds.