Chocolate Pistachio Modak — a special mithai for Ganesh Chaturthi, these modaks made with homemade chenna just melt in your mouth and are so decadent without being heavy! With soaked pistachios for that perfect texture and notes of cardamom, vanilla, and saffron, there’s no better way to kick off the festive season!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE PISTACHIO MODAK:
Start by kneading some homemade chenna until it becomes smooth and then divide into four parts. It’s really important to use homemade chenna at this step for the softest texture that melts in your mouth.
In a pan, add one fourth of the chenna along with sugar and gently combine them. To this, add cocoa powder and mix until combined. For our pistachio layer, we’ll combine one fourth of the chenna with sugar, soaked and chopped pistachios, elaichi, and kesar. It’s super important here to use soaked pistachios for that perfect texture.
Combine both flavors of chenna with the plain chenna. To the chocolate part, add some vanilla essence and ghee for softness and aroma. For the pistachio part, add some green food coloring if you’d like.
Now we’ll line our modal molds with some edible gold dust and crushed pistachios. Add small portions of both the chenna mixtures to fill the mold and carefully unfold.
Look just how colorful and beautiful these turn out! Celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in beautiful style with these rich Chocolate Pistachio Modaks!
If you like this, please try my other recipes:
- Rose-Orange Kachagolla Sandesh
- Coconut Almond Modak
- Khajoor Chocolate Badam Cups
- Chocolate Besan Barfi Cake
Chocolate Pistachio Modak — a special mithai for Ganesh Chaturthi, these modaks made with homemade chenna just melt in your mouth and are so decadent without being heavy! With soaked pistachios for that perfect texture and notes of cardamom, vanilla, and saffron, there’s no better way to kick off the festive season!
- 1/2 gallon milk , 2 liters
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp vinegar , mixed in 3/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tsp ghee
- 4 tbsp sugar , adjust to taste
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 3 tbsp pistachio , soaked for 30 mins in warm water and finely chopped
- 3 tbsp sugar , adjust to taste
- 6-7 strands saffron , soaked in 1 tsp cold water
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 1 drop green food color
- gold dust
- pistachio , finely chopped
- ghee , for greasing
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To make the chenna, in a pan, add the water (to prevent the milk from sticking) and the milk. Let this come to a boil on medium heat and then take this off the heat. Slowly stir in the diluted vinegar (i.e. vinegar mixed with water) until the milk curdles.
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Drain the curdled milk using a cheesecloth and rinse it with 3 to 4 cups of cold water to remove the lemon flavor. Don't over rinse the chenna.
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Lightly squeeze the excess water. Hang the cloth along with curdled milk (chenna) for 20 minutes. Don't hang it for more time otherwise it will loose moisture and become very dry.
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Take out the chenna onto a plate and knead it with your palm for 5-7 minutes until it becomes soft and smooth. Divide this into four equal parts.
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For our chocolate layer, transfer 1/4 of the chenna into a pan with the sugar. Let this cook on low-medium heat for 5 minutes until it comes together. This roasted chenna helps ensure the binding of the sugar and gives a really nice texture.
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Then, add the cocoa powder and mix gently. Take off the heat after a minute. Let this cool in the fridge for 10 minutes.
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Once cooled, mix together with 1/4 of the chenna, vanilla essence, and ghee. Set this mixture aside.
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For the pistachio layer, transfer 1/4 of the chenna into a pan with the sugar. Let this cook on low-medium heat for 5 minutes until it comes together.
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Then, add in the pistachios, cardamom powder and saffron. Mix gently and let this cool in the fridge for 10 minutes.
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Once cooled, mix together with 1/4 of the chenna and green food color. Set this mixture aside.
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Grease your modak mold with ghee and gently press small balls of the chocolate and pistachio portion and shape your modaks. Place chopped pistachios and edible gold dust in your mold before filling for a fun effect.
Recipe Video
- You can store this in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
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