Modakamlu / Modak / Steamed Coconut jaggery Rice dumplings

Another favorite of Lord Ganesha and mine - Modakamlu or Modaks.
Filled with coconut and jaggery, spiced with cardamom powder, this is another easy prasadam to make for Lord Ganesha.
The only difficult part is the making of the rice flour, but you can surely go ahead and try it with store bought rice flour. I only feel that it comes out little dry. The filling is the easiest part since its only grated fresh coconut with crumbled jaggery or powdered jaggery with some cardamom powder. I love jaggery, so I prefer leaving it crumbled, so that I can get some pieces in my mouth!
The other easy thing is if you have the Modak mould, but they are easy to shape by hand too. They also can be made in the shape of Kajjikaya if you have the kajjikaya mould or empanada mould!!
This recipe is only for about 5-7 modaks. Increase the measurements if you want more.

Ingredients:

1 cup home made rice flour (store bought can be used)
1 cup grated fresh coconut
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp of powdered or crumbled jaggery ( use enough to suit your taste)
few drops of ghee or clarified butter (optional)
a big pinch of cardamom powder
1/2 - 3/4 cup water ( add more if needed... This is to cook the rice flour)

Method:

Boil water in a pan. Add the rice flour as to no lumps are formed. Mix well to form a dough. Add 1 tbsp of jaggery to the dough and mix well. This is to flavor the dough.
Mix together coconut, jaggery, ghee and cardamom powder in a separate bowl.
When the dough is cool to touch, Knead to a perfect dough. Make small balls of it and roll them out to about 4 inch wide.
Put the filling the center. Touch the edge to the rolled dough with water, just to make it stick. Now bring together the edges to form the modak shape, making sure they don't break open or tear.
Steam in a cooker with out any pressure for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve God and Enjoy!!!