Pune, 10th August 2017: The art of making Ukadiche Modak is delicate and requires a lot of skill. During Ganeshotsav, Hatwalaniche Ukadiche Modak (Handmade rice flour modaks traditional recipe in Maharashtra) – are preferred and in more demand than fried ones. Selling these modaks can earn you a good amount of money too. It is looking at this aspect and in a bid to provide employment opportunity; deAsra Foundation held a Modak making workshop with Kishor Sarpotdar of the Pune Guest House fame. Every year Mr Sarpotdar sells 1.25 lakh Ukadiche Modak during the 10-day Ganeshotsav, out of which 25,000 are sold on the first day, i.e Ganesh Chaturthi.
The workshop was for anyone who wants to learn the fine art of modak making and set up a small business selling their creations. It aimed at helpingthe participants with the recipe along with a live demo on how to make these modaks. Besides this, the workshop also helped the participants learn about packaging and selling of these items. Besides this, it also focussed on how to make frozen modaks. The workshop had around 300 people participating in the workshop.
During the workshop, tricks and techniques to make various types of modaks like, tri-colour modaks, double-decker modaks ganpati modaks etc. were shown. The event was also graced with the presence of celebrities like Urmila Patankar of Amhi Sare Khavaiyye fame who is with Vishnu Ji Rasoi and Vidya Tamankar well known for her modak classes.
Talking about the need for such a workshop, Pradnya Godbole CEO deAsra Foundation said,” Specialty festive food products such as, modaks have a huge demand in the market, however very few people have mastered the art of making authentic modaks. There is also a huge business opportunity in selling these items. With this in view deAsra has organized this expert led workshop to inspire and encourage people to learn and earn.”
At the end of the program all the participants went back with a recipe and tools to effectively start a modak making business.