I remember having mochi ice creams when I used to live in Hong Kong, a long time ago. I tried other versions of mochi as well with sesame paste, red bean paste, and mung dal to name a few and loved them all.

However, once we moved back to India, there were no places I knew of that served mochi. Even the main ingredient, glutinous rice flour, was not available in stores. Thanks to a growing interest in international cuisines, there are a variety of ingredients from all around the world available in India these days.

Now, all ingredients are easily available either in speciality stores or online. Mochi is not even that difficult or time consuming to make. Mine don’t look picture perfect because I chose speed and convenience over looks, but with a little patience and practice, you can make them more presentable.

With the festival of Sankranti around the corner, why not try a different version of the quintessential tilgud? I made two types of mochi, black sesame seeds and mung dal.

Sesame seeds filling

• 1 cup black sesame seeds (lightly toasted)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil

Toast the sesame seeds on medium flame and let it cool. Then grind the sesame seeds to a coarse meal. Add all the ingredients into a bowl and make small balls. Keep in the fridge till ready to use. 

You can also use regular brown sesame seeds as well.

Mung dal filling

• 1 cup boiled yellow mung dal
• ¾ cup sugar

Make sure the dal is cooked but not watery. Drain the excess water and mash or puree the dal. Add in the sugar while it’s still hot. Mix well and form into small balls. Keep in the fridge till ready to use. 

Mochi

• 1 cup glutinous rice flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• cornflour for dusting
• Few drops of food colouring (optional)

Method:

• Mix the flour, sugar and water in a bowl.
• Cover and microwave for a minute.
• Remove and stir again, then cook for another 30 to 60 seconds.
• It should come out like a sticky dough mix. Mix in the food colour now if using.
• Dust your hands and rolling surface with cornflour.
• While the mix is still warm, roll it over a surface heavily dusted with cornflour. Sprinkle the top with some more cornflour.
• You can either use a glass or small bowl to cut circles, or just use your hand to tear a piece and stretch it out to house the filling.
• Take the prepared filling balls and place one in the centre of the stretched out mochi dough.
• The edges should be sticky enough to close around the filling, but if not, then use a little bit of water to moisten the edges and seal.
• Dust with some more cornflour and keep on a plate.

Notes:

• It’s best to work with smaller quantities of the mochi dough as it becomes very sticky and tough to use as it cools down.
• Get a few helping hands to join in to make this more fun.
• You could use toasted sesame seeds or fried mung dal as garnish over the mochi balls.
• You could even try some fusion fillings like puran poli filling or something savoury by omitting the sugar in the dough.

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