Heat a thick-bottomed pan on a medium flame and add sesame seeds. Dry roast on a low-medium flame till sesame seeds turn crunchy. Keep stirring so sesame seeds do not burn. You can adjust the flame between medium and low. It will take about 5 to 6 minutes. After 5-6 minutes, the color will slightly change and you will notice that the seeds have become light while stirring.
Take the roasted sesame seeds on a plate and let them cool.
When the sesame seeds come at room temperature, take them in a mixer/grinder jar. Grind to a fine powder. If you prefer the coarse texture of the modaks, then crush them coarsely.NOTE : After adding jaggery and ghee, til/sesame seeds will not get crushed properly. So before adding ghee and jaggery, crush sesame seeds as per the texture you want.
Now add jaggery and ghee to the mixer jar and grind again.
Take out the mixture in a plate. Knead so everything gets combined well.
Grease the modak mould with a few drops of ghee. Take a portion from the sesame seeds+ghee+jaggery mixture and place it into the mould. Press from the bottom part to level and scrape out extra from the sides and bottom part.
Open the mould and demould the modak. Repeat the process to make more modaks.
Video
Notes
Crush the roasted sesame seeds when they cool down completely.
We have crushed sesame seeds to a fine powder. But if you prefer the coarse texture of the modaks, then crush them coarsely.
After adding jaggery and ghee, til/sesame seeds will not get crushed properly. So before adding ghee+jaggery, crush sesame seeds as per the texture you want.
The ghee quantity will also depend on the quality of sesame seeds. So initially add about a tablespoon of ghee while blending, then mix and check the texture. If the mixture is too dry add a little more ghee.