We help you get into the festive spirit with delicious recipes for Holi based snacks and drinks. Enjoy your day!
by Anurita Gupta
Holi kab hai? Kab hai holi? Gabbar may keep asking this question for centuries to come but we know that this festival of colours and sparkles is today. While we deliberate a lot on what we will wear to the building society Holi party, you should also make some effort to have fun at home with food that is specially made during this festival to add more colour and joy to life.
Take a look at the Holi ki daawat menu:
THANDAI
This festive drink is a balanced and amazing combination of various aromas arising from its ingredients of rose petals, melon seeds, nuts and of course, the saffron. Famous for its taste and fragrance in North and Central India, thandai, when served chilled, has a magical impact on you. Rose and saffron calm the senses, while the nuts and spices keep you full so you have enough energy to play Holi all day long. Here’s how you make it.
Ingredients: ½ cup almonds, blanched and peeled; 30 pistachios, blanched, peeled and finely chopped; ½ cup cashews; 10 black peppercorns; 1.5 tbsp rose syrup/1/2 cup dried rose petals; 1.5 tbsp fennel seeds (saunf); ½ cup poppy seeds (khus khus); ¾ cup melon seeds (magaj); 3 tsp green cardamom seeds; 1 cup sugar; a few strands of saffron, 1 ½ litre milk, drinking water to make a paste.
Method: Grind all the ingredients other than milk, sugar and saffron in a food processor with some drinking water. Store
this paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Combine the milk and sugar and bring to a boil. Cool and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours. To serve, put 2 to 3 tbsp of the thandai paste in a glass and top with chilled milk garnished with pistachios and saffron strands.
Hot tip: you can always add the popular intoxicant bhang to this drink to have some more fun on Holi 🙂
GUJIYA
While many of us make the traditional puran poli on Holi, there is one more mithai stuffed with the goodness of mawa and nuts that everyone looks forward to on this colourful day and that is gujiya. You can make tonnes of it in advance and store to relish on Holi and days later. It tastes best when you make it in ghee.
Ingredients: ½ kg maida; 5-6 tbsp melted ghee.
For the filling: 500 gm mawa/khoya (evaporated milk); pinch of cardamom powder; 25 gm each of chopped almonds, raisins, desiccated coconut; 400 gm sugar
Method:
– Sieve the flour and add ghee to it. Now with light finger strokes, rub the maida and ghee together so that the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Now add some water to it and knead very lightly till such time that you get a soft yet tight dough. Cover and keep aside.
– Mash the mawa and fry it in a saucepan until it changes colour to light brown. Now add sugar, almonds, cashews, coconut, raisins and cardamom powder to it and mix well. Fry for a couple of minutes and let the mixture cool until it reaches room temperature.
– Divide the dough into small balls and roll in about 5 inches diameter. Fill half the circle with the stuffing and cover with the other half. You have to now twist the edges inwards or seal the gujiya with a few strong pinches on the edges. Prepare all the gujiyas like this.
– Heat up the ghee and fry them until golden brown.
Hot tip: you can also use gujiya moulds in order to make the perfect shape. I use them for convenience and of course, the uniformity. Just brush the moulds with oil before you start.
BHANG KE PAKORE
Holi par bhang ki baat na ho? Not possible. When everyone enjoys bhang on this festival, why shy away from making a special snack out it that everyone enjoys? Make vegetable fritters made out of chickpea flour (besan) and a really small amount of bhang that can be a lot of fun 🙂
Ingredients: 250 gm each of besan, potatoes, cauliflower, onions, spinach and aubergine; 10 gm bhang seed powder; pinch of soda bicarb; 5 gm ajwain (carom seeds); 5 gm amchoor (dry mango powder); salt to taste; oil for deep frying.
Method:
Mix together all the dry ingredients and add enough water to make a medium consistency batter. Now dip all the veggies in this batter and coat them completely. Deep fry them until golden brown. Serve hot with khajoor aur imli ki chutney.
With that, I hope you have many friends and family over to your house on this special festival that adds a lot more warmth and colour to your life. Holi Mubarak 🙂
Anurita Gupta is a media professional who is passionate about two things – food and radio. Her love for all things food makes her a foodie with a cause.
(Pictures courtesy www.saveur.com, www.karthiksmithai.com, www.festivalsofindia.in. Images are used for representational purpose only)