Holi Recipes – 5 Recipes to make at home this Holi

Holi Recipes – 5 Recipes to make at home this Holi
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Holi, the festival of colours is around the corner and it is yet again time to get drenched in coloured water and gulaal along with endless music and dance. And since, food is an integral part of any festival, start preparing yourself by taking note of these Holi delicacies to make the festival even more special. 

Gujiyas

Gujiyas, the Indian dessert that is commonly made during the festival of Holi are sweet dumplings made of maida or flour which is filled with khoya and dry fruits mixture, which is then deep-fried in ghee and later dipped in sugar syrup. 

To prepare the gujiyas, rub ghee into the flour and knead it with water to make a stiff dough. Leave it to rest for half an hour at least. Meanwhile, prepare the filling by sautéing khoya till it looks slightly fried over medium heat. Take it off the flame and once it cools down, mix in the sugar, cardamom and almonds. Shape the filling and make balls of the dough and roll it out. Place a piece of filling over one half after moistening the edges with water and fold the other half over it and press the edges together to seal. Fry it, till it gets golden brown.

Then make sugar syrup, by adding water and sugar. Boil it till one thread consistency.  Now dip the gujiyas into the syrup, lift and let dry on a plate. These can be stored in airtight containers. 

Malpuas

Malpuas, a pancake-like Indian dessert which is popularly made on various festivals like Diwali and Holi. It can be made easily with simple ingredients.

To prepare malpuas, prepare a thick batter by pouring milk into a mixing bowl. And add either khoya or milk powder, flour, fennel seeds and cardamom powder to it. To get fluffy malpuas, beat the batter for few minutes and keep the batter aside till the sugar syrup is ready.

Now pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter in ghee and fry till the malpuas turn golden brown. Remove them from the pan and add it directly into the sugar syrup. Allow the malpuas to soak for approximately 10 minutes, if the malpuas are thick or remove it immediately. Garnish it with pistas, almonds, saffron, and they are set to be served!

Thandai

A popular Holi staple - thandai is undeniably delicious! To prepare thandai, grind the spices-nut mixture, for instance, spices like peppercorns, poppy seeds, cardamom, fennel seeds and watermelon seeds along with the blanched almond paste. 

Boil whole fat milk. While the milk is getting heated, remove 2 to 3 tablespoons of the hot milk from the pan and transfer to a small bowl. Crush saffron strands and add it to the hot milk and allow it to sit, until it gets a nice yellow colour. 

Once the milk comes to boil, lower the heat and add the thandai masala, along with sugar and rose water. Set it aside for around 1 hour so that the milk absorbs all the flavours. Thandai is supposed to be served chilled, so transfer the pitcher to a refrigerator and chill, preferably overnight. Pour thandai into glasses and garnish with sliced nuts like pistachios, almond, rose petals and saffron strands before serving.

Moong Dal Halwa

Moong Dal halwa is made on special occasions. To prepare it, wash the yellow moong dal thoroughly and soak it in ample amount of water for overnight. Drain the water completely after the soaking time has passed and grind it to make a coarse paste i.e., it shouldn’t be too grainy and at the same time, it should not be very pasty and fine as well. 

Now heat the ghee till medium hot, to this add the ground moong dal and stir continuously, till the ghee starts floating above and the moong dal gets roasted and browned both for the colour and for the nutty taste. 

While the moong dal is roasting, boil water and sugar together to make a one-string syrup also soak saffron strands in warm milk and keep aside. Once the moong dal is roasted, add the sugar syrup and the milk saffron mixture to it and cook till it is of dropping consistency. Add the khoya to the above and stir well, cook it till it is almost melted. To the moong dal halwa, now add all the nuts and raisins. Mix and serve warm.

Thandai Flavoured Rice Kheer
 

 
Thandai Flavoured Rice Kheer is a delicious Indian dessert which is made from rice, milk, sugar flavoured with cardamom powder. To prepare wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, drain the water and keep the rice aside. Now boil the milk, when it comes to boil, reduce the flame and add rice to it. 

Meanwhile powder the Thandai powder ingredients - almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios, poppy seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and whole black peppercorns into a coarse powder and keep aside. Also, soak the saffron and thandai powder separately in lukewarm milk. 

Add this saffron and thandai mixture to the rice kheer and keep stirring the kheer until it reduces to one-third of the original quantity. Even rose water or kewra water in this recipe can be used. Once done, add chopped nuts and serve.