Holi Recipes

The special food items that are prepared for Holi are gujjia, papri and kanji ke vade. Meat dishes, like kofta curry, are also served. Thandai or alcoholic beverages are served along with the food.

How the foods are prepared :

Gujjia :
Makes about 40 gujjias.

Ingredients:

• 500 gms maida (flour).
• 1kg khoya.
• 3tbsps kismis (raisins).
• 200 gms almonds (cut into thin strips).
• 6 tbsps cooking oil. ( keep some more aside for deep frying)
• 200 ml water.
• 500 gms sugar.

Preparation :

• Mix the six tablespoons of oil with the maida.
• Using fingers, mix well so that the mixture takes the form of breadcrumbs and binds to a certain extent.
• Now add some water and knead lightly.
• Keep adding water as required and knead into a soft dough.
• Set aside and cover with a damp cloth.
• Put the khoya in a deep-frying pan and fry to a light brown colour.
• Add sugar into the khoya and mix well.
• Add almonds and kismis.
• Fry for a few minutes and remove from the fire.
• Let it cool, roll out the kneaded dough into a chapati, thicker and smaller than a normal chapati.
• Fill half the chapati with the khoya mixture, fold the chapati and seal the round, twisting the edges inwards. Take care that the filling does not ooze out.
• Deep fry these gujjias, a few at a time, till they are a deep golden brown. Fry on a slow fire.
• When done, take them out with a sieve type ladle, draining the oil completely.
• Let them drain further on a spread out newspaper, till all the grease is soaked up.
• Store for use in an airtight glass jar.

Papri :

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg besan.
• 1 tsp mustard oil.
• 1 tsp(heaped) salt.
• 1 small tsp red chilli powder.
• 1 cup water.
• 1 tsp methi leaves.(chopped fine)
• 1/4 kg maida.

Preparation :

• Mix besan, salt, red chilli powder and oil well.
• Knead the mixture into dough. Knead for about five minutes.
• Add the methi leaves. Knead for another three minutes.
• Make the dough into a big round ball and throw the dough on the plate to soften it. This should be done for about seven minutes.
• Heat oil in a deep-frying pan, on very high heat.
• While oil is heating, rub some oil on your palm and roll out the dough into a long strip one inch thick.
• Cut the roll into inch size pieces. Keep rubbing oil on your palms to keep the roll moist.
• Flatten each piece out into a round shape and roll it into small chapatis.
• Lightly dust both sides of the small chapatis or papris with maida.
• Fry very lightly, turning the flame from medium to low as required. Do not let the papris turn brown or red.
• They should look golden yellow when ready.
• Drain oil and store in an airtight container.

Kanje ke vade :
Makes about 1 Kg.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg urad dal.
• 2 pcs (small) hing.
• 3 tbsps salt.
• 4 tbsps rai (finely ground).
• 2 tbsps red chillies (pounded).
• 6 jugs water (1 jug = 6 glasses).
• Oil for deep frying.
• Whole red chillies for garnish.

Preparation :

• Soak urad dal overnight and grind to a fine paste. It should have the consistency of cake batter.
• Put it n a vessel and whisk it very well so that the mixture is fluffy.
• Heat oil well in a deep frying pan.
• Test if the oil is ready by dropping a little of the mixture into the pan if it fluffs up and floats to the surface the oil is ready.
• Take a piece of wet cloth on your left palm.
• This allows the vadas to slide off into the pan without difficulty.
• Put some of the mixture onto the cloth and flatten it, shaping it into round one-inch vadas.
• Slide these off one by one into the oil, and deep fry.
• They should be fried through and through, and have a golden brown colour. Take care not to make the vadas too thick.
• Keep a tawa on the fire and put the crystals of hing on it.
• Take a matka or an earthenware pot, and as soon as the hing emits an aroma, turn the matka upside down on the tawa to soak up the smell.
• Take it off the fire and fill it with warm water.
• Mix the rai, salt, red chilli powder and whole red chillies into the water.
• The fried vadas are now put into the matka. The top of the matka is covered with a clean muslin cloth and securely tied.
• The matka is left out in the sun during the day for eight days.
• It is then ready to be served.

Bhang ki Thandai :

Bhaang is prepared by grounding the buds and leaves of Cannabis using a mortar and pestle into a green paste. It is mixed with milk, ghee, and spices to prepare a nutritious, refreshing drink known as Thandai, which is intoxicating in nature.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 liter - Water.
• 1 1/2 cups - Sugar.
• 1 cup - Milk.
• 1 tbsp - Almonds.
• 1 tbsp - Watermelon/Cantaloupe seeds (dried and skinned).
• 1/2 tbsp - Poppy seeds.
• 1/2 tbsp - Aniseed.
• 1/2 tsp - Cardamom powder.
• 1 tsp - Peppercorns (whole).
• 1/4 cup - Dried or fresh rose petals (Gulkand variety).

Preparation :

• Soak sugar in 1/2 liter of water and all other dry ingredients in 2 cups of water for at least 2 hours.
• Grind all soaked ingredients (not sugar) to a very fine paste.
• Mix remaining water to the paste and strain it using a strong muslin strainer to extract the liquid into a vessel until the residue becomes dry.
• Add milk and sugar to the extracted liquid.
• Mix the cardamom powder in the milk.
• Chill for an hour of two before serving.
• Makes about 8 glasses.

Gobi Manchurian :

Ingredients:

• 1 Medium-sized Cauliflower (broken into big florettes).
• 1 Medium-sized Onion (finely ground).
• 3 tb sp - Corn flour.
• 1 Egg.
• 1 tsp - Soya Sauce.
• 3 tsp - Chili paste.
• Oil for frying.
• Salt to taste.

Preparation :

• Clean the Gobi florettes.
• Add chili paste, corn flour, salt and egg to them and mix them well till they evenly cover all the Gobi florettes.
• Fry them in oil separately and keep them aside.
• Fry the onion paste to a brown color in another pan and add soya sauce to it.
• Add fried Gobi pieces to the paste and serve hot.
• Makes 6 servings.

Puran Poli :

Ingredients:

• 300 gm - Channa dal (yellow gram).
• 300 gm - Jaggery.
• 1 tsp - Cardamom powder.
• 150 gm - Plain flour.
• Ghee.
• Warm water.

Preparation :

• Boil dal in plenty of water for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Drain it and grate the dal to a crude paste.
• Mash jaggery well with dal.
• Cook the mixture in a heavy saucepan while stirring continuously until a soft lump is formed.
• Keep it aside to cool.
• Knead flour with 1 tbsp ghee and flour, adding enough water, to a soft dough.
• Take a small ball of dough and roll into a thick small chapatti.
• Put the mixture as a filling in centre and seal the roll.
• Reroll it gently and roast on warm griddle till golden brown on both sides.
• Serve hot and apply a tsp of ghee on it before serving.
• Makes 7to 8 puranpolis.