Try making these traditional Holi dishes with these simple recipes and celebrate the festival of colours. The Byke Hospitality Ltd., India’s fastest emerging hospitality chain with their unique concept of being one of the most popular pure vegetarian hotel groups that has 17 hotels and resorts across India, shares recipes of some traditional treats you can try at home this Holi.

Gujiya

Ingredients

For the dough:

250gm refined flour

120gm clarified butter

Water (to mix)

For the filling:

120gm khoya

120gm sugar

7gms green cardamom, powdered

15gms almonds, finely chopped

Oil or ghee (for deep-frying)

For the syrup:

120gm sugar

150ml water

Method

Prepare the dough:

• Rub 50gm ghee into the flour and knead into a stiff dough with water.
• Leave to rest for at least half an hour.

Prepare the filling:

• Saute the khoya over medium heat till it looks slightly fried.
• Take off the heat and when it cools, mix in the sugar, cardamom and almonds.
• Shape the filling into ovals about 21 cm length and 1 cm thickness.
• Make balls of the dough and roll out into 1 cm / 1/8 in thick rounds.
• Take a round, wet the edges with water and place a piece of filling over one half.
• Fold the other half over and press the edges together to seal.
• Either cut off the edge with a fancy cutter or make a design by pinching and twisting all along the sealed edges.
• Make all the gujiyas in this way. Heat ghee in a kadahi. To check if the ghee is hot enough put a piece of dough in it. If it comes up at once, add as many gujiyas as fit in comfortably.
• Turn them over and lower the heat to medium. Fry till golden brown on all sides. Lift out and leave to drain on absorbent paper.
• Make sugar syrup by cooking water and sugar together, till one thread consistency
• Dip the gujiyas in it, lift and let dry on a plate.
• Fry the rest, increasing the heat for a few seconds before adding the next lot.
• Can be eaten hot or at room temperature and can be stored in air-tight containers.

Gulab Jamun In Thandai Mousse

INGREDIENTS

FOR THANDAI PASTE

Soaked and peeled Almonds – 20no

Cardamom power – 4gms

Poppy seeds – 8 gms

Fennel powder – 2gms

Black pepper – 2gms

Pistachios – 10nos

Cashew – 10nos

Watermelon seeds – 25gms

FOR MAKING MOUSSE

White Melting Chocolate – 125 gms

Fresh cream – 40gm

Whipped cream – 80gm

Other ingredient

Small or Normal size Gulab Jamun

Chopped pistachios

Saffron

METHOD

Thandai Paste

• Soak poppy seeds, cashews, fennel seeds and watermelon seeds for 2 hours.
• Take all the ingredient of thandai paste in a blender. Blend them very well using little water. Prepare a thick thandai paste. Keep it aside.

For Mousse

• In a pan, heat fresh cream for 2 minutes on medium flame.
• Take White melting chocolate in another bowl. Add hot fresh cream into the white chocolate. White chocolate will start to melt. Mix until the chocolate melts.
• Fold in the whipped cream and 3/4 of the Thandai paste (you can add more paste if you wish tinto the white chocolate mixture. Let this mixture cool down for 15 minutes in freezer.
• Fill the zip lock bags with mousse mixture. Make a big hole.

For Assemble

• Take one glass. First place 3 gulab jamuns or Normal gulab jamun cut into 4pcs. Then Pipe in half thandai mousse. Put Gulab jamuns again in between and again pipe in the thandai Mousse on it.
• Top it with Gulab Jamun. Garnish it with saffron and pistachios.
• Your Gulab Jamun In Thandai Mousse is ready. Serve it chilled.

Puran Poli

INGREDENTS

120 Gms Flour

50 Gms Cup Sugar

10 Gms Powdered Green Cardamom

1 Pinch Salt

80 ml Tablespoon Milk

50 Gms Rice Flour

100 Gm Chana Dal

30 ml Ghee

50ml Water

Refined Oil As Required

4 Gms Nutmeg Powder

METHOD:-

For Preparing This Easy Maharashtrian Recipe, Take A Glass Bowl And Mix Flour With Water In It. Knead Well To Make A Stiff Dough. Cover The Dough And Keep Aside For 1 Hour. Now Take A Pressure Cooker And Add Chana Dal And Water In It. Put The Cooker On The Gas And Heat It Over High Flame. Pressure Cook The Dal And Once It’s Done, Strain The Excess Water.

Transfer The Dal In A Bowl And Allow It To Cool. Once The Dal Has Cooled, Add It In A Pan And Heat It Over Moderate Flame. Add Sugar Along With Ghee. Keep Stirring. Cook On Low Flame Till The Gram Mixture Is Soft And Sticky. Once It’s Done, Turn Off The Flame And Keep The Mixture Aside.

Now Knead The Dough Again, Adding Salt, Water And Oil, Little At A Time, Till The Dough Becomes Pliable. Grind The Dal And Sugar Mixture To A Smooth Consistency Adding A Little Milk If It Is Too Dry. Add Cardamom Powder And Nutmeg Powder.

Now Take A Lime-Sized Lump Of The Dough And A Little Larger Lump Of The Dal Mixture. Roll Out Two Rounds From The Dough On A Board Sprinkled With Rice Flour, Into Flat Rounds Of About 7 Inch In Diameter.

Cover The Rolled Dough Round With The Dal Mixture, Leaving Half An Inch At The Edges, And Then Cover This With The Second Round. Roll Again Over This To Seal Them Together, Pinching The Edges To Seal Well. Roll Out Like A Thick Chapati.

Heat Ghee On A Hot Griddle And Put The Puran Poli On It. Keep Pressing And Turning It So That It Cooks Well On Both Sides. Keep Adding Ghee All Around To Brown It Evenly Without Sticking To The Griddle. Serve Hot And Pair With Tea Or Coffee.

Thandai

INGREDENTS

1 cup water

sugar as required

2 tablespoon melon seeds

1/2 tablespoon aniseed

1/2 teaspoon rose water

1/4 cup dry rose petals

500 ml milk

2 tablespoon almonds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1/2 tablespoon green cardamom

1 teaspoon peppercorns

100 gm fennel seeds

METHOD:-

Soak the almonds, poppy seeds, fennel seed and melon seeds in one cup water for 30 minutes. To attain a creamy texture, soak the almonds overnight and then grind all these ingredients into to a fine paste and keep aside.

Bring milk to boil in a pan and add the saffron strands. Mix well. Add sugar and simmer till the sugar melts. Grind the rose petals and peppercorns to a fine powder. To make it healthier and soothing you can increase the quantity of fennel seeds. To give it a nice yellow tint, add the saffron strands and the water in which it was soaked, this will accentuate the taste and aroma of this drink.

Add the paste to the milk along with some cardamom powder. Mix well and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the flame and keep it in a normal room temperature. Then refrigerate it for 2 to 3 hours. Garnish it with some crushed rose petals, saffron strands and chopped almonds. Serve chilled with some delicious savouries.

Traditional Treats for Holi