Holi & hearty - Festive treats that you can make at home

Like all festivals in India, Holi has a strong food connect in our communities. With the Sindhis known for the delicious khoa-filled pragris, there is also the sweet-flavoured milk, thandai, a signature beverage for this season. We find out from the chefs what their favourites are, and how to make these delicacies in our home kitchens.

Kaanji vada
Chef Ravi Saxena, Corporate Chef, Dhaba by Claridges
Foodies and regulars at the Dhaba by Claridges will know why Chef Ravi Saxena is such an intrepid cook in the kitchen. A glance at the menu, and you’ll realise how the man effortlessly experiments and yet manages to keep intact traditional tastes, by offering recipes with a twist. When it is about festivals like Holi, Chef Ravi believes that traditional recipes are the best bet. “I am from Uttar Pradesh and Holi there means we gorge on gujjiyas, dahi vada, and kaanji vada. After we play Holi, we have at least one non-vegetarian item for lunch,” he says. Kaanji vada, one of the mandatory dishes, has an interesting tale associated with it. “We say goodbye to winter with kaanji vada. It is the first cold dish that we start eating. It is prepared fermented in a pot, and when it is ready, the oldest person of the family serves it to everyone. My daadaji (paternal grandfather) used to serve us,” recollects the chef. Flatter than a medhu vada, these round doughnut-like treats are served throughout the day.

Ingredients

For vada: Urad dal (washed): 400gm  
Refined oil: 50ml 
For kaanji water: Red mustard seeds: 50gm  
Turmeric powder: 10gm  
Asafoetida (hing): 4gm  
Salt:20gm 
Black salt:10gm  
Water: 2 litres.

Method
■ Soak urad dal in water for a few hours (till it absorbs sufficient water).
■ Make a coarse paste of soaked mustard seeds in a mixer with little water.
■ Add turmeric powder, asafoetida, salt, black salt and mustard paste in 2 litres of water and set aside.
■ Make a thick paste of urad daal in a grinder to make vadas. 
■ Heat oil in a pan, fashion vadas from urad dal paste, and deep fry until golden brown. Add them to the mustard paste and jar it. 
■ Keep the jar in sunlight for two days to allow the mixture to ferment.
■ Serve chilled. 

Shakkarpara
Sujan Mukherjee, Executive Chef at Taj Coromandel
Executive Chef Sujan Mukherjee’s memories of Holi comes from his days as a carefree little boy, when he used to play dol jatra, the Bengali version of Holi. “A day before the dol, we burned an effigy in our colony. After playing with the colours, we used to jump into a pool and stay there for hours, trying to get clean. I remember how red the water used to be, even after a few days,” the chef reminisces. However his most memorable Holi would be the time he spent at Shanthinikethan. “Students gathered to dance, sing, play with colours and be one with nature. Everyone dressed up in traditional Bengali clothes and played dol at the university. I still miss those days,” says the chef. Sujan personally prefers indulging in aloo tikki chaat and pakoras during Holi, but he

recommends making the traditional shakkarpara as a part of the Holi treats. The shakkarpara are sugar-coated pieces of deep-fried flour, which can be store adding, “It is high on sugar and easily digestible in the system. During Holi there is a lot of physical activity involved, so the sugar tends to burn out faster, too.” 

Ingredients
Refined wheat flour: 1 kilo
Sugar: 200gm 
Ghee: 100gm 
Water 500 ml 
Ghee (for frying): 3 litres

Method
■ Sieve the flour.
■ Mix sugar and water together until sugar dissolves.
■ Mix all the ingredients and knead into a firm dough.
■ Roll the dough till it is about a centimeter thick and cut into desired shapes.
■ Deep fry the shakkarpara in a slow heat until crisp and cooked.
 

Gujjiya
Satej Saigaonkar, Executive Chef, Holiday Inn Chennai 
Somehow festivals evoke bittersweet nostalgia when celebrated outside India, and it was no different for Executive Chef Satej Saigaonkar at Holiday Inn Chennai. A true blue Maharashtrian, Satej recounts of a time in the early-2000s, when he celebrated a very special Holi back in Washington DC. “There were very few Indians there. I was feeling particularly homesick as Holi was approaching. My executive chef there noticed, and in a very sweet gesture, threw a surprise Holi bash for all of us. I made it a point to make all my Maharashtrian favourites including puran poli, modaks, a baked version of the gujjiya and the katta sa rasa,” says Satej. In Maharashtra, Satej says, Holi is celebrated a day before the actual festival and involves a pooja and Bhogi.

Ingredients

For the filling:
Grated jaggery: 2 cups
Whole wheat flour: 1 cup 
Grated dry coconut: 1 cup 
Semolina: 1/2 cup 
Sesame seeds: 1/4 cup  
Poppy seeds: 1/4 cup  
Almond oil: 3tbsp  
Cardamom powder: 1 tsp  
Nutmeg: A pinch  

For the crust:
Semolina: 1/2 cup  
All-purpose flour: 1/2 cup  
Salt: 1 tsp  
Sugar: 2-3 tbsp  
Oil or ghee: 2-3 tbsp  
Milk+water: 1 cup 
Oil to deep fry.

Method
■ To make the filling, dry-roast the coconut, sesame and poppy seeds in a pan separately until they turn golden brown. Grind. 
■  Roast the semolina in a pan with 1 tbsp ghee or oil till it turns golden brown. Set aside.
■  Finely grind all the ingredients for filling, semolina, jaggery, cardamom and nutmeg. 
■  To make the outer crust, heat 3 tbsps of ghee in a pan. Mix flour, semolina, sugar and salt into a bowl. Pour hot ghee and milk and knead. 
■  Once the dough is pliable, cover it with a damp cloth and rest it for at least two hours.
■  Next, divide it into four equal-sized balls. Roll them out, apply a thin layer of oil and mould to form tight rolls.
■  Cut each of these four elongated rolls into 10 one-inch pieces each. Set aside.
■  Shape each of these into small circular pooris. Place the filling on one side, and fold the other half, till you have a crescent shaped poori. Repeat for the others.
■ Deep fry all the prepared gujjiyas in hot oil, until golden brown. Serve hot.