What is the festival of Holi if there are no sweets and chilled drinks? To add more colour to your festivities, try these simple fusion specialties in the comfort of your home. Curated by city-based chefs, these recipes are also perfect for a Holi after-party.
Lemongrass and Rasmalai Mousse
Add an Asian twist to your rasmalai with chef Varun M B’s Lemongrass and Rasmalai Mousse recipe. Novotel Airport Hyderabad’s executive chef combines decadent mousse and rasmalai with flavours like lemongrass and white chocolate. This recipe is simple and can be made in less than five steps.
Ingredients:
Egg yolk - 1 | Sugar - 5 grams | Whipped cream - 70 grams | Lemongrass purée - 65 grams | White chocolate, melted - 10 grams | Gelatin - 5 grams (Soaked in 15 ml of cold water for a minute) | Milk - 25 ml | Rasmalai - as per requirement
Method:
● In a vessel, boil milk and white chocolate together. Keep stirring until the milk turns creamy.
● Meanwhile, in a separate bowl take egg yolk, sugar and whisk it, till it reaches a meringue-like texture.
● Now, cook the gelatin for 30 seconds and keep it aside. Fold all these three mixtures with a semi-whipped cream. Take a mould and place a bite-sized piece of rasmalai in the centre and fill it with the milk meringue-gelatin concoction. Deep freeze for four hours or till the mixture is set.
● Finally, de-mould the dessert and garnish with fruits.
Oud Smoked Thandai
There is no festival without a thandai or a chilled drink. And, if you wish it to take a step further and make your drink more interesting, then look no further than chef Shivneet Pohoja’s Oud smoked thandai. The executive chef of ITC Kohenur tells us that adding smoked agarwood or oud to the thandai, makes it aromatic.
Ingredients:
Milk - 3 cups | Almonds - 3 tablespoons | Pistachios - 2 tablespoons | Dried rose petals - 2 tablespoons | Saffron strands - 1 pinch | Cardamom - 3 | Sugar- ½ cup | Poppy seeds - 2 teaspoons | Cashew nuts- 2 tablespoons | Black pepper- ½ teaspoon | Fennel seeds- 1 tablespoon | Water - 1 cup | Agarwood’s chiplet - ¼ cup
Method:
● Soak almonds and pistachios in warm water and peel them. Also, peel the cardamom pods and keep the seeds aside.
● Take one cup of water, add cashew nuts, peeled almonds, pistachios, poppy seeds, fennel seeds, and dried rose petals. Soak them for an hour.
● In a blender add the soaked mixture, seeds of cardamom, and sugar. Blend these ingredients into a fine paste. To this, add chilled milk and give it a nice mix. Your thandai is ready.
● Now, for a smoky twist, burn agarwood and place an earthenware pot upside down on the smoke.
● Pour the thandai into the earthenware pot and allow it to absorb the earthy flavours of agarwood. Transfer it to serving glasses and garnish it with chopped almonds, pistachios, and saffron strands.
Sunnundalu Rose Petal Rabari
The executive sous chef of Ibis, Hitec City, N Arun Kumar loves playing with his favourite Indian mithai. One of his signature dishes happens to be the famous Telugu sweet, Sunnundalu. This Holi, he adds a modern twist to the dish by adding rose-flavoured rabari.
Ingredients:
Urad dal - 100 grams | Sugar - 100 grams | Ghee - 100 millilitres | Elachi powder - optional | Dried rose petals - 10 grams
Rose Petal Rabari:
Milk - ¾ litre | Sugar - cup | Rose essence - ¼ teaspoon | Almonds, chopped - one tablespoon | Fresh rose petals
Method:
Sunnundalu:
● Take a kadhai and dry roast the urad dal, till it turns brown. And, keep it aside to cool down. Then, make a fine powder of the dal using a blender. Also, grind sugar into a fine powder.
● Heat the ghee in a small vessel and keep it aside. In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and ground urad dal flour. To this, add ¼ glass of warm ghee.
● Roll the mixture in the shape of laddoos.
Rose petal rabari:
● In a heavy-bottomed pan, boil milk and allow it to simmer for a few minutes. Also, keep scraping the malai from the sides of the vessel and add it to the boiling milk. Repeat the process till the milk becomes thick.
● Now, add fresh rose petals, sugar and whisk them together for five minutes. Then, allow the milk to simmer for another five minutes or till it reaches a creamy consistency.
● Finally, finish the rabari with nuts and rose essence. Add sunnundalu to the rabari.
● Serve the dessert garnished with rose petals.
Chocolate Gujiya
Gujiya or Indian-fried dumplings often make their presence during the Holi festivities. The executive chef of Park Hyatt, Hameed Farook, combines the traditional festival spirit with chocolate indulgence. His recipe, Gujiya stuffed with coconut, chocolate, pistachio, and khoya is a rather interesting take on the sweet.
Ingredients:
Maida - 250 grams | Sugar - 250 grams | Salt - five grams | Pista - 50 grams | Choco chips - 50 grams | Fresh coconut - 50 grams | Cheese mawa - 75 grams | Saffron - 0.1 grams | Water - 150 ml | Semolina - 25 grams | Cardamom powder - five grams | Ghee - 250 grams
Method:
Dough:
● Start by mixing flour, ghee, semolina, salt, and water in a mixing bowl. Knead the mixture until it becomes semi-hard. Rest it for 45 minutes.
Gujiyas:
● To prepare the stuffing, mix khoya, choco chips, grated coconut, chopped pistachio, sugar, and cardamom powder.
● Roll the dough into 50 gram balls, roll it thinly and then fill it with the khoya stuffing. Fold it into a crescent or round-shaped mould. Close the edges using water.
● Now, heat ghee and fry the gujiyas until they turn golden brown.
● Prepare sugar syrup by using a 1:1 ratio of sugar and water. Dip the gujiyas in the sugar syrup for five minutes.
● Serve the gujiyas warm.
— bsuchitra@newindianexpress.com