We invited readers to share some of their favourite Holi recipes with us. As part of an ongoing series, here are four desserts that you can prepare for friends and family:
First up, is everyone's favourite Thandai contributed by Rubia Taneja:
Cuisine: Punjabi
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 litre milk
- 2 tsp khus khus (poppy seeds)
- Sugar to taste
- 15 almonds
- 8 cardamom pods
- 6 pepper corns
Preparation:
- Boil the milk and keep to cool.
- When the milk is at room temperature, add the grated almonds, khus khus and sugar and keep overnight.
- Add the roughly ground cardamom to the milk and refrigerate.
- Serve cold the next day with a few cubes of ice.
Health quotient: This recipe is good for the brain thanks to the almonds.
Next up is Rohini's recipe for Semolina Mango Custard:
Cuisine: South Indian
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 200 gm roasted semolina
- 300 gms sugar
- 1.5 l milk
- 5-6 strands kesar (saffron)
- 1/4 tsp elaichi powder (cardamom)
- Roasted dry fruits: almonds, cashew, raisins
- 1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into small pieces
- 4 tsp vanilla custard power
Method:
- Cook the roasted semolina in the milk for 15 minutes.
- Once cooked, add sugar, cardamom powder, kesar and stir for 5 minutes
- Mix the custard power in a cup of cold milk and add to the boiling mixture, stirring continuously.
- Turn off the heat after 5 minutes and allow to cool.
- Once cool down add mango slices and refrigerate for 2-3 hours for setting.
- Garnish with dry fruits before serving.
Next Prateeksha Pagare shares her mom's recipe for Puranpoli:
Cuisine: Maharashtrian
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
For the filling (puran)
- 1 cup soaked chana dal (split chickpeas)
- 1/2 cup jaggery
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp dry ginger powder
- 1 tsp cardomom powder
- 1 tsp nutmeg powder
For the cover
- 1 cup wheat flour
- 1/2 cup refined flour
- 1/2 cup rava (semolina)
- 1/2 cup oil
- Salt as per taste
- Ghee (clarified butter) for applying on puranpoli
Method
- Soaked the dal in water for 1-2 hours.
- Boil the dal till half cooked and drain the excess water.
- Add the jaggery and sugar and cook further until soft.
- Mash into smooth thick paste and add all the powders.
- Divide the paste in 8-10 little balls.
- Next, knead the wheat, maida, rava and oil into a soft dough adding a little water. Divide this into 8-10 balls.
- With greased palms, take one portion of dough and flatten it into a disc of the size of your palm. Place a ball of paste in the centre and fold the disc from all sides to cover the paste completely.
- On a well-floured board or a sheet of clean transparent plastic wrap, gently roll out each poli.
- Roast each poli on a hot, dry gridle. Do not use oil or ghee.
- Smear with ghee on both sides when done and serve warm with a bowl of milk.
Health quotient: Chana is a good source of protein while jaggery is good source of iron.
And last, Ria shares her mother-in-law's recipe for Malpua:
Cuisine: This is the Bengali version
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
For Malpua
- 1/2 cup maida (refined flour)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp saunf (aniseed)
- 2 tsp coconut
- 1/2 cup rava (semolina)
- Ghee or oil (for frying)
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup khoya (dried, thickened milk)
For sugar syrup
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 cups water
Method:
- Make the sugar syrup first by adding the sugar and water in a saucepan and allowing to simmer for 8-10 minutes till a thick syrup is formed.
- In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the malpua with milk to make a smooth batter.
- Heat the oil/ghee and pour in the batter to form small pancakes. Fry till golden brown.
- Drop the malpuas in the sugar syrup and serve hot.
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