3 Colourful Holi Dishes to Light up your Holi Party

Holi is celebrated in India with great pomp and joy. In fact, not only are our streets colourful on this day, so is our spirit. Then why shouldn’t our food be also as colourful? Here are 3 colourful Holi Dishes to Lit up your Holi Party – 

DAHI VADA

1. Blend 1 cup overnight soaked & drained urad dal in a mixer grinder, add ½ tsp chopped green chillies, 1 tsp chopped ginger, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 pinch of asafoetida (hing) and salt. Add ½ cup water in parts to make a smooth batter.
2. Remove the batter to a bowl and whip it for a couple of minutes to remove the air bubbles.
3. Heat oil for deep frying small balls of batter (vada) in a Kadai. You can check out Vinod Legacy Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Kadai. It heats your food evenly and enriches your food with iron. Fry the vadas until they are crisp and golden.
4. Once cooled, add the vada in water and soak them for 12-15minutes. Press each soaked vada between your palms to remove the water.
5. Now for the curd, beat ~2 cups of chilled yoghurt until smooth. The curd should have a sweet-sour taste. You add some sugar to it.
6. To assemble the Dahi vada, arrange the vada in a large serving bowl, pour the curd over the vada ensuring they are covered completely. Pour the green and tamarind chutney as you prefer. Sprinkle a few pinches of red chilli powder, cumin powder and chaat masala. Enjoy.

THANDAI

1. Take 1 cup of warm water and add all the dry ingredients of the Thandai – 3 tbsp almonds, 2 tbsp pistachios, 2tbsp white poppy seeds, ¼ cup melon seeds, 2 tbsp dried rose petals, 1 tbsp fennel seeds, ½ tsp black pepper. Mix them all very well. Cover the mixture and keep it aside for a minimum of 2 hours.
2. Blend the mixture in a grinder into a smooth and fine paste with some water. Add ½ cup sugar and 3-4 cardamoms. Thandai paste is ready.
3. In a glass, take 4 tbsp Thandai paste and add 1 cup of chilled milk. Sprinkle the Thandai with some saffron or dried rose petals before serving.
4. You can make other colourful variations of Thandai:- For Yellow Colour (Mango) – Add ⅓ cup mango pulp. For Brown Colour (Chocolate) – Blend with 1 to 2 tablespoons of drinking chocolate. For Pink Colour (Strawberry) – add ⅓ cup of crushed strawberries.

GUJIYA

Dough – 

1. Take 1 cup of wheat flour, 1 cup of maida and ¼ tsp salt in a large bowl. Add 2 tbsp warm ghee. Knead it into a firm and tight dough by adding 1/3 cup of water in parts. Cover it with a moist cloth and keep it aside.

Stuffing – 

1. Chop 10 pieces of almonds, pistachios, cashews each and ½ tbsp raisins. Set it aside.
2. Heat ½ ghee in a pan on low heat. Add 1 cup grated khoya and stir continuously till the khoya gathers around itself. Turn off the flame and add powdered sugar (sieved), the chopped nuts and ½ tsp cardamom powder. 

Assemble – 

1. Roll small balls of dough into a flat 4-inch diameter circle. Apply water to the circumference of the rolled dough. Place small amounts of khoya filling on the one-half side of the circle keeping the edges clean. Now bring the two edges together and make a pleated design on the edges by folding and twisting the edges. One Gujiya is ready. 
2. Deep fry the Gujiyas until golden and crisp. 

We hope you have a safe and colourful Holi this year! Do let us know which colourful dishes were loved by your friends and family in the comment section below.