Food: Recipes for some tasty Holi treats

Make the best of Holi, the festival of colours, with these easy to make delicious sweet and savoury dishes...

Kesari Malai Peda
By Chef Sanjeev Kapoor

Ingredients
4 cups milk
A few strands of saffron
A pinch of citric acid
2 tsp cornflour, dissolved in
2 tbsp of milk
1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
10 tsp diet sugar
8 almonds, chopped

Method
>> Bring milk to a boil in a deep pan and simmer till it reduces to half its original quantity. Add saffron and mix well.
>> Mix citric acid in two teaspoons of water and add to the thickened milk.
>> Add dissolved cornflour and stir continuously till the mixture thickens.
>> Add green cardamom powder and mix well.
>> Take pan off the heat and stir in the diet sugar and set aside to cool.
>> Divide the mixture into eight equal portions and shape them into round pedas. Sprinkle almonds over the pedas and serve.

Gujiya
By Chef Sanjeev Kapoor

Ingredients
For the filling
500 gm khoya/mawa
6 tbsp sugar
3¼ tsp desiccated coconut
15 cashewnuts (blanched and chopped)
15 almonds (blanched and chopped)
20 raisins
1/2 tsp green cardamom or nutmeg powder
For the outer covering
4 cups refined flour (maida)
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp ghee
Gujiya mould

Method
>> Preheat the oven to 180°C.
>> Mash khoya and roast it in a deep pan on medium heat till pink. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
>> Add all the other filling ingredients to the khoya and keep aside.
>> To prepare the covering, sieve flour and salt, and rub in five tablespoons of ghee. Add enough water and knead into a firm dough. Cover it
with a moist cloth and keep aside for fifteen minutes.
>> Divide the dough into small balls and roll each ball into a small puri.
>> Spread a puri on a greased gujiya mould and fill a tablespoon of the filling mixture on one side.
>> Moisten the edges of the puri and fold one side of the mould over the other. Press the edges and remove the excess dough and reuse.
>> Prepare all the gujiyas and spread on a damp cloth.
>> Place the gujiyas on the baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve.

Paneer Moongdal Samosa

Ingredients
For covering 
1½ cups refined flour + for dusting 
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp carom seeds 
6 tbsp ghee 
Oil to deep fry
For stuffing 
400 gm cottage cheese, grated 
1/2 cup split green gram skinless, boiled and mashed 
3-4 green chillies, chopped 
1 inch piece ginger, chopped 
1/4 tsp carom seeds 
1½ tsp red chilli powder 
1 tsp cumin seeds 
2 tsp chaat masala 
2 tbsp raisins 
Salt to taste

Method
>> Sift refined flour with salt in a large bowl. 
>> Add carom seeds and warm ghee and knead to stiff dough with one-fourth cup plus two tbsp of water. 
>> Cover with a damp muslin cloth and set aside for 15 minutes. 
>> To prepare the stuffing, take green gram in a bowl, add cottage cheese, green chillies, ginger, carom seeds, red chilli powder, cumin seeds, 
chaat masala, raisins and salt and mix. 
>> Divide dough into marble-sized balls and roll each into an oval shaped puri. Cut into half. 
>> Place one half on your palm, dampen the edges lightly and shape into a cone. Stuff it with the stuffing generously. 
>> Dampen the open edge and seal it. 
>> Prepare the remaining samosas similarly. Heat sufficient oil in a non-stick kadai taking care that it does not get too hot. 
>> Slide the samosas gently into the oil and deep fry till evenly golden and crisp. 
>> Drain on absorbent paper. Serve hot with a chutney of your choice.

Gulkand Thandai Sorbet
By Chef Puran Tamang

Ingredients
300 ml milk
100 gm sugar
15 gm fennel seeds
4 gm black peppercorn
35 gm gulkand
20 gm almond
1 betel leaf

Method
>> Soak almonds in milk and let it boil. Add sugar and allow it to dissolve. Once sugar is dissolved, turn off the heat and allow it to cool.
>> De-skin soaked almond and place in a bowl.
>> To this bowl, add gulkand, betel leaf, black peppercorn and fennel seeds.
>> Grind all of the above ingredients into a fine paste and mix with cold milk.
>> Strain the above mixture in a bowl and store in the freezer.
>> Once the sorbet is completely frozen, remove from the freezer and scoop it in a bowl.
>> Garnish with saffron strands and almond flakes.

Go Green with curry leaves oil

Ingredients
>> 15g fried curry leaves
>> 75ml mustard oil

Method
>> Roast the curry leaves until very crisp. Crush the curry leaves and form a powder
>> Mix this powder to warm mustard oil. It will take a green colour within 20 minutes

Turn pink with sumac powder

Ingredients
Sumac oil
>> ½ cup sumac powder (which is derived from the shrub’s berries after drying them. It is readily available in the market)
>> 1 cup olive oil
>> 1 small bowl boiled chickpeas
>> ¼ cup tahini
>> 2 cloves garlic
>> ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
>> 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
>> Salt to taste

Method
>> Heat the olive oil and pour it over sumac powder and keep overnight so the oil retains the reddish sumac colour
>> Drain and rinse the boiled chickpeas, reserving ½ cup chickpea liquid
>> Place the tahini in a food processor, or blender, and pulse with the garlic and lemon juice until smooth
>> Add the ½ cup reserved chickpea liquid and the chickpeas
>> Process until well blended. Add the sumac sediments separating the oil. Set aside
>> To serve, spread the hummus on a shallow platter and make a small well in the centre, with a spoon. Pour two tsp of sumac oil into the well.
Serve with toasted pita

* Both the above dishes have been prepared by Chef Gautam Mehrishi

The different hues of olives
According to Chef Mehrishi, green olive dust can be used to get a rust-brown colour, while black olives give a black powder. Deseed the olives, drain them and pat them dry. roast them in the oven for five hours and chop them. Roast the chopped olives for two hours. Powder it in the mixer and seive it. Store the powder in the fridge.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!