HOLIalso known as the Spring Festival Of India is a festival of colors. The festival is celebrated in the month of March or April depending on the dates as per the Hindu Calendar. Unlike all other festivals in India, Holi is one such occasion where can put down the social taboos. With this i mean that one can indulge into intoxicating drinks and sweets made using opium seeds. Holi is also symbolized as the festival of romance represented by the love play of Lord Krishna and Radha. Brij ki Holi is one such example where the festival is still celebrated keeping the essence of the old times alive. This is the only celebrated festival in India where both men and women play colors together keeping all social taboos aside. As i am not much aware about the customs of Holi, hence i thought to read few articles and came across one beautifully written article at Karma Yog which describes the customs of Holi beautifully.
It says : “Holi is the festival of Spring, the festival of romance, the festival of the triumph of good over evil, a festival of colors and festival of fun and pranks. It is a festival to shake off the shackles of what is to be done and what is not to be done for once and loosen up a bit. It is a festival to let your hair down and do what you like, say what you like and meet and tease anybody you like. The best part is that all the offences and anger gets dissolved with one boisterous shout of ‘Bura na mano, holi hai!’ (Don’t be angry, it’s Holi!). This shout is considered to be a part of the long tradition of the festival of Holi. The festival is celebrated on the full-moon day of Phalguna, though it stretched up to a week in Northern India and six-day long in Manipur. As the tradition goes all the people gather around on a day before the Holi as we know it, it is the evening of bonfires. People light up bonfires of dead leaves, twigs and sticks and people dance and sing around it to welcome the Spring and commemorate the saving of Prahlad and burning of his wicked aunt Holika. People take embers from this holy fire to rekindle their own domestic fires. ”
It’s been long i have been wanting to invite my blogger friends for a recipe round up on my blog. What better than the occasion of Holi. Though my blog has a lot of sweet and dessert recipes, but nothing particularly for Holi. It was a few days back when i added Rajasthani Mawa Kachori and Mawa Gujiya recipes on my blog. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my talented food blogger friends for sharing their amazing recipes with me in my Holi Collection. Check out the amazing and delightful 12 Holi special recipes and add more glories and glitters to the festival. Wishing all my readers, followers, friends and colleagues A VERY HAPPY HOLI !
1. Shakkarpara – Sugar Coated Diamond Crisps by Jagruti’s Cooking Odyssey
Sweet and crispy authentic Indian delicacy – Shakkarpara, is a sweet treat, prepared on countless festivals, especially during Holi & Diwali. Also this delicacy is offered as Prasad to Lord Krishna in many many temples in India, not necessarily in diamond shape, they are called THOR or Sweet Mathri, little bigger in size and are round flat balls. These days, shakkarpara are not made as much at home, this treat doesn’t come to peoples minds so much, they want a quick fix! Shakkarpara ( Shakkar in Hindi translates Sugar, Para means fried Piece if Pastry ) is made with plain flour, fried in pure ghee or oil then coated in sugar syrup. Sugar coated Shakkarpara are mainly available in North India and Rajasthan. There is another way of making Shakkarpara where you add sugar or Jaggery while kneading the dough (sweetens the dough) and also can be made with chapatti flour too.
Recipe : Read more at Jagruti’s Cooking Odyssey
2. Vanilla & Pomegranate Cake with Pomegranate Syrup by Anshu Pande
For all who want to try out something different this Holi, here’s presenting a very different yet scrumptious Holi dessert…. Vanilla & Pomegranate Cake with Pomegranate syrup and arils to beauty it. The best part of this cake is the syrup that takes the cake to a next level of deliciousness.
Recipe : Read more at The Secret Ingredient
3. Baked Mawa Potlis / Gujiyas by Alka Jena
Any festival is incomplete without dessert. Holi is one such festival which is all about riots of colors and can hardly be complete without a hearty dose of mawa gujiyas. A recipe made with dough stuffed with sweet filling of mawa and deep fried. Gujiyas have come a long way now, new shapes and fillings have emerged. Fe popular ones are the croissanr shaped, clove flavored lavang lathika , saffron tinged kesari ones, coin purse like potli gujiya and the phool gujiya that are garnished with rose petals.
Recipe : Read more at Culinary Xpress
4. Besan Mawa Burfi by Priti Singh
Besan Mawa Burfi or besan burfi is one of the popular burfi in and suits all festival, celebration, occasions etc. Besan burfi is made in few way mostly using sugar syrup and lot more ghee but here I have used easier way and used mawa (khoya), condensed milk which is very easy to prepare and taste creamy, delicious. If you have little of khoya with you then you can make this burfi in no time and specially now to holi. If you use sweetened khoya or mawa then you can skip sugar and use less of condensed milk to suit taste too. Mawa makes this burfi smooth and add texture to make it more delicious making it perfect for any festival or occasion.
Recipe : Read more at Indian Khana
5. Gulab Phirni by Anjana Bivin
If you are looking for something sweet yet light with a hint of the exotic, then this dessert is for you. That’s exactly what I craved one day. I knew phirni fit the bill perfectly. Phirniorfirniis an Indian dessert from the Punjab region. It is the more exotic cousin of a traditional Indian rice pudding orkheer. While a bowl of kheer is like a warm hug, a bowl of cold phirni is like a breath of cool, fresh air. Phirni is made with ground basmati rice cooked in milk, simmered and reduced till thick and creamy. This is sweetened and flavored with anything from cardamom to saffron to rose or even mango! As you can see, I used rose syrup here. It adds such a pretty pink color and a beautiful fragrance, not to mention flavor.
Recipe : Read more at At The Corner Of Happy & Harried
6. Dahi Wada on a Skewer by Shreya Ashish Tiwari
Who doesn’t like to have Dahi Wadas in Holi. Same regular recipe but served in a very contemporary way…yeah, You heard me right, dahi wada on skewers but with a healthy twist. Those regular fried versions are heavy to digest and often people don’t happily enjoy it specially if they are the weight watchers. So how about transforming it into a lighter version with almost zero oil. Appe pan vadas skewered and dunked in smooth curd mix and topped with your favorite spicy and tangy chutneys.
Recipe : Polka Puffs
7. Mawa Gulab Jamun by Sarika Seth Gunjal
The most popular sweet made during almost every special occasion is Gulab Jamun. These fried mawa balls dunked in sugar syrup is a quintessential sweet which is a must have in every celebrations in Indian homes. When its Holi and festivity is in the air, how can you resist yourself from making this famous and very favorite Indian mithai at home. Gear up and make this amazing sweet delicacy and celebrate Holi with colors and happiness.
Recipe : Read more at Spice Zone
8. Rangeela by Hetal Kamdar
Rageela, a drink that is specially created to rejoice the celebrations of Holi. Aromatic paan rabri topped with a dollop of saffrom cream and rose sondesh makes this drink appealing and very apt for the occasion. The drink is a blend of three recipes, paan rabri, saffron cream and roe sondesh. So wear your kitchen aprons and try out this colorful amazing chilled drink this Holi and gather all the love and praises from family and friends.
Recipe : Read more at Hetal Kamdar
9. Sooji Gujiya / Karanji by Priti Singh
We all love gujiya after all who can say no to these delicious sweet. For Diwali means gujiya in our home made with patience and love it’s a fruit of labor if you are new to making gujiya, once you get hang of it then it’s pieces of cake. So do not think making gujiya is complicated it’s just take little time that’s all but to eat the yummy gujiya or karanji trust me it’s worth it.
Recipe : Read more at Indian Khana
10. Thandai Panna Cotta with Rose & Saffron Jelly by Jagruti’s Cooking Odyssey
Holi is a time where everyone can fully take part in the festivities. Although the festival of Holi holds a religious value, for most of us Holi is a carefree, fun, exciting and joyful festival than religious observance. Holi is a feast full of colours, dance and boisterous occasion. In another words, Holi is a celebration of Life ! Thandai ( Thanda translates Cool ) is a refreshing and aromatic cold drink made with various nuts, seeds and spices and is drunk during the time of Holi especially. To give my kids a taste of this drink, I decided to make it at home and then adapt the recipe slightly by also making it as a panna cotta! Thandai can easily be made without the cannabis too! I also made jelly from agar agar and flavoured it with beautiful rose and saffron making it a perfect dessert to finish off any meal.
Recipe : Read more at Jagruti’s Cooking Odyssey
11. Gajar Kanji by Sonal Gupta
Kanji is a must have drink during Holi. It is fermented and ric in Vitamin C, hence very good for digestion. The flavors are obtained from the carrots and beets fermented in plain water along with coarsely ground mustard, red chili powder and salt. Fermentate in sun for 2-3 days and then it’s ready to use. Drink the water and have those pickled carrots…they taste super delicious.
Recipe : Read more at simplyvegetarian777
12. Pazhayana Kazhidalum, Pudiyana Pugudalum, Adhudaane Bhogi by Sindhu Sriram
The sweet channa dal & coconut stuffing with ghee is to die for combination and when you eat it hot, the taste is something else!! Out of this world. Prepare this amazing recipe this Holi and entice your guests.
Recipe : Read more at Neem And Turmeric
If you liked these assorted Holi recipes , please do drop in your valuable feedback in comments below. It would be really nice if you drop a word of appreciation on individual recipes at their respective blogs. Thanks for stopping by!
Much Love : Shaheen
