The Festival of Colors

Published by islandpalate at 1:51 pm under Holiday food, recipes Edit This

This weekend every one is celebrating religious/cultural holidays. The Jews had Purim yesterday. Today is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter for Christians and the Hindus have Holi.

Holi is a very festive holiday celebrated by Hindus in India and the world over. Of course, it is celebrated widely in India, Trinidad and Guyana. Even in NY, our local mostly Caribbean Indian community has a Holi Parade tomorrow at noon at 133rd Street & Liberty Avenue if anyone in the NY area is interested. Holi is celebrated by throwing colored powders on people, so wear your old clothes. For more about the origins of the holiday, please see here .

Just like yesterday, since this is a food blog, here are a few traditional Holi recipes:

Gujia

Ingredients:
500 gms maida (flour)
1kg khoya
3 tbsps kismis (raisins)
200 gms almonds (cut into thin strips)
6 tbsps cooking oil. ( keep some more aside for deep frying)
200 ml water
500 gms sugar.

Method:

Mix the six tablespoons of oil with the maida.
Now add some water as required and knead into soft dough.
Set aside and cover with a damp cloth.
Fry khoya in a deep-frying pan to a light brown color.
Add sugar, almonds and kismis into the khoya and mix well.
Remove from the fire and let it cool.
Roll out the kneaded dough into a small and thick chapatti.
Fill half the chapati with the khoya mixture and seal the round, twisting the edges inwards.
Deep-fry these gujhias to a deep golden brown color on slow flame.
Take them out with a sieve type ladle and drain the oil completely.

Note - Makes about 40 gujhias.

Dahi Bhalle

Ingredients:

For Bhallas:
1 Cup Urad daal
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

For Dahi:
1 kg Dhabi(yogurt)
1/2 tsp. grated Ginger
Finely chopped coriander leaves
1-2 green chilies chopped
Salt to taste
2tsp Roasted cumin (jeera) powder
Red chili powder to taste

Method:

For Bhallas: