15+ Holi Delicacies For You to Try This Holi | Holi Recipe Collection

15+ Holi Delicacies For You to Try This Holi
Holi #Recipe Collection

Holi is the Indian festival of colours. The festival has a strong mythological background and it signifies the victory of good over evil. To celebrate this victory, getting soaked in a plethora of colours in a norm on this occasion. You will surely find people playing with and getting drenched in colours on the streets on the day of Holi. As much as colours are a part of this festive occasion, so is delicious food. No Indian festival is complete without food.

Think of Holi and you cannot stop yourself from thinking about Thandai, Gujias, Samosa , Dahi Vada, and a variety of other sumptuous dishes that are prepared on the occasion of Holi.

So, while you plan to enjoy the festival day with colours, gulaal, pichkaris, dancing and merrymaking, here is a list of Holi delicacies, both sweet and savoury, that can make the festival even more special.

Thandai Syrup Recipe | How to Make Thandai Syrup at Home From Scratch | Holi Recipes

Thandai is rich milk based Indian drink. It is most popularly consumed during the Indian festival of colours – Holi. I have been making Thandai syrup/concentrate at home for past couple of years and believe me it is so simple to make it that you would never want to get a bottle of ready-made Thandai syrup. In this post, I am going to tell you how to make Thandai Syrup at home from scratch.

It is one of those stellar recipes that I discovered when I started food blogging years ago. I had tried it from here and instantly I fell in love with the recipe. I had even done a blog post on it here and after all these years I think it seems to be lost in the labyrinths of this blog. So, I think it is worth re-posting it. Since I am making it for quite some time now; I have fine-tuned the recipe to my own liking and taste.

I like to believe that Thandai is a drink fit for the Royals – with almonds, saffron, cardamom, rose water, et al, in the right amounts you cannot go wrong. One glance at the recipe and it may seem to be a daunting one, but is NOT.  

Read the recipe well; gather all the ingredients at one place before you set out to make it. 

Original Post

How to Make Thandai Syrup from Scratch

Yields -  1 litre of ready-to-use Thandai syrup

Prep Time: 20 minutes + soaking time

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup almonds, soaked overnight and blanched

Soak these together in water overnight

3 tbsp poppy seeds

3 tbsp dried melon seeds

Soak these ingredients in ¼ cup of water overnight and then grind it

1 tbsp green cardamom
3 tbsp whole black pepper 

3 tbsp fennel seeds

1 kg sugar
1 cup water + add 1/4 cup more if needed
3 tbsp rose petal spread (Gulkand)
25-30 strands saffron (Rub it in a pestle and mortar with  a few drops of water and sugar crystals)
1 tsp rose water 

Process:

1. In a blender jar add the blanched almonds. Drain water from poppy seeds and melon seeds and tip them into the mixer jar and using very little water grind it into a fine paste. Strain through a muslin cloth and extract all the liquid and keep aside. You may add little water to the residue and churn it again in the mixer again and repeat the process of straining again.

2. Add the rose petal spread to the ground cardamom-pepper-fennel mixture and mix well. Strain through a fine plastic net and extract all the liquid and keep aside. It is okay if the extracted liquid has some fine residue. 

3. Mix both the extracted liquids and keep aside.

4. Add the sugar and 1 cup of water in a deep thick bottom pan and cook until the sugar dissolves.

It may take some time for the sugar to dissolve. Bring it to boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.

5. Remove from the heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Add the extracted liquid to it and stir.

Heat it again and bring it to a boil and then turn the heat to medium and simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring constantly.

6. Remove from the heat and cool till warm and then add the rubbed saffron mixture and rose water and mix well.When the Thandai syrup completely cools down, use a funnel to pour into a sterilized bottle. It keeps well for at least 3 months when kept in the refrigerator.

7. To make a glass of Thandai add 2 tbsp syrup and top it with 200 ml chilled milk. Stir vigorously. Garnish with almond slivers, chopped pistachios and saffron strands.

Notes: 

1. Don't be tempted to add more than 1+ 1/4 cup of water to 1 kg sugar, else the final syrup will be very thin.

2. If the syrup crystallizes in the process of cooling, add 1/4 cup of hot water and give it a good stir.

3. If you do not have all the ingredients listed to make thandai, you can try a combination of almonds + cardamom or almonds + kesar to get almond syrup. The process will be same.

4. The residue of almond+poppy seeds+melon seeds can be used in gravies if used on the same day.

5. In order to sterilize a glass bottle with no metal parts on it, place a thoroughly cleaned, washed and dried bottle in microwave and microwave it for 1 minute. Use it to store the Thandai syrup when it comes back to room temperature.

I hope you try out this recipe and enjoy a glass of chilled Thandai to beat the heat this summer. 

Looking for more Holi recipes, check out

Dahi Vada
Namakpare
Papdi Chaat 

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Dahi Vada Recipe | How to Make Dahi Vada | Holi Recipes

Dahi Vada is one of the must prepare dishes for Holi. Soft urad dal dumplings are soaked in spiced yoghurt and are topped with tamarind chutney and a special dahi vada masala.

At the very outset wish you all a very happy, safe and colourful Holi. Today is also International Women's Day. So, to all ladies out there, have a great day, celebrate womanhood! Cheers!

I guess people in India are celebrating Holi with full fervour. We too will have our share of celebrations but not until the weekend. Till then, I can obviously gorge on the Holi special delicacies. I had made this Thandai Syrup sometimes back and have been enjoying it since then. DH has asked me to make these Samosas. I have more snacks and sweets on the menu! Food is such an integral part of our festivals that you can't simply do without them.

These Dahi Vadas are a hit in my house and holi is just an excuse to make them one more time. As both of us are 'nuts' lover, I throw a handful of chopped cashews and raisins into the vada batter. If you don't like them, you can leave them out. I always made them in excess as they keep well for 2-3 days in the fridge. Let's hop over to the recipe now.

Dahi Vada Recipe

This recipe makes 8 servings.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Urad Dal (Skinless, Split Black gram)
1/4 cup chopped cashews
1/4 cup chopped raisins.
1 tsp of minced ginger.
2 green chillies chopped finely.
Salt to taste.

Oil to Deep Fry

750gm yoghurt
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
salt to taste

To Garnish
Tamarind Chutney
Roasted crushed cumin seeds
Red chilli powder.

Process:

1. Soak the dal/lentils for 3-4 hours.

2. Drain off all the water and churn it in a mixer grinder with little water to a fine paste. The consistency of the paste must be thick. Whisk it to incorporate air and fluff it up. Add the chopped cashews, raisins, chopped ginger and green chilli. Add salt as per taste.

3. Heat oil for frying. Drop spoonful of batter into hot oil, fry them till they are light golden brown. Keep the vadas on paper so that the excess oil is soaked out. Then transfer them to a bowl containing cold water.

4. Beat the yoghurt with water, sugar and salt so that it is smooth and has no lumps in it.

5. To serve to squeeze out excess water from the vada by placing it between the palms. Place the vadas in a bowl. Pour the yoghurt over it. Sprinkle the roasted cumin and red chilli powder over it. Garnish it one teaspoon of tamarind chutney.

Wishing you all once again a very happy Holi! Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Thandai ~ Spicy Almond Milk ~ Making Thandai Syrup From Scratch ~ Holi Special

It was only sometimes back when we were celebrating New Year and now already 2 months of the new year have passed by and March is here. One thing to look forward to in this month is the Indian festival of Holi. I had ranted a bit about it here last year. I have already geared up with a list of dishes to be prepared for this festival. 

To start off I have made this Thandai. This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogger, Rachana. I had bookmarked this recipe long back, but didn't make it till now since I didn't have the rose petal spread - gulkand, at hand. You can leave it out, but I wanted to follow the recipe to the T. So, I brought it on my last India visit. This recipe is unique from other on the web, cos Rachana gives a step by step method to make thandai syrup which last for months and once it is made, thandai can be whipped up in no time. I can safely say that I am going to make it again when my present stock of thandai syrup is over. Lets hop over tot he recipe.

Recipe Source: Veggi Fare

Ingredients 

1/2 cup almonds, soaked overnight and blanched

Mix and soak these ingredients together overnight

2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 dried melon seeds

Soak these ingredients in ¼ cup of water and then grind it

1/2 tbsp green cardamom
3 tbsp whole black pepper 

1 tbsp fennel seeds


4 cups caster sugar
1 1/4 cup water
2-3 tbsp rose petal spread, gulkand (I used one made by my Grand Mother, you can use store bought as well)
25-30 strands saffron (Rub it in a pestle and mortar with  a few drops of water before adding to syrup for color)
1 tsp rose water
a good pinch of cardamom powder
a good pinch of pepper powder

Process:

1. Grind together the blanched almonds, poppy seeds and melon seeds using very little water. Strain through a muslin cloth and extract all the liquid and keep aside. 
2. Add the rose petal spread to the ground cardamom-pepper-fennel mixture and mix well. Strain through a muslin cloth and extract all the liquid and keep aside. Discard the residue.
3. Mix both the extracted liquids and keep aside.
4. Meanwhile add the 4 cups of sugar and 1 1/4th cup of water in a deep pan and cook until the sugar dissolves. Bring to boil and simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Add the extracted liquid to it and stir.
5. Heat it again and bring it to a boil and then turn the heat to medium and simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring constantly.
6. Remove from the heat and cool till warm and then add the saffron strands or rubbed saffron mixture, cardamom powder, pepper powder and rose water and mix well.
7. When the thandai syrup completely cools down store it in sterilized bottle/bottles. It will keep well for months.

Note: 

1. If sugar crystals are formed while cooling the Thandai Syrup, add ½ cup of boiling water to it and stir.

2. I didn't rub the saffron before adding to the syrup so, it did not give out much color, but the flavor was there.

To prepare thandai to serve 1, add 2-3 tsp of the prepared syrup to 200 ml of cold milk and whiz in a blender. Garnish it with chopped nuts. Add ice if you like and serve cold immediately.

Linking it to Holi Fest at Sizzling Tastebuds and Summer Spunk at TomatoBlues

Also sending to Spotlight- Holi. Spotlight series is the brain child of Recipe Junction , Indian Simmer's IndianFoodPalooza and to Priti's Colour N Sweet Holi Fest

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!