A refreshing beverage, thandai is quite popular during the festival of Holi
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Holi hai! Soon, you will be hearing this phrase as people are getting ready to bid goodbye to March by celebrating the festival of Holi! Apart from playing with colours, another thing that people love doing is treating themselves with tasty dishes and making oneself content and happy! Although the list of dishes that are popular during Holi is quite long, there are three delights without which the festival of colours is incomplete. Yes, you guessed right. These three treats are thandai, malpua, and gujiya.
Popular in every part of the country, any Holi party or celebration witnesses the presence of these food items. A traditional Indian beverage, thandai holds deep cultural significance in festivals like Holi and is famous for its blend of spices, nuts, and milk. A kind of sweet pancake, malpua is prepared from a batter that consists of flour, milk, and sugar. To enhance the flavour, the batter is often flavoured with cardamom powder, and saffron. To boost the flavour and texture, ingredients like paneer, mashed bananas, and dry fruits like chopped almonds and cashews are added. Last but not the least, gujiya is another sweet delight and is filled with stuffing of khoya, sugar, and dry fruits of one’s choice.
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To make your festival flavourful, Maharaj Bhawar Singh, Corporate Chef at Khandani Rajdhani has especially crafted the recipes which can be tried at home.
Thandai Recipe
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Ingredients for Thandai preparations:-
- 8 1/2 cups full-fat milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup almonds (badam)
- 1 cup cashew nuts (kaju)
- 1 cup pistachios
- 4 tbsp melon seeds (charmagaz)
- 20 whole black peppercorns (kalimirch)
- 2 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds (saunf)
- 2 small stick cinnamon (dalchini)
- 2 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds (khus-khus)
- 16 cardamoms (elaichi)
- 4 tbsp dry rose petals
- 1 tsp saffron (kesar) strands
- 2 tbsp warm milk
For The Garnish
- 8 tsp finely chopped pistachios
- A few saffron (kesar) strands
Method to make thandai:-
1. Combine the saffron & 2 tbsp warm milk in a bowl and keep aside.
2. Boil the milk and sugar in a deep non-stick pan then refrigerate the milk till cold & keep aside.
3. In a bowl, add almonds, cashews, pistachios, watermelon seeds, black peppercorns, fennel seeds, cinnamon, poppy seeds, cardamom, rose petals and enough water for at least 2 hours then drain well and do not discard the soaked water.
4. Blend in a mixer using 1/2 cup of soaked water till it’s smooth.
5. Combine the cold milk, prepared paste and saffron-milk mixture in a big mixer jar and blend till smooth & drain using a strainer.
6. Pour equal parts of the thandai into a glass.
7. Serve the thandai chilled garnish with chopped pistachio and saffron strands.
Malpua Recipe:
Ingredients for Malpua preparations:-
- 8 tbsp plain flour (maida)
- 1 cup fresh cream
- Ghee for greasing and cooking
For The Sugar Syrup
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tsp rose water
- 4 pinches of saffron (kesar) strands dissolved in 4 tsp milk
For The Garnish
- 2 tbsp almond (badam) slivers
- 2 tbsp pistachio slivers
Method For the sugar syrup
1. Combine the sugar & 1/2 cup of water in a broad non-stick pan, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 5 to 7 minutes or till the sugar syrup gets consistent.
2. Add the rose water and switch off the flame & add the saffron-milk mixture, mix well and keep aside.
Method to make malpua
1. Combine the plain flour & fresh cream in a bowl and mix well until no lumps remain then keep aside.
2. Heat a non-stick tava (griddle) and grease it lightly with little ghee, pour a little batter on a greased tava (griddle) and spread it evenly to make a 75 mm. (3”) diameter circle.
3. Cook on both the sides, using a little ghee, till it turns golden brown in colour.
4. Dip the malpua in the warm sugar syrup & repeat the same process with the remaining batter to make multiple malpuas
5. Serve immediately & garnish it with almond and pistachio slivers.
Mawa Karanji/Gujiya recipe:
Ingredients for Mawa Karanji/Gujiya:-
- 2 cup crumbled mawa (khoya)
- 2 cup plain flour (maida)
- 2 tbsp melted ghee
- A pinch of salt
- 4 tbsp raisins (kismis)
- 4 tbsp almond (badam) slivers
- 4 tbsp pistachio slivers
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp cardamom (elaichi powder)
- A few saffron (kesar) strands
- Ghee for deep frying
Method to make Karanji/Gujiya
1. Combine plain flour, ghee and salt in a bowl, mix well and knead into firm dough using enough water, cover the dough with a lid and keep aside for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the mawa, raisins, almonds, pistachios, sugar, cardamom powder and saffron in a deep bowl and mix well using your hands.
3. Divide the stuffing into 12 equal portions and keep aside, divide the dough into 12 equal portions.
4. Roll out a portion of the dough into a 175mm (3”) diameter circle without using any flour for rolling.
5. Place a portion of the stuffing in the centre, fold it over to make a semi-circle & press the sides well.
6. Twist the sides of the karanji/gujiya inwards to form pleats to give its desired shape, repeat the same steps to make multiple karanjis/gujiya
7. Heat the ghee in a deep non-stick kadhai & deep fry a few more karanjis/gujiya at a time, on a medium flame till they turn golden brown in colour on all sides then drain on an absorbent paper.
8. Serve the mawa karanji/gujiya immediately or cool completely and store in an airtight container for two days.