Must-have Holi delights

Holi is here. And what better way to celebrate, than digging into some lip-smacking food and drinks

Green Peas Kachori

Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

• Maida – 2 cups
• Salt – ½ tsp
• Ghee – 1/4th cup
• Water – ½ cup

Method

• Take the flour in a mixing bowl; sprinkle salt evenly and mix well.
• Add the ghee in the flour and salt mix and rub it into the mix gently to make it into a crumbly mix.
• Add hot water to make semi-soft dough.
• Cover and rest the dough for 30 mins.

Stuffing

Ingredients:

• Green Peas – ½ cup
• Ghee – ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
• Cumin powder – ½ tsp
• Dry ginger powder – ½ tsp
• Corriander powder – 1 tsp
• Fennel crushed /9 saunf) – 1 tsp
• Dry mango powder – 1 tsp
• Salt - As required
• Chopped spring onion – 1 cup

Method:

• Roughly chop the green peas.
• Heat a pan, Add ½ Tbsp of Ghee. Heat the ghee on slow flame and add all the spice powders.
• Add the coarsely chopped green peas with a pinch of salt and asafoetida.
• Mix well and keep stirring constantly for three to four minutes.
• Let the mixture cook till the mixture smells cooked.
• Rub some oil on your palms and make small balls of this mixture.

Stuffing and making the kachoris:

• After 30 minutes, Lightly knead the dough.
• Roll the dough into a log, now cut the log into equal portions.
• Take a cutout dough portion and flatten it on your palms, now place one ball of Green peas filling in the centre of the dough and flatten it.
• Bring the edges of the dough towards the centre to seal the filling and pinch off the excess dough if any.
• Flatten the top and roll the Kachori with the rolling pin to get a medium thickness kachori.
• Stuff and prepare all the kachoris in this way and arrange on a greased plate.
• Add the kachoris for deep frying in oil when the oil is just hot enough.
• Keep flipping them over to get an even colour.
• These take about 8 to 9 mins to cook to a crisp golden brown.
• Adjust the heat between low and medium depending on the number of kachoris in the Kadhai.
• Deep fry in small batches to get even colour.
• Served hot with tamarind chutney, green chutney, and deep fried chillies.

Thandai

Gulab Kesari Thandai

(Serves 1)

Ingredients:

• Thandai masala paste – 1 tbsp
• Boiled chilled full-fat milk – 200 ml
• Sugar powder – 2 tbsp
• Gulkand – 1 tbsp
• Mixed chopped nuts – 1 tbsp
• Rose syrup – 4 tbsp
• Dry rose petals – 1 tsp
• Saffron – as required

Method

• Take chilled milk and add the thandai masala paste, sugar, rose syrup, and gulkhand and stir well to mix all the ingredients evenly.
• Garnish with the chopped nuts and the dry rose petals.
• Served chilled
• Thandai masala paste.

(Recipe for 10 Portions of 250 ml each).
Ingredients:

• Peeled Almonds – ½ cup
• Cashewnut – ½ cup
• Black peppercorn – 25 to 30 corns
• Elaichi – 25 to 30 pieces
• Poppy seeds (khus khus) – 2 tbsp
• Fennel seeds – 2 tbsp
• Melon seeds (charmagaj) – 2 tbsp
• Saffron – 25 to 30 strands
• Dry rose petals – 2 tbsp

Method

• Soak all the ingredients in water for a minimum of four hours.
• Strain all the ingredients out from the water.
• Grind the ingredients in a wet grinder to smooth paste.
• Store in an air-tight container.
• Can be stored for 3 days in the refrigerator.

(Recipe courtesy: Maharaj Jodharam Choudhary, corporate chef, Khandani Rajdhani)