We are pleased to share a few Holi recipes with our readers by the Chefs at Byke Hospitality. Attached are the recipes of Puran Poli, Gujiya and Thandai Mousse – all ideal for the Holi feast.
With 17 hotels and resorts in India currently, The Byke provides you budget hotels with comfortable accommodation and best-in-class hospitality at marquee locations such as Matheran, Goa, Manali, Jaipur, Thane, Udaipur, Shimla, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kovalam, Junagadh, Ooty, Shirdi and Bodhgaya.
We owe a special thanks to Chef Nilesh Pawar, the head chef at the Byke Hospitality Group and Mrs Gita Hari who have helped compile these for our readers.
Gulab Jamun Thandai Mousse
INGREDIENTS
For the Thandai paste
Soaked and peeled Almonds – 20 nos
Cardamom powder – 4gms
Poppy seeds – 8 gms
Fennel powder – 2gms
Black pepper – 2gms
Pistachios – 10nos
Cashew – 10nos
Watermelon seeds – 25gms
For making mousse
White Melting Chocolate – 125 gms
Fresh cream – 40gm
Whipped cream – 80gm
Other ingredients
Small or normal-sized Gulab Jamun
Chopped pistachios
Saffron
Method
Thandai paste
- Soak poppy seeds, cashews, fennel seeds and watermelon seeds for 2 hours.
- Take all the ingredient of thandai paste in a blender. Blend them very well using little water. Prepare a thick thandai paste. Keep it aside.
For Mousse
- In a pan, heat fresh cream for 2 minutes on medium flame.
- Take White melting chocolate in another bowl. Add hot fresh cream into the white chocolate. White chocolate will start to melt. Mix until the chocolate melts.
- Fold in the whipped cream and 3/4 of the Thandai paste (you can add more paste if you wish into the white chocolate mixture. Let this mixture cool down for 15 minutes in the freezer.
- Fill the zip lock bags with mousse mixture. Make a big hole.
For assembling
- Take one glass. First place 3 gulab jamuns or Normal gulab jamun cut into 4pcs. Then Pipe in half thandai mousse. Put Gulab jamuns again in between and again pipe in the thandai Mousse on it.
- Top it with Gulab Jamun. Garnish it with saffron and pistachios.
- Your Gulab Jamun In Thandai Mousse is ready. Serve it chilled.
Puran Polis
Ingredients
120 Gms Flour
50 Gms Cup Sugar
10 Gms Powdered Green Cardamom
1 Pinch Salt
80 ml Tablespoon Milk
50 Gms Rice Flour
100 Gm Chana Dal
30 ml Ghee
50ml Water
Refined Oil As Required
4 Gms Nutmeg Powder
Method
Step 1
For preparing this easy Maharashtrian recipe, take a glass bowl and mix flour with water in it. Knead well to make a stiff dough. Cover the dough and keep aside for one hour. Now take a pressure cooker and chana dal and water in it. Put the cooker on the gas and heat it over a high flame. Pressure cook the dal and once it is done, strain the excess water.
Step 2
Transfer the dal in a bowl and allow it to cool. once the dal has cooled, add it in a pan and heat it over moderate flame. Add sugar along with ghee. keep stirring. Cook on low flame till the gram mixture is soft and sticky. once it’s done, turn off the flame and keep the mixture aside.
Step 3
Now knead the dough again, adding salt, water and oil, little at a time, till the dough becomes pliable. Grind the dal and sugar mixture to a smooth consistency adding a little milk if it is too dry. Add cardamom powder and nutmeg powder.
Step 4
Now take a lime-sized lump of the dough and a little larger lump of the dal mixture. roll out two rounds from the dough on a board sprinkled with rice flour, into flat rounds of about 7 inch in diameter.
Step 5
Cover the rolled dough round with the dal mixture, leaving half an inch at the edges, and then cover this with the second round. Roll again over this to seal them together, pinching the edges to seal well. Roll out like a thick chapati.
Step 6
Heat ghee on a hot griddle and put the puran poli on it. Keep pressing and turning it so that it cooks well on both sides. Keep adding ghee all around to brown it evenly without sticking to the griddle. Serve hot and pair with tea or coffee.
Gujjiyas
Ingredients for the dough
250gm refined flour
120gm clarified butter
Water (to mix)
For the filling
120gm khoya
120gm sugar
7gms green cardamom, powdered
15gms almonds, finely chopped
Oil or ghee (for deep-frying)
For the syrup
120gm sugar
150ml water
Method
Prepare the dough
- Rub 50gm ghee into the flour and knead into a stiff dough with water.
- Leave to rest for at least half an hour.
Prepare the filling
- Saute the khoya over medium heat till it looks slightly fried.
- Take off the heat and when it cools, mix in the sugar, cardamom and almonds.
- Shape the filling into ovals about 21 cm length and 1 cm thickness.
- Make balls of the dough and roll out into 1 cm / 1/8 in thick rounds.
- Take a round, wet the edges with water and place a piece of filling over one half.
- Fold the other half over and press the edges together to seal.
- Either cut off the edge with a fancy cutter or make a design by pinching and twisting all along the sealed edges.
- Make all the gujjiyas in this way. Heat ghee in a kadhai. To check if the ghee is hot enough put a piece of dough in it. If it comes up at once, add as many gujjiyas as fit in comfortably.
- Turn them over and lower the heat to medium. Fry till golden brown on all sides. Lift out and leave to drain on absorbent paper.
- Make sugar syrup by cooking water and sugar together, till one thread consistency
- Dip the gujjiyas in it, lift and let dry on a plate.
- Fry the rest, increasing the heat for a few seconds before adding the next lot.
- Can be eaten hot or at room temperature and can be stored in air-tight containers.
