The most colourful of all Indian festivals, Holi is as much about food as about colours. Whether it is the wok-fresh gujiya in the north or the jaggery-oozing obbattu down south, magical memories are made around such treats
INPUTS BY MALATI KALAPUR & RUKMA SALUJA
Does anyone really need an introduction to Holi? For the uninformed minuscule minority, the end of February to the middle of March or Falgun, according to the Vikram Samvat, is spring. Resulting from Earth making its usual revolution around the sun, you might say. For us Indians, it means Holi. And Holi means colour. It is our very own beautiful, exuberant festival of colour, and a sort of answer to Valentine’s.
Festival of Spring or Festival of Colour, call it what you will. It is accompanied by puja (as with most of our festivals) but this one is more about fun and less about religion. There’s the story of Prahlad and Holika and the victory of good over evil, righteousness over immorality, and all that, sure. But this is a day when flirtations were smiled upon rather than frowned upon, back when we were a more conservative society. Now, it’s all about gulal (herbal, of course) and thandai, bhang and beer, gujiya and malpua, dhol and dancing, being rowdy and bawdy and letting your hair down.
In South India, Holi was traditionally a more sober affair signified by ‘kaama dahan’ or the burning of Kaama Devata, the God of Passion. According to legend, the gods sent Kaama Dev to bring Lord Shiva out of deep meditation to save the world. Kaama Dev shot flowers at his target with his arrow, disturbing the meditation. The enraged Shiva opened his fiery third eye and turned Kaama Dev into ashes. Holi is celebrated in remembrance of Kaama Dev’s sacrifice by burning a bonfire on the eve of Holi.
And, of course, there are the celebratory treats. There’s holige or obbattu (Karnataka and Tamil Nadu), also known as bobbattu (Andhra Pradesh), and known to the rest of India mostly as pooran poli. Then there is kajjikayalu, which is similar to the gujiya of the north, and poornam boorelu (Andhra Pradesh).
Here are some recipes we hope you enjoy whipping up, no matter which part of the world you are in. Happy Holi!
THANDAI
• Soak almonds, poppy seeds, rose
petals, fennel seeds
• Blend
• Mix the paste with milk and water
• Pour into a glass, with ice if you wish
Et voila!…Cheers! Holi Hai!
HOLIGE / OBBATTU / BOBBATTU
The poli is a wholesome dish made of only three main ingredients – chana dal, jaggery and all-purpose flour (maida) or wheat flour. It is like a parantha with a sweet filling of ground chana dal and jaggery. Since it is a time-consuming dish to make, the filling can be prepared a few days in advance and refrigerated.
FOR THE FILLING
Chana dal – 1 cup
Powdered jaggery – 1 cup
Water – 3 cups
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Dry ginger powder – ½ tsp
OUTER COVER
All-purpose flour (maida) – 1½ cups
Salt and turmeric – a pinch each
Oil – 4 tbsp
Water for making the dough
METHOD
• Cook and drain the chana dal.
• Add the jaggery powder to the dal and
cook on a low flame until the jaggery
melts and combines with the dal.
• Boil the mixture until almost dry. Cool
and grind to a thick paste. Add
cardamom and ginger powder.
• Add 4 tbsp oil, a pinch of salt and turmeric to the flour and make a smooth dough that is softer than roti dough.
‘Holi brings back
the smells and
colours of India’
BY GUNJJAN BANSAL
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA, US
• Roll out medium sized balls into
roundels and fill with the jaggery
mixture.
• Cook in an oiled and heated pan until
light brown. Serve with ghee.
POORNAM BOORELU
This scrumptious sweet dish from Andhra Pradesh has the same filling as pooran poli with the addition of coconut. Roundels of pooran or poornam are dipped in unfermented dosa batter and deep-fried to get a crusty and crunchy exterior.
FOR THE FILLING
Chana dal – 1 cup
Powdered jaggery – 1 cup
Water – 3 cups
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Ginger powder – ½ tsp
Grated dry coconut – ½ cup
OUTER COVER
Two cups of thick dosa batter,
unfermented, or soak urad dal (¼ cup) and
raw rice (¾ cup) for 3-4 hours, and grind to
a thick smooth batter.
METHOD
As with the filling for pooran poli, add the coconut while grinding the dal. Make big lemon-sized roundels of the pooran or poornam, dip into the dosa batter and drop in hot oil. Fry on medium heat to achieve a crunchy crust.
MAWA GUJIYA
INGREDIENTS
Raisins – 12; all-purpose flour – 1 cup; green
cardamom powdered seeds – 1/4 tsp; nutmeg
– 1 pinch; salt – 1 pinch; sugar – 3 tbsp;
almonds – 4; cashew nuts – 4; desiccated
coconut – 1 tbsp; ghee – 1 tbsp; water – 5/16
cup; khoya mawa – ½ cup; oil for deep frying.
METHOD
Take a pan and dry-roast mawa until golden. In another pan dry-roast melon seeds. Mix all ingredients except flour and ghee. Combine flour and ghee separately. Knead a soft dough by adding cold water. Cover with a muslin cloth and set aside for half an hour. Then divide into equal-sized small balls and shape into small pooris. Place a teaspoonful of
the prepared mixture on a poori. Bring the edges together and seal with your hands (you can use a little water). Heat oil for deep frying and fry on low heat until nicely golden in colour.
