The festival of colors is upon us again! Yes, it is Holi time! There is a sense of cheer and celebration in the air as people prepare to get together to dance to Holi songs, smear each other with Holi colors, gleefully spray their water guns with great gusto and prepare and share traditional Holi food dishes. And what festival is complete without the sweet dishes?!
They say sharing sweet savories will enhance the sweetness in relationships. They are harbingers of good luck and joy. Besides this delightful tradition, who can resist the temptation of the traditional sweet recipes prepared for Holi?
The best thing about homemade items is that you can tweak the recipes to suit your tongue and palate. So, let’s get started with recipes for some succulent Holi festival desserts and puddings!
Sweet recipes for Holi
1. Gujiya
You cannot miss this signature sweet of Holi from Rajasthan!
Gujiyas are sweet dumplings made of flour and filled with khoya or dried and condensed milk mixed with dry fruits.
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hour
Difficulty level: Easy
Ingredients ( for 10-12 gujiyas)
- 2 cups wheat flour
- 1 cup ghee
- Water as required
- 1 cup khoya
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp powdered cardamom
- 1 tbsp chopped almonds
How to prepare
Mix ghee with the flour and knead into a stiff dough with water. Leave it for about 30 minutes. Sauté the khoya. Once it cools, add sugar, cardamom and almonds. This is the filling. Make balls of the dough and roll into a thick round. Using a gujiya mold, place this rolled dough onto it. Add the filling into this and fold the covering. Make more molds in this way. Heat ghee in a pan and deep fry the gujiyas in it - till they are golden brown.
Note: You can also bake the gujiyas in an oven (for 25 minutes) instead of frying them to eat a healthier version of gujiyas!
2. Puran Poli
This traditional Holi sweet recipe is a great morning or evening snack. It has a filling that contains jaggery and channa dal or Bengal gram.
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hour
Difficulty level: Medium
Ingredients (for 6 Puran Polis)
- 1 cup wheat flour
- 1½ cup jaggery
- 3 powdered cardamoms
- A pinch of salt
- 1½ cup channa dal or Bengal gram
- ½ cup ghee
- ¼ cup water
- Oil as required
Knead flour with salt, water and oil to make a stiff dough. Cover and keep aside for about half an hour. Cook the channa dal or Bengal gram with water. Once cooked, drain out the excess water. Allow the dal to cool. Heat jaggery in a pan with a little water and add the dal with ½ tbsp of ghee. Cook on a low flame till the mixture is soft and sticky. Turn off the flame and keep aside. You can grind the mixture in a grinder once it has cooled. Add cardamom powder and mix.
Take a small portion of the dough and roll it till it is flat like a small puri. Add a small ball of the dal mixture as a stuffing and close the dough. Flatten this ball with a roller like a thick chapatti. Heat this on a flat pan with ghee. Press and turn till it is well-cooked on both sides, adding ghee for aroma and taste.
Your puran poli is now ready to eat!
3. Malpua
This Indian dessert is like a pancake that is deep fried in ghee and then dipped in sugar syrup!
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hour
Difficulty level: Easy
Ingredients (for 6 Malpuas)
- 1 cup wheat flour
- 4 to 6 tbsp condensed cow’s milk (you can also substitute this with milk powder)
- 200 ml cow’s milk
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 3 tbsp semolina
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- A pinch of saffron (optional)
- 6-8 chopped cashew nuts
- 6-8 chopped pistachios
- 150 grams of ghee/oil
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup water
How to prepare
- In a big bowl, mix the flour, semolina, and fennel seeds.
- Add the condensed milk.
- Add the milk in small portions to the mixture so you make a smooth (but not thick) paste. You can use water as well but milk makes the malpua creamier.
- Cover and leave the batter aside for about half an hour.
- In a separate container, mix the sugar in water; add cardamom and saffron powder. Boil the syrup for about 10 minutes and remove from flame before you get a one-thread consistency. The sugar syrup should be slightly thin.
- Heat ghee in a pan and with a serving spoon, softly pour a spoonful of batter into it. The batter will assume a round shape on its own.
- Allow it to fry for a minute on one side before flipping it on the other. Once the pancake is golden brown on both sides, you can remove it.
- Put it into the warm sugar syrup and allow it to remain so for about 30 minutes.
- You can then remove the pancake from the syrup and garnish it with the chopped nuts to enhance its appearance and taste.
- You can make more such pancakes and dip it into the sugar syrup similarly.
- Your malpuas are ready to eat!
Note: You can skip the sugar syrup altogether to enjoy a healthier version of this delicious Holi sweet! Just add jaggery to the batter along with the wheat and other ingredients and fry the batter. The fried malpuas will be ready to eat as they are!
4. Shakarpara
Shakarpara is often served as a snack along with tea or coffee. It has a long shelf life when stored in airtight containers.
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Difficulty level: Easy
Ingredients (4 servings)
- ½ cup wheat flour
- A pinch of saffron
- ¼ tsp ghee
- A pinch of powdered cardamom
- 100 ml oil
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup brown sugar
How to prepare
Mix ghee and flour with a little water in a bowl and knead into a thick dough. Take a small round portion, roll it to make small puris; now, cut the puri into square shapes. Deep fry these in oil till they are golden brown. Add sugar to water and boil till the syrup is thick. Add the deep-fried squares into the sugar syrup and mix so that the sugar syrup is well coated. Once the syrup is properly soaked onto the squares, remove the shakarparas and transfer to a plate. Sprinkle cardamom powder on it.
Once cooled, this Holi sweet is ready to eat!
Note: You can also substitute brown sugar with jaggery.
5. Besan Laddoo
This popular pan-Indian sweet is one of the fastest and easiest Holi sweets to make.
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Difficulty level: Easy
Ingredients (for 10-12 laddoos)
- 1 cup gram flour
- ¼ tsp powdered cardamom
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 3-4 finely chopped cashews
- 1 tbsp raisins
- 50 grams powdered brown sugar
How to prepare
Evenly dry roast the flour in a pan on a low flame. When the color changes, add melted ghee and stir well. After about 5 minutes, the mixture will release ghee and give a fragrant aroma. Remove the pan from the stove. Add the powdered sugar and stir well. Add the nuts and continue to stir well. Let the mixture cool down and then shape into medium-sized balls.
This popular Holi sweet is now ready to eat!
6. Rice pudding (kheer)
Kheer is a sweet that is served in all Indian festivals. Rice kheer is a traditional Holi sweet that is simply too hard to resist!
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 50 mins
Difficulty level: Easy
Ingredients (8 servings)
- 2 cups cooked rice
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 5-6 cups cow’s milk
- 2 powdered cardamoms
- 1 tbsp sliced almonds and cashew nuts
How to prepare
Boil rice in a cooker. Keep separate. Boil milk with sugar in another container. Add the cooked rice to it. Stir well and allow the mixture to simmer on a low flame till the milk reduces to about half the original quantity. Stir at intervals. Add the cardamom powder. Continue to cook the pudding till it starts to thicken. Add the sliced almonds and cashew nuts as garnish.
Your delicious Holi sweet is ready for you to gobble!
We hope these mouth-watering sweet recipes indulged the sweet tooth in you. So, as you get ready to dig into some delicious food specially prepared for the upcoming Holi festival, tell us what aromas waft through your kitchen during this Holi festival!
We’d love to hear from you.
(Written with inputs from Kaushani Desai, Ayurvedic cooking teacher, Art of Living)
