Holi 2023 recipes: 9 healthy sweet and savoury delicacies for your Holi party

1. Paan-tastic Fudge

(Recipe by Manpreet Kaur Paul, Executive Nutritionist, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Faridabad)

Ingredients

Butter – 130 gm

White Chocolate – 400 gm

Condensed Milk – 4-5 tbsp

Sweet fennel – 3-4 tsp

Paan mukhwas – 100 gm

Method

– In a pan, add butter and white chocolate and heat till both the ingredients melt. Then add condensed milk to it

– Now add the paan mukhwas and mix properly.

– Grease a container and transfer the contents to it. Level it properly by tapping the container and then refrigerate it for atleast 30 minutes.

– Garnish the fudge with sweet fennel seeds and your paan-tastic fudge is ready to be served.

2. Coconut Pumpkin Pudding

(Recipe by Manpreet Kaur Paul, Executive Nutritionist)

Ingredients:

Pumpkin – 1 cup (grated)

Coconut milk – 1/2 cup

Almonds – 1 tbsp (finely chopped)

Jaggery powder – 2 tbsp

Raisins – a few

Pistachio- 1 tbsp (finely chopped)

Fennel powder- 1/4th tsp

Butter/Desi ghee- ½ tbsp

Method

– Heat ghee/butter in a pan, add the grated pumpkin to it and cook till all the water evaporates.

– Now add coconut milk to it and mix it properly. Along with this, you can add all the chopped nuts. Add jaggery powder and stir well.

– Sprinkle fennel powder on the top and mix.

– Cover the pan and allow the pudding to be cooked on medium flame.

– You can also sprinkle pumpkin seeds on the top to make it even more nutritious.

3. Dry fruit milkshake Recipe (Serves 5)

(Recipe by Nutritionist Anupama Menon)

Ingredients

12 soaked almonds

12 roasted almonds

10 pistas

3 tsps pumpkin seeds, slightly roasted

2 tsps chia seeds

Saffron strands

5 tsps coconut sugar

5 tsps jaggery

1 litre organic milk

Method

– Soak the saffron strands in the milk and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

– Dry grind the pistas, roasted almonds, roasted pumpkin seeds roughly and keep aside.

– Grind the soaked almonds well.

– Blend the milk, coconut sugar, jaggery, the soaked almond grind and the roughly ground seeds.

– Add the chia seeds to the milk, mix well and store in the refrigerator for another 2 hours.

– Pour over ice (optional) and serve.

4. Peanut and Date Laddoos

(Recipe by Nutritionist Anupama Menon)

Ingredients

3 cups peanuts

1 cup almonds

1 cup grated jaggery

3/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup pureed dates (dates pressure cooked in minimum water and pureed thick)

½ cup rolled oats

½ cup think poha

4 tbsps pista powder

1 tsp elaichi powder

Method

– In a pan, roast peanuts and almonds for 30 minutes on low flame till the nuts are roasted well.

– In another pan roast oats and thin poha.

– Add grated jaggery, coconut sugar, thick date puree, oats, poha, pista powder and elaichi, to the roasted nuts.

– Mix well with hands first and then pulse it in a mixer. It should get coarsely crushed.

– Once all the ingredients get mixed well. Make them into laddoos and serve.

5. Summer Cool Ice Tea

(Recipe by Manpreet Kaur Paul, Executive Nutritionist)

Ingredients

Almonds- 10-12

Tea bag -1

Khus khus (poppy seeds)- 2 tbsp

Cardamon -1 small

Brown sugar -1 tsp

Black pepper – ½ tsp

Fennel seeds – a few

Saffron strands- 2-3

Method:

– Firstly, you need to take almonds, poppy seeds, black pepper and fennel seeds (the ingredients usually used in making thandai) in a mixer grinder and mix well.

– Add this powder to a tea cup and also add brown sugar and saffron strands to it.

– Now, dip the tea bag and pour warm water in it and let it infuse.

– Finally, take a glass, add some ice cubes and pour the strained tea.

– Enjoy the refreshing thandai ice tea

6. Popeye Momos

(Recipe by Manpreet Kaur Paul, Executive Nutritionist)

Ingredients

For the outer covering

Wheat flour- 2.5 cups

Salt

Water

For Filling-

Chopped veggies like spinach, carrots, cabbage- 4 cups

Black pepper powder- 1/4 th tbsp

Oil- 2 tbsp

Salt

Method to follow

For making the outer covering:

– Make the dough using wheat flour and keep aside for 30-35 minutes.

– Wash the spinach leaves thoroughly, blend them to make a thick paste and knead the dough with this spinach paste.

– Add a pinch of salt to the dough for better taste.

For making the filling:

– Pour oil in a pan and saute the veggies properly on medium flame.

– Add black pepper powder and salt while stirring the veggies.

– You may also add oregano or chilli flakes to enrich the taste.

Shaping the momos

– Divide the dough into equal parts and make small tortillas of the dough balls and put one spoon of the prepared filling in the centre of it.

– Try to keep the edges thin and the centre thick.

– Now, fold the momos and start making the pleats.

– Repeat the same process to make the other momos

For Steaming:

– Boil water in a big vessel. Grease the pan and place the momos in it

– Keep the pan over the water vessel and cover it

– Once the momos are steamed well, the outer layer will start to change its colour and will appear to be non-sticky.

– Popeye momos are now ready to be served

7. Uttapam – The Millet Way

(Recipe by Manpreet Kaur Paul, Executive Nutritionist)

Ingredients

Ragi millet – 40 gms

Foxtail millet – 40gms

Urad dal- 20 gms

Methi seeds- 1 tsp

Salt- According to taste

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

Coconut oil- 2 tbsp

Method

– In a bowl, soak ragi and foxtail millets overnight, soak the urad dal and meethi seeds in a separate bowl. Drain the water from both the bowls the next morning

– Grind them separately to a coarse texture. Now mix the dal and millet paste together and allow it to ferment for 6-8 hours

– Add salt to this mixture and about half cup water. The consistency of the batter should be adjusted to a pouring consistency

– Heat 1tsp of coconut oil in a small frying pan. Add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Also add the curry leaves and now add this tempering to the uttappam batter

– Now, heat another pan and pour a little oil to grease it.

– Pour the batter and spread it like an uttapam. Cook this for about 5-6 minutes on medium flame. – Turnover and cook it on the other side

– Remove the uttapam from the pan and serve it well with any homemade chutney

8. Fruit salad with a twist

(Recipe by Nutritionist Anupama Menon)

Ingredients

500 ml thick curds (hung in muslin cloth overnight)

2 tbsp powdered jaggery

2 tbsps raw honey

300 gms cubed fruit

½ tsp elaichi powder (optional)

Method

– Hang the curds in a muslin cloth overnight.

– Next morning smoothen out the hung curds in a bowl to become smooth.

– Mix in the powdered jaggery and 1 tbsp honey and smoothen out once again.

– Blend in slivered almonds and pistas

– Cube the fruit. Add 1 tbsp of honey and ½ tsp elaichi powder.

– Store all the ingredients in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

– When ready to serve, spoon into individual bowls, fruit to fill ½ the bowl and spoon 2 heaped tbsps of the sweet hung curd.

9. Dark chocolate almond rocks

(Recipe by Nutritionist Anupama Menon)

Ingredients

500 gm 80% dark chocolate

250 gm roasted almonds, slivered/pounded roughly

250 gm roasted walnuts, slivered/roughly pounded

Method

– Melt the dark chocolate over a double broiler.

– Once the chocolate is melted, empty onto a marble or smooth cold slab and temper well to remove bubbles. Be careful not to allow the chocolate to thicken.

– Scoop the tempered chocolate into a steel bowl and mix in the almonds and walnuts.

– Onto a buttered wax paper, spoon 1 tbsp each of the thick mixture at a distance of ½ inch from each other and allow them to harden.

– Once hardened, peel them off the wax paper and store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

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