Vada To Puran Poli: Exciting Recipes To Try On Holi

Holi 2024: Holi, known as the ‘Festival of Colours’, is a vibrant and joyous celebration deeply rooted in Hindu tradition. Observed annually on the full moon day of the Falgun month, it marks the triumph of good over evil and the arrival of spring. As we welcome the spirit of Holi, let’s explore some traditional dishes that you can try on this day.

1. BEETROOT KANJI VADA (Chef Aditi Dixit, CYK Hospitalities Pvt. Ltd.)

Ingredients:

For Kanji:

• Beetroot Wedges – 120gms (large sized)
• Mustard seeds – 1 tbsp
• Yellow Mustard/Rai – ½ tbsp
• Cumin – ½ tbsp 
• Black Salt – ½ tbsp
• Salt – ½ tbsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp 
• Water – 1 liter 

 For Smoking:

• Cinnamon – 1 no
• Heeng – ½ tsp 
• Ghee – 1 tsp

For Moong Dal Vada:

• Moong Dal – 1 cup 
• Ginger – 1 inch 
• Green Chilli – 2 nos (medium size)
• Cumin – 1 tsp
• Salt – to taste  
• Water – a dash
• Chilli Flakes – 2 tsp 
• Coriander chopped – 2 tbsp 
• Whole coriander – 2 tsp
• Oil – to fry 

Finishing:

• Mint leaves – handful  
• Warm Water, for soaking vadas – 1 ltr

Method:

For Kanji-

• Add mustard seeds, yellow mustard and cumin to the mixer grinder and grind it dry into a fine powder. 
• Add the powder in a clean dry bowl, then add beetroot, black salt, salt, red chilli powder and mix it together. Now, add water into the mixture and mix it well.
• Now for smoking, float a steel bowl on kanji which is in the bowl, burn a stick of cinnamon and keep it in the steel bowl, then add hing and ghee on it. Cover the bowl with a lid for 5 minutes. 
• Transfer it into a jar and ferment it for 2 – 4 days. Do not keep it in the refrigerator.

For vada-

• Soak moong dal overnight. Add the soaked moong dal, ginger, green chillies, jeera, salt and a little bit of water and coarsely grind it in small batches.
• Now transfer it into a bowl, add chilli flakes, coriander leaves and whole coriander.  Take small amounts of batter and put it in hot oil for frying in the shape of small balls, fry it till golden brown. Remove the excess oil of the vada by putting them in lukewarm water and squeezing it well.
• Now add the vada into the kanji and Kanji vada is done.

2. HIMANCHALI APPLE PEAR GUJIYA (By Chef Amit, Taj Theog Resorts, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups Maida
• ½ cup
• Ghee melted 200 grams
• Khoya 2 cups
• Dry Coconut (Finely grated) ½ cup
• Chironji ½ cup
• Apple 200 grams
• Pear 200 grams
• Almond 50 grams
• Powdered Sugar 2 teaspoons
• Cardamom Powder 2 tablespoons

Method:

• Mash khoya along with apple & pear and roast it in a deep pan on medium heat till pink. Take off the heat and let it cool. Add all the other filling ingredients to the khoya and keep aside.
• To prepare the covering, sieve flour and salt and rub in five tablespoons of ghee. Add enough water and knead into a firm dough.
• Cover it with a moist cloth and keep aside for fifteen minutes. Divide the dough into small balls and roll each ball into a small puri of four inches diameter.
• Spread a puri on a greased gujiya mould and fill a tablespoon of the filling mixture on one side. Moisten the edges of the puri and fold one side of the mould over the other.
• Press the edges and remove the excess dough and reuse. Prepare all the gujiyas and spread on a damp cloth.
• Heat sufficient ghee in a deep pan and deep-fry the gujiyas, in batches on medium heat, till golden brown.
• Drain onto an absorbent paper. Cool and store in an airtight tin.

3. DAHI BHALLA (By- Anand G.L. Executive chef at The Tamara Coorg)

Ingredients

• ½ cup or 124 gms – urad dal  
• 4 tablespoons – moong dal 
• 1.25 to 1.5 cups water for soaking Bhalla
• 6 to 7 tablespoons water for grinding or required
• ½ teaspoon – cumin seeds
• 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
• Salt as required 
• Oil for frying
• Enough water for soaking the dals 
• 2 cups curd –
• 1/3 cup – pomegranate seeds
• 1/3 cup – sweet chutney
• 1/3 cup – green chutney 
• 20 to 25 – papdis
• ½ cup cooked chana or white chickpeas 
• 1 large potato – boiled, peeled and chopped
• Chaat masala as required
• Roasted cumin powder – as required
• Red chilli powder – as required
• Black salt as required
• 2.5 cups water for soaking vadas

For Green Chutney:

• 1 cup – coriander leaves
• 1 or 2 – green chillies
• ½ inch ginger – chopped
• ½ teaspoon – lemon juice
• Salt as required
• 1 to 2 teaspoons water for grinding 

For Sweet Tamarind Chutney:

• ½ cup – seedless tamarind tightly packed
• 1.75 cups – water
• ½ teaspoon – ginger powder (saunth)
• 1 pinch – asafoetida (hing)
• ½ teaspoon – cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon – red chilli powder
• 7 to 8 tablespoons jaggery or as required 
• Rock salt or black salt or regular salt as required
• 1 teaspoon oil

Method:

Sweet Chutney:

• Soak tamarind in water overnight or for 4-5 hours in a small bowl or pan.
• Squeeze the pulp from the tamarind into a bowl.
• Strain the pulp and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a small pan. Lower the flame, add cumin seeds and let them crackle.
• Add ginger powder, red chilli powder and asafoetida. Stir and add the strained tamarind pulp. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the jaggery and salt and cook for 4 to 5 minutes more. The mixture would thicken.
• Let the chutney mixture cool.
• When cooled, store in an air-tight dry jar or container.

Making Green Chutney:

• Grind all the ingredients with a little water.
• Remove and keep aside in a small bowl.

Making Dahi Bhalla Batter:

• Rinse ½ cup urad dal and 4 tbsps moong dal in water a couple of times. Then soak both the lentils overnight or for at least 4 to 5 hours.
• Drain them very well. Add the lentils to a grinder jar along with ½ tsp cumin seeds and a generous pinch of asafoetida. You can also add 1 tsp of roughly chopped ginger if you like.
• Add water in parts and grind all the ingredients to a smooth fluffy batter. On touching the batter, it should not feel grainy. You may need 6 to 7 tbsps water while grinding. Don’t add too much water as then the vadas become too crispy and soak a lot of oil.
• Pour the batter into a bowl and add salt.
• Stir the batter briskly for a couple of minutes. This brisk stirring makes the batter lighter and fluffier.
• The test for the correct consistency of this batter is the floating test. Take some water in a small bowl. Add 1 tsp of a batter in the water. The batter should float. If it does not float, this means the consistency is thin. Add some sooji or rice flour to the batter to thicken it.

Frying Bhalla and Soaking in Water:

• Heat a kadai or pan with oil for deep frying.
• When the oil becomes medium hot, add a small amount of batter into the oil. It should come steadily and quickly to the surface. This means it is the right temperature to fry. Cold oil will make the bhallas soggy and too hot will brown them faster from the outside, leaving the centre uncooked.
• Add spoonfuls of the batter to the oil. Add according to the capacity of the pan or kadai.
• When they become pale golden flip them over.
• Fry the bhallas till they become golden and crisp. Turn them a couple of times for even frying.
• Remove with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels. Fry all the bhallas the same way.
• Take 2.5 cups of water in a wide bowl or pan. Add the bhallas to the water and soak them for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Take each bhalla out and press between your palms to remove excess water. Do this with all.

Making Dahi Bhalla:

• Take 2 cups fresh, chilled curd in a bowl and beat it till smooth.
• Now gently place the bhallas in the curd and refrigerate.
• To make the dish, gather and assemble all the other ingredients– boiled potato cubes, boiled white chickpeas, green chutney, tamarind chutney, pomegranate and the spice powders.
• To make individual portions of dahi bhalla, place 4 to 5 papdis in a plate.
• Place 2 to 3 bhallas with the curd in a plate. Add more curd if required.
• Top up with some boiled potatoes and chickpeas.
• Now add the green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney as required
• Sprinkle red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder, chaat masala and black salt as per taste.
• Serve dahi bhalla immediately garnished with some chopped coriander leaves. You can also garnish with fine sev.

4. JACKFRUIT PURAN POLI (By- Ritesh Raje, Executive Sous Chef at DoubleTree by Hilton Goa Panaji)

Ingredients:

For the outer dough:

• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup maida
• Pinch of red food colour
• 3 tsps ghee
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 1 cup soaked chana dal 
• ½ cup grated coconut- 1/2 cup
• 6 jackfruit (deseeded)
• 1 cup Jaggery 
• 2 tsps Ghee

Method:

• For the dough
• Mix all the ingredients well and make a smooth dough. 
• Apply some ghee on the dough and let it rest for an hour.

For the filling:

• Grind the chana dal, coconut and jack fruit to a coarse paste.
• Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan.
• Add the ground paste and sauté well. Reduce the flame, close the pan with a lid and cook till it becomes non sticky. Keep stirring in between.
• Add the grated jaggery and mix well. Cook for few mins on a low flame. 
• If you can make a soft ball with the puran, it means that the Puran is cooked well.
• Remove from the gas and let it cool.

To make the Poli 

• Divide the dough and filling into equal portions.
• Grease your hands, rolling board and the pin with little ghee.
• Take one portion of the dough. Roll into a small circle. Keep 1 tbsp of filling in the centre. Gather the dough all over and cover the filling ( it will look like a potli). 
• Gently flatten it with your hands to spread the filling inside uniformly till the edges and roll it into circle again with the rolling pin.
• Cook on a hot tawa applying ghee till both sides turn golden.
• Drizzle little melted ghee on top and serve hot

5. GREATER MILANESE PUNCH (By Evgeniia Prazdnik, Greater Than Gin)

Ingredients:

• Gin – 45 ml
• Campari – 15ml
• Tonic water – top up
• Orange, Rosemary, Strawberry (or other fruits and herbs of your choice) 

Method:

• Combine all ingredients in a tumbler glass over ice, stir and garnish with fruits and herbs of your choice.

6. Barnyard Millet Dahi Vada (By Chef Arjyo Banerjee, Vice President Culinary and Central Kitchen, Compass Group India)

Ingredients:

Vada: 

• Urad dal – 60 grams
• Barnyard millet – 60 grams
• Green chili, chopped – 5 grams
• Water – 40 grams 
• Ginger, grated – 2 grams
• Salt – 4 grams 
• Hot water, for soaking – 300 grams 
• Salt, for soaking – 2 grams
• Oil, for deep frying – 400 grams

Toppings & Garnish: 

• Curd, whisked – 100 grams 
• Sugar – 300 grams 
• Salt – 1 gram
• Green chutney – 10 grams 
• Tamarind chutney – 20 grams 
• Chili powder – 1 gram
• Cumin powder – 1 gram 
• Chaat Masala – 1 gram
• Boondi – 4 grams 
• Coriander, finely chopped – 2 grams 

Method:

Preparation of Vadas:

• Wash urad dal and millet separately and soak them in hot water for 6-8 hours.
• After soaking, drain the water and grind urad dal, millet, ginger, green chilies, and salt in a mixer-grinder to form a smooth batter. Add water as needed, but be cautious not to add too much.
• Transfer the batter to a bowl and beat it vigorously using a whisk or electric beater until it doubles in size and becomes lighter and fluffier.
• Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat.
• In a separate bowl, mix hot water and salt and set it aside.
• To test the batter’s consistency, drop a small amount into a bowl of water. If it floats, the batter is ready.
• Wet your hands, take spoonfuls of batter, shape them into balls, and gently drop them into the hot oil.
• Fry the vadas until golden brown and crispy. Remove from oil and drain excess oil on paper towels.

Soaking the Vadas:

• Soak the fried vadas in the prepared hot water-salt mixture for about 15-20 minutes until they become soft and spongy.

Assembling the Dahi Vada:

• After soaking, gently squeeze out excess water from the vadas and place them on a serving plate.
• In a separate bowl, mix whisked yogurt with sugar and salt to taste.
• Pour the sweetened yogurt over the vadas.
• Drizzle tamarind chutney and green chutney over the yogurt.
• Sprinkle red chili powder, roasted cumin powder, and chaat masala over the top.
• Garnish with crispy boondi and finely chopped coriander leaves.

Tips and Variations:

• Soak urad dal and millet separately for optimal texture.
• Add water gradually while grinding to avoid making the batter too thin.
• Adjust sweetness and saltiness of yogurt according to taste preference.
• Customize toppings and garnishes according to personal preference.