COLOURFUL & DELICIOUS HOLI DELIGHTS

ANJEERWALI MITHAI
Ingredients
200 g dried anjeer
200g chopped khajoor without seeds
150 g mix of kaju, badam and kishmish
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp ghee
1/4 tsp green elaichi powder

 

 

Method
Soak the anjeer in a little water for 45 minutes. Roast the nuts lightly, allow to cool and finely chop them. In a heavy bottomed pan place the ghee. Then add the soaked chopped anjeer and dates and mix well. Keep stirring well until well mashed, ideally coarsely puree it and add it to the ghee. Once the mixture turns into a smooth and sticky dough like texture. Now add in the dry fruits and elaichi powder and mix well. Turn off the flame, allow to cool a bit, while a little warm start shaping them into laddoo or set in a thali and cut out into squares or triangles. Spread some roasted poppy seeds on the work table or in a plate and roll over the burfi mithai and get a light coating of it. Wrap/ cover with foil paper/ cling it and keep in the fridge for couple of hours. Serve as needed.

 

LAVANG LATIKA
A rich aromatic Bengali festive time sweet dish, also known as Labongo Latika which is crispy on the outside and juicy and moist inside

Ingredients
For dough
2 cups maida
½ tsp salt
3-4 tbsp ghee
Water as needed to make the dough

For the stuffing
1 cup grated coconut
½ cup grated jaggery
^1/4 tsp green elaichi powder
1-1/2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp cashews/almonds/raisins mix
1 pinch nutmeg powder (optional)
1 pinch saffron (optional)
12-15 cloves
½ cup mava can also be added to this stuffing
Oil to deep fry

For sugar syrup
1 cup sugar
½ cup water

 

 

Method
In a pan, mix mava, coconut and jaggery and cook it on a low flame until well mixed, add in the chopped nuts, elaichi powder or nutmeg powder, mix well, keep aside. Prepare a stiff firm dough with the ingredients as listed above and allow to rest for 20 minutes, cover with a damp cloth. Make a nice semi thick sugar syrup add a pinch of saffron to it and keep aside. Make equal portions of both the dough and the mava-coconut mixture. Roll out the dough and place the mixture inside it and fold over into a rectangular shape, fix it up using lavang or cloves. Heat oil/ghee in a frying pan and fry them over medium flame until golden in colour, remove on a kitchen paper drain off excess oil. Dip each of them in the sugar syrup for a minute and remove carefully, drain well and arrange them on a serving platter, garnish with chopped nuts, chocolate sauce and serve.

 

RANGEELA DAHI BHALLA CHAAT

Ingredients
¾ cup white urad dal
3 tbsp yellow moong dal
2 chopped green chillies
1 inch piece chopped ginger
2 tbsp chopped cashews and kishmish
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

For setting
2 cups sweet chilled curd
Salt to taste
½ tsp chaat masala
¼ cup fresh anardana
¼ cup imli chutney
¼ cup green chutney
½ tsp roasted jeera powder
¼ tsp red chilli powder
½ cup soaked boondi
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander and mint

 

 

 

Method
Wash and soak the urad and moong in a bowl with water for couple of hours. Drain the water, in a mixer jar add in the dals, salt, ginger, chilies and churn them up into a smooth mixture using very little water if needed. Whip or beat this mixture to make it light and fold in some chopped nuts. Heat oil in a kadai, drop small spoonful of the dal mixture and fry the bhallas on a medium heat until light golden coloured. Remove on a kitchen paper drain excess oil, keep aside. Before setting them in curd soak them in hot water for five minutes and squeeze out the liquid. Meantime beat up the sweet curd add flavours to it mix well keep chilled. To assemble the dahi bhallas, in a serving dish place a little sweet curd mixture at the base, place the soaked and squeezed bhallas and cover again with curd and add the chutneys, toppings garnish with boondi, anardana, fresh coriander and mint leaves, dusting of jeera and red chili powder, chaat masala or kala namak and chill the dish for 1 hour and serve.