Saturday, March 23, 2013

HOLI SPECIAL... Holi High


Holi High

North India has a long tradition of homemade drinks & snacks that spice up the spring festival

    One of the most delicious Holi pranks that I have come across is played every year by an aunt, who is otherwise one of the most sober and dignified people I know. Serving thandai to unsuspecting guests, she subtly hints — without saying as much (she is a drama teacher, after all) — that the drink is spiked when actually it isn’t. And that’s the beauty of the trick. As guests try to live up to their imagination of intoxicated Holi revelry, some very strange antics are usually put on display much to the amusement of the family!
    Holi without humour and without thandai is not quite the festival that we all love and celebrate, at least in northern India. Both can get excessive but it is also possible to keep both squeaky clean and still enjoy yourself. However, as codes of behaviour and social niceties are loosened, a little bit (or a great deal) of indulgence is definitely the order of the day.
Not from the Bottle
Everyone I know makes thandai out of a bottle these days. It is infinitely more convenient than collecting all the ingredients, roughly powdering them and straining the liquid before mixing with milk. This year, I have managed to source a readymade powdered mix from old Delhi, which is more flavourful and well, different, than the out-of-bottle thandai. Should you want to make this at home though the list of ingredients includes melon seeds (sold skinned and dried), khus khus, black peppercorn to give a kick (you should be able to taste this over the sweetness of the drink), green cardamom powder, almonds and the other vital spice to the thandai — fennel (saunf).
    If you want to fancy this up, add a few strands of saffron or fresh rose petals. But in Braj, the land of Krishna, one of the traditional and now elusive forms of thandai that is made is the gende phool ki thandai where marigold flowers (which are edible) are crushed on a stone slab and mixed into the drink, giving it the yellow/golden tint and flower fragrance that we traditionally associated with the festival of colours. This year, you should be hopefully able to sample this at Dilli Haat, where a festival of Holi music, dance and food, Raasrang, is currently on.
    The other drink to enjoy on Holi is kaanji, pickled water (!) if you like. Carrots and the kaali gajar (black carrots) that you get this season are left to ferment in water for at least a week to get the requisite sourness. My grandmother, an expert maker of pickles and such things uses the following recipe: 750 g carrots, cut and boiled lightly till al dente in about 4 litres of water. When it cools, add 3 tbsp of rai (the small red mustard) paste, some turmeric powder and salt. Leave in a jar kept out in the sun. After 2 days, add a small piece of jaggery. Add just two-three kali gajar and the rest red for a beautiful Bordeaux red colour. I served this recently at a pop-up of Delhi food in champagne saucers (with small pakoris on cocktail skewers dipped into the kanji) to great effect.
Snacks and More
Holi mushairas and even frenetic playing with colours always end with chaats in UP and Delhi. You can easily make small moong dal pakoris at home (season them with a good pinch of asafoetida; and take care to stir the batter adequately for lightness) and use these in dahi pakoris. Or, you can eat the pakoris dry with a bit of green coriander chutney. You can also make an interesting variation of dahi-papdi, using whole spinach leaves, crispy fried instead of flour papdis, as some restaurants do. Coat the spinach leaves in a besan batter (add some cornflour to the batter for crispness) and deep fry. Leave these in the open to cool and top with yoghurt and the sweet (easily made with dried gingersugar-amchoor) and sour (mint-green coriander) chutneys.
    Gujiyas are, of course, Holi staples. And these festive specials are best made at home, even if you are a harried gourmand. The bazaar versions are literally syrupy-sweet, often coated in syrup, sometimes obnoxiously with saffron strands too to make these more “exotic”. But saffron does not need to go into every sweet, just as tomatoes do not need to go into every vegetable preparation. Making a gujiya is not tough at all and even if you cannot seal the edges properly, there are moulds available in the market to make the task easier. The filling can range from plain khoya (with cardamom powder) to khoya seasoned with chironji seeds that are a must in pedakiyas, the Bihari version of the gujiya. Or, you can make a much lighter version the Maharashtrian karanji way, stuffing these with grated coconut. After all, what is in a name?

DID YOU KNOW In parts of Lucknow one can find at least 10 different varieties of gujiyas being prepared, with a variation in filling and/or crust  
2-MINUTE SNACK
Gujiyas, kachoris, pakoris, nimkis (namakpare), shakarpare, malpua and even sun-dried potato chips laced with red chilli powder, Holi is a festival with heavy-duty snacks that do take some time in the making. However, if you do not like slaving it in the kitchen, here is the simplest of preparations to pass around this fest: heat oil in a wok, add a pinch of asafoetida. To this add chura/chivda (take the thicker rice flakes) and fry till crisp. Set aside. Boil fresh green peas separately. Add these to the chura. Season with salt. Chura-matar is a great, traditional and addictive namkeen. 

Anoothi Vishal ET120304

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