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    Desserts to sweeten this festival of colours

    Let this Holi be a colourful affair even on your platter with these recipes that keep your good health in mind with ingredients like holy basil, bottle gourd, without compromising on taste.

    Desserts to sweeten this festival of colours
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    Chennai

    Holy basil thandai with almonds

    Ingredients: 

    Soaked almonds: 2 tbsp (skin removed)

    Soaked melon seeds: 2 tbsp

    Soaked poppy seeds: 1 tbsp

    Almond slivers: ½ cup

    Sugar: ¼ cup

    Saffron strands: a pinch

    Fresh holy basil leaves: 4

    Milk: 2 cups

    Green cardamom powder: ½ tbsp

    Black peppercorns: 1/2 tsp

    Soaked fennel seeds: ¼ cup

    Method:

    • Make a smooth paste of fennel seeds, poppy seeds, and almonds.
    • In a heavy bottom pan, bring the milk and saffron strands to boil. Dissolve the sugar in the milk.
    • Grind the fresh holy basil leaves and black peppercorns to a paste and add it to the milk.
    • Add the almond, poppy seed and fennel seed paste along with cardamom powder and almond slivers to the milk and simmer it for 2-3 minutes.
    • Refrigerate the thandai.

    Bottle gourd halwa

    Ingredients: 

    Bottle gourd: 600gm

    Ghee: ¼ cup

    Cashews chopped: 5

    Almonds chopped: 5

    Raisins: 2 tbsp

    Milk: ½ cup

    Sugar: ¾ cup

    Green cardamom powder: ¼ tsp

    Khoya: as per taste 

    Method: 

    • Heat 1/4th cup ghee and roast cashews, almonds and raisins. Fry nuts to golden brown and keep aside. 
    • Now add in grated bottle gourd and saute for five minutes. Saute till it shrinks slightly and changes colour. 
    • Add in half cup milk and mix well. Cook for 10 minutes or till milk thickens and bottle gourd gets cooked completely. 
    • Further add in 3/4th cup sugar and mix well. Let the mixture cook for five minutes or till it thickens. Add in some khoya into bottle gourd mixture and mix well. 
    • Keep stirring till the mixture thickens and forms a mass. Add in roasted nuts and 1/4th tsp cardamom powder. 
    • Mix the halwa well and serve hot with a garnish of roasted nuts. 

    Recipe by Chef Naresh Singh Rawat

    Sesame almond pinni

    Ingredients:

    Wheat flour: 2 cups

    Semolina: 2½ tbsp

    Roasted almond slivers: ¼ cup

    Roasted White Sesame powder: ¼ cup

    Pure ghee: ¾ cup

    Gram flour (besan): 1½ tbsp

    Sugar: 1 cup

    Water: ½ cup

    Green cardamom powder: ½ tsp

    Roasted white sesame: 1 tbsp

    Roasted whole almonds : 3 tbsp

    Method:

    • Heat ghee in a pan, add semolina and wheat flour to it. Roast the mixture till a golden colour is achieved.
    • Mix the sugar and water in a pan, and put it over low heat. Cook till single string sugar syrup is formed.
    • Mix the sugar syrup with the wheat flour mixture. Add the green cardamom powder.
    • Cook the mixture till it becomes a little dry. Add the roasted almond flakes and ground white sesame to the mixture and mix well.
    • Allow the mixture to cool. Divide the mixture into equal parts and shape it into rounds. 
    • Cut the roasted almond into halves and place it over the pinnis and roll the pinnis gently in roasted white sesame.

    Recipes by chef Manish Mehrotra

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