Holi recipes with a twist for Sundday Midday (Rajma Puran Poli, Rose/Lavender Thandai, Star Anise, orange and pistachio Gujiyas)

Last week, Sunday Midday asked me to recreate traditional Holi recipes with a twist. Just the sort of thing I love to play with. So I scented Thandai with Lavender and white pepper (use roses if you do not have lavender, stuffed Puran Polis with a sweet rajma filling inspired by the chinese reb bean fillin buns are stuffed with and filled Gujiyas with a Pistachio filling I use for Baklava. I though I would share them here as well. 

 

Lavender / Rose Pepper Vodka Thandai

½ c Vodka

250g Condensed Milk

1.5l Milk

125 g Almond Flakes

1 tsp White peppercorns

1 tsp Lavender/dried roses

2 pods green Cardamoms

3 tsp poppy

Method

Soak the poppy seeds in water the night before. The next morning grind Almond, poppy, lavender cardamom and peppercorns to a fine powder. Heat milk and add the condensed milk and the powdered spices. Simmer for 15 mins. Cool and then chill in refrigerator. Add vodka, stir and serve!

Alternatively you could steep all the crushed spices in the vodka for 3-4 days. Heat the milk, combine with condensed milk together and chill. When ready stir in flavoured Vodka and serve.

Star Anise, Orange and Pistachio Gujiya

Ingredients:
1 kg Maida
1/2 kg mawa
200 g pistachios
5 g Star anise toasted and powdered
200 gm castor sugar
10 g  Orange zest

10g Marmalade
100 g ghee

For the sugar syrup

1 kg sugar

500 ml orange juice

3 Star Anise flowers

10 g orange zest

Method:
In a large bowl combine pistachios, staranise, castor sugar orange zest marmalade and mawa and mix well. Roast lightly in a pan, on low flame till sugar is dissolves and mixture is slightly wet. Reserve. This is the filling for the gujiya. Make a soft dough out of the maida and ghee adding warm water as required. When ready divide dough into balls and roll each ball into a small chappati,
about 4 inches in diameter. Place about 1 tbsp. of the pistachio mixture in the centre of this chappati so the edges are free of filling. Moisten the edges of the chappati and fold one side onto the other. Fry prepared Gujiyas in ghee till it is golden brown in colour. Combine the sugar, orange juice, Anise flowers and orange zest in a deep pan and make a sugar syrup. Pour over the gujiyas. And allow excess syrup to drain away. Cool completely and store in an airtight container. Serve garnished with pistachios.

Rajma Puran polis

For Red bean paste

1 cup small red rajma beans, cooked till soft but firm and water discarded. 

1/2 c packed dark brown sugar/ jaggery

1 ½ teaspoons ghee

Place cooked beans in a food processor and process until smooth, add brown sugar and process until just combined. Place in saucepan, heat the ghee over medium heat until warmg and add the bean paste. Cook, until the mixture is dry and leaving the sides. Remove from heat and store in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to use. (It should keep for 1 week.)

For polis
1 ½ c Maida

Salt to taste

Water as required

Rajma paste

Method:
In another bowl mix flour, salt, oil and add water, to make dough. Cover and set aside for 1hr. To make polis take a ball of dough and spread with hand. Place a ball of dal mixture in and cover with the dough and seal the ends as shown in the picture. Apply oil to a plastic paper, keep the ready ball on it and roll it like chapathi (The plastic and oil prevents it from sticking). Fry like a parantha on hot tava till it gets golden brown color. Serve hot/cold with ghee.

Here is a link to the original article in Sunday Midday.