New-age mithais take centre stage this Holi

No celebration is complete without a box of mithai. And the festival of colours comes with its own dose of delicacies – be it gujiya, malpua, dahi bhalle or the good-old laddoos.
However, with the pandemic putting a spotlight on healthy eating and with growing concerns around synthetic colours, wax and preservatives used in foods, people are now more conscious about what they consume.Responding to the demand for healthier alternatives, humble mithais have gone through a transformation, and classic dishes are getting a healthy twist. And now there’s a demand for everything from diet barfis to mithais that use superfoods as bases.
Gujiyas, which are traditionally deep-fried in ghee or oil, are being baked; thandais and namkeens are being prepared using dry fruits; sugar is being replaced with jaggery as it aids digestion, boosts immunity and tastes just as sweet. Meanwhile, brands are taking popular sweets such as besan laddoo, barfi, and kaju katli and swapping the ingredients for healthier ones — palm sugar, almond and oat milk, and cashew butter, to name a few. And now one can find everything from flaxseed laddoos, walnut pedas, sweet potato halwa, quinoa apple kheer, and ragi sheera.
“Holi is one of those times when people forget their diets. However, I have noticed that real organic flavours are coming back in vogue. One major shift that I have seen is people shying away from anything that is overly sweet, and therefore the use of sugar has reduced. When I make halwa, I use ingredients like dates and palm jaggery syrup instead of processed sugar. There is hardly any added sugar in my berry kheer – all the sweetness is from the fruit. In the past couple of years, Indian desserts are being made without processed ingredients, while preserving their authenticity. Fruits have entered the picture,” says Chef Tarun Sibal, who added that some of the desserts to look out for this Holi are berry phirni, anananas halwa (pineapple and jaggery), ice cream made of coconut milk (for vegans), berry kheer and fruit & nut phirni.
RECIPES:
Berry vanilla rice pudding tart with vegan pistachio gelato (Tarun Sibal)

Whole milk – 1 litre (or unsweetened soya milk/coconut milk)
Date syrup – 75g
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Seeds from 4 cardamom pods (crushed)
Pudding rice or other short-grain rice – 160g
Fine sea salt
For the mixed berry compote:
Dried apricots (roughly chopped) – 10g
Lemon juice – 2 tsp
Honey – 2 tbsp
Red currant
Blackberry
Blueberry
Unsalted pistachio nibs (chopped) – 2 tsp
Vegan pistachio gelato - 1 scoop
Method:
- Put the milk, sugar, vanilla extract and crushed cardamom seeds in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the rice and a generous pinch of salt. Cover and simmer for 30-40 mins or until the rice is cooked and very soft.
- Stir the pot every few minutes so that the rice doesn’t stick and if it looks a bit dry, add 150ml just-boiled water to soften it.
- For the compote: Put the apricots, lemon berries in a small saucepan over medium heat and pour 50ml of just-boiled water.
- In a separate pan, sweat the berries for five mins. Bring to a simmer then cover and let the apricots cook for around five mins.
- Add honey, cook for another 5-10 mins or until the apricots are soft.
- Remove the pudding from the heat and cool.
- To serve, add the pudding to a tart shell. Then top up with apricot and berry compote. Serve with the pistachio gelato with a healthy dose of chopped pistachio nibs
No-Bake Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Granola Bar (Rachel Goenka)

1 cup pitted whole dates
1 cup ripe banana
½ cup oats
2 tsp flaxseeds
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup peanut butter
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup rice crispies
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (you can add more, if desired)
Pinch of salt
Method:
- Line an 8x8 dish with parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a food processor, add dates and bananas. Blend until the mixture is broken up and looks mealy.
- Add rolled oats, almonds and flaxseeds, and process for a few seconds to help break up the oats.
- In a large bowl, stir together peanut butter, honey, maple syrup and vanilla essence. Add the date/oat mixture to the bowl, along with puffed rice cereal, mini chocolate chips, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine.
- Once the mixture is stirred together, it should be sticky enough to stick together when pressed. If the mixture is not sticky enough, add a little more honey.
- Add the mixture to the prepared dish and firmly press down into the pan. Let the mixture sit in the fridge for about an hour before cutting just to help firm up the granola bars. They can be eaten right away, but will be a bit soft.
Sweet Potato Cake (Rachel Goenka)

Butter - 65g
Sugar substitute - 12g
Egg yolks - 4
Sugar-free chocolate - 65g
Mashed sweet potato - 120g
Flour - 260g
Egg white - of 2 eggs
Method:
- Melt the chocolate and butter, and add mashed potato
- Make a sabayon mixture with the egg yolks and sugar substitute, and fold in the chocolate mixture
- Whip the egg whites and fold in the chocolate and sabayon batter, and add flour
- Bake at 200°C for 15 mins
- degrServe with warm sauce
For the sauce:
Sugar-free chocolate - 100g
Cream - 100g
Milk - 100 g
-For the sauce, warm the milk and cream in a saucepan, and fold the melted sugar-free chocolate in the cream.
Almond Brittle (Shivesh Bhatia)

Caster sugar - ½ cup
Butter - ½ cup
Almonds - ½ cup
Saffron strands - 10-12
Milk chocolate - ¾ cup
Edible flowers - 7-8
Method
- Line a 9-inch square pan or a baking tray with parchment paper and some butter.
- In a heavy bottom pan, add butter and sugar, and let the sugar dissolve completely.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and stir continuously. Add saffron strands.
- The toffee is done when it turns amber in colour and leaves the pan sides and collects together.
- Add roasted and chopped almonds and give it a good mix.
- Transfer this to the lined tray and spread it across with the help of your rubber spatula. Set this aside, till it cools and hardens.
- Meanwhile, melt the milk chocolate in a bowl.
- As the almond brittle sets, pour the milk chocolate and spread it over evenly.
- Stick the edible flower petals at this stage. Let this cool properly, with the help of a knife break into barks and enjoy!
Banarasi Paan ki Gujiya (Chef Abdul Rehman Qureshi)

For the Paan filling:
Paan or Betel leaves - 5 medium sized
Cold milk - 100g
Gulkand - 150g
Sweetened condensed milk - 350g
Finely desiccated coconut - 250g
Khoya - 200g
Golden raisins - 60g
Mixed nuts - 113g
Fine granulated sugar - 100g
Mukhwas - 60g
A few drops of bright green food colour (optional)
Method:
-In a blender, add cold milk and shredded paan leaves.Blend till you get a coarse paste.
-Add the grated khoya and dry roast it for a couple of minutes. Keep stirring during this time to prevent khoya from burning.
-Take off from the stove and transfer to a mixing bowl and allow it to cool completely. In the same frying pan, over medium heat, add the desiccated coconut, sweetened condensed milk, the paan leaf paste and food colour.
-Heat and stir occasionally for about 3-4 minutes to evaporate excess moisture and mix. Reduce stove heat to medium-low and heat for another 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
-Take off from the stove and let it cool completely.
-After the green coconut mixture has cooled, transfer it to the mixing bowl with khoya. Add the nuts, mukhwas and gulkand. Mix them well together.
-Add sugar to the mixture and mix well. And the Banarasi paan filling is ready!
For the gujiya dough:
All-purpose flour (maida) - 500g
Light olive oil or ghee - 75g
Water - 180ml
Method:
-Put the flour in a mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup oil or ghee to it.
-Dry mix them well. You’ll see that the flour becomes crumbly.
-Take a handful of flour and tightly press with the fingers of your fist. When you open, the dry flour should hold the form. If it does, the flour is ready to be kneaded for gujiya. If it doesn’t hold and falls apart, then add 1 tbsp of the oil/ghee, mix and repeat the test.
-Now, add water and finish the dough smoothly. Divide the dough into 20 ping-pong ball-sized portions.
-Roll out each dough ball into approximately 4-inch rounds.
-Take a rolled out dough round, place about 1 tbsp of the paan mix below the fold, towards the centre and keep the side ends free. Line one half side-ends with a finger dipped in water to secure sealing. Bring the upper half on the lower half to fold into a half-moon shape, covering the filling completely.
-Keep the dough as well as the gujiya-dumplings covered with a clean and moist muslin cloth to prevent the dough from losing moisture and drying up.
-Heat sufficient oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat and fry the gujiya dumplings. When the gujiyas are uniformly golden brown, fish them out and place them on an absorbent kitchen towel.
-Serve them warm or at room temperature. Pair them with your favourite soft drinks or eat them as is…they add that entire special festive spark to your Holi!