Holi snack spread

Dahi Bhalla (दही भल्ले)

Chatori Katori (चटोरी कटोरी)

Aloo chaat (आलू की चाट)

Khandvi (खांडवी)

Rava Dhokla (रवाँ ढोकला)

Veggie Samosa (समोसा)

Gujiya (गुजिया)

Holi snack spread

Holi, the festival of colors, welcomes spring with its vast array of colors and bids winter adieu. Everyone celebrates using dry colors and enjoying food with their friends and family.

I am sharing with you my spread for this year's Holi festivities. It is an array of hot and cold hor 'd oeuvres. Some recipes are given below while some will be posted in the following weeks. I have altered most of these recipes from the traditional ones to make them less calorie dense.

Hope you all had a wonderful and colorful Holi.

Dahi Bhalla

The most delicious and loved appetizer, dahi bhalle is a welcome addition to any party food. The recipe can be found here.

Gujiya
The most popular dessert for Holi is Gujiya. In our house, we used to make at least 100 of them each year during Holi. It was a whole afternoon affair for the women of the house and was enjoyed by the whole family for the days to come. Traditionally for both Gujiya and samosa, you make a dough using flour, ghee, and water. This dough is rolled into small pooris and filled with the stuffing and then deep fried. I have changed this procedure a bit to save me time and make the Gujiyas a little less calorie dense. I use either phyllo pastry or spring roll wrappers for the crust and bake them instead of fry. Here is my version of the recipe. The edges don't look as pretty but it tastes as good.

Gujiya

Ingredients: (serves 4)
8 Spring roll wrappers
Filling
1/2 cup khoya (milk food) grated
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 tbsp each chopped almonds and cashew nuts
1 tbsp raisins
3-5 green cardamoms powdered
1/3 - 1/2 cup powdered or fine sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
2. In a bowl mix all the ingredients for filling. divide into 8 portions. 
3. Take several wrappers and trim them at the corners using a large round cookie cutter. 
4. Take the trimmed spring roll wrapper, place one portion of filling on one side of the wrapper, fold it in half to form a semi-circle, sealing the edges using a dab of water. Spray each side with cooking oil. 
5. Place on a greased cookie sheet bake for 20 minutes, turning it halfway, till lightly brown. 
6. Let stand for 10 minutes before digging in.

Veggie Samosa
I think everyone in the world is very well versed with this appetizer. Here in North America veggie samosa and chicken filled samosa are widely available in the grocery stores, not only in the frozen section but also freshly cooked in the hot food section. Same as Gujiya I have changed the dough for this recipe to make it lighter.

Samosa

Ingredients: (serves 4)
8 Spring roll wrappers
2 tbsp oil
Filling
2 potatoes boiled and cubed small
1/4 red onion chopped fine
1/2 cup frozen green peas
salt to taste
red chili powder to taste
3/4 tsp Amchur (dry mango) powder
2-3 green chilies chopped (optional)
1-inch ginger grated

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
2. Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes till light pink. Add potatoes and peas and saute on medium high for a minute. 
3. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Cook for another 3-5 minutes till all spices blend and peas are done. 
4. Remove from heat and let cool. Divide into 8 portions. 
5. Take a spring roll wrapper, place one portion of filling in the wrapper and fold as in samosa, sealing the edges using a dab of water. Spray each side with cooking oil. 
6. Place on a greased cookie sheet bake for 20 minutes, turning it halfway, till lightly brown. 
7. Let stand for 10 minutes before digging in. Serve with Green mint chutney and tamarind chutney.