Holi is one such festival that is close to our heart for many good reasons. And why not? Is there anything better than enjoying to our fullest with a lot of happiness and laughter, splashing water balloons and applying fistful of bright colours to each other? Probably not! But why is Holi celebrated?
A popular legend associated with the festival takes us back to the time of Prahlad who was a firm devotee of Lord Vishnu. Prahlad’s father Hiranyakashipu considered Lord Vishnu as his enemy. Nor he worshipped neither he wanted anybody in his kingdom to worship Vishnu. But he couldn’t stop Prahlad from following his devotion. One day, he ordered his sister Holika, who had the power to resist fire, to sit on a burning pyre with Prahlad in order to kill him. But to his shock, Prahlad got protected by Vishnu and Holika got burnt to ashes. This festival too, like many others in Hindu religion, signify the victory of good over evil. A night before playing with colours, Hindus re-enact and perform Holika Dahan.
Image: Holika Dahan
We Indians don’t need a special occasion to enjoy food. But there are some festivities that become even more vibrant with the food and crispy stories associated with it. Holi is no exception. While some dishes associated with Holi hold a mythological importance, some take us back to agrarian roots. Different communities celebrate the festival with a unique and special culinary ritual. Some delights particularly signify Holi like gujiyas and the most popular, thandai, dahi vade and malpua. But there are some dishes and rituals we don’t know about. On Holi, Indian Sindhis make thick rotis which are tied with strings and roasted on fire. They also make some unique specialties like Gheeyar and Phragree. The former is a bright coloured jalebi while the latter is pastry stuffed with khoya. Similarly, marwaris have a tradition of roasting papad in the holy fire.
This was the mythological significance but if some food experts are to be believed, Holi is connected with spring equinox and harvest of wheat in many parts of India. Holi falls around the time when crops like gram, wheat and sugarcane are harvested in the country. And this, probably has led to the creation of a Holi staple in Maharashtra called ‘Puran Poli’. These are sweet flatbreads with a stuffing of jaggery and yellow gram. While ‘Puran Poli’ is believed to have agrarian roots, savoury snacks like chaats and kachoris have a connection with Braj.
Image: Puran Poli
While there are agricultural connections too, Holi is also associated with the devotion of Lord Krishna, Balaram and Radha in Braj. And we all know, how Holi is celebrated with great pomp and fervour in Braj, Vrindavan, Mathura and nearby areas. As per some food experts, Braj is famous for dishes like peda, kachoris, chaats etc. and this, could be the reason why we enjoy these delights on the festival of colours.
Image: Aloo Chaat
We have talked about Holi’s food tradition from the mythological, devotional and even agricultural point of view. But there is one more factor I.e., seasonality. Holi falls in the month of Phagun, and this marks the end of winters and arrival of spring. Because of the changing weather, our immune system gets prone to seasonal infections and diseases. This is when Holi special ‘Thandai’ and ‘Kaanji Vada’ comes to the picture. Thandai is a milk-based drink loaded with spices and herbs like black pepper, fennel, almonds, rose petals, poppy seeds etc. All these ingredients act as cooling agent and protects the body from the last bit of winter. When laced with bhaang, it adds up to its medicinal properties. Similarly, Kaanji is a fermented drink made up of carrots, originally black carrots, served with vadas. Kaanji is also considered an immunity booster with a property of improving gut health. Not just thandai and kaanji, we must also add ‘Pallar’ a drink made up of curd, dry red chilies, hing, turmeric and methi seeds, to the list. This drink has the goodness of curd and is known for its cooling properties. This could explain why we have curd loaded dahi vadas in the festival.
Image: Palar
Last but not the least, there is one sweet which is as essential as the colours of gulal on Holi. It is the OG Gujiya. The sweet remains the same but is known by different names and a slight difference in ingredients across the country. It is stuffed with sweetened coconut and chana dal and packed with dry fruits and spices. A similar dessert known as ‘Boorelu’ is relished in Andhra Pradesh and ‘Karanji’ is relished in Maharashtra. Well, Holi is just not vegetarian. While a rich mutton curry is a Holi tradition in Bihar, a special mutton curry is cooked and relished in many parts of Bengal during Dol, a festival equivalent to Holi.
Image: Mutton curry
This was all about the traditions and food that we have been enjoying since years on Holi but nowadays, the traditions may have been the same, but the menu has changed. While the mutton curry and rice has been replaced by mutton biryani, the OG thandai has been replaced by thandai shots. In an exclusive conversation with Slurrp, Senior Chef and the Founder of ‘The Mad Fat Chef Hospitality, Anirudh Sethi talked about how the traditional food in Holi has evolved over time. He said ‘Holi is a vibrant festival and is a time of joy and merriment, and one of the most important aspects of this festival is the food. Over the years, Holi food has evolved significantly, influenced by regional and cultural diversity.
Image: Kulfi
Chef said that sweets like gujiya, malpua, and kulfi have become an integral part of Holi celebrations. Earlier, only traditional savoury snacks like samosas, kachoris, and papdi were enjoyed but the addition of sweet dishes has made the festival more enjoyable and festive. Besides, this festival is celebrated in different parts of India, and each region has its own unique cuisine. Over the years, people have started to incorporate dishes from other regions into their Holi celebrations, leading to a fusion of regional cuisine. While in North India, people prepare dishes like thandai, dahi bhalla, and aloo tikki, people in South India relish sweet pongal, vada, and thayir sadam.
With the increasing health consciousness, people have started to use healthier ingredients. Instead of deep-fried snacks, people now bake or air fry them to reduce the calorie content. Usage of healthier ingredients like multigrain flour, jaggery, and coconut oil has increased. And last but not the least, with the rise of globalization, people have started to incorporate global food trends into their Holi celebrations. Nowadays, people have started preparing dishes like pasta, pizzas, and burgers along with traditional Indian snacks during Holi. This has made the festival more inclusive and appealing to people from different cultures, added Chef Anirudh.
So, this was our attempt to take you through the Holi food preparations, interesting stories associated with them and evolution of the Holi meal over time. What do you think? Do let us know!