Quick Hacks to Veganise 5 Holi Special Snack Recipes This Year!

March 7th, 2023

Holi 2023 is here! What better way to bond with family than over snacks traditionally consumed for the festival of colours? From the must-have thandai to the gujiya and namak para, holi is almost incomplete without them, isn’t it? But, if you’re wondering how you can make them dairy free, worry not.

Vegan First has put together some nifty hacks to make sure your Holi is sweet with the right amount of salt. These special Holi recipes are vegan, plant-based and still as delicious and addictive. Get your aprons out and let’s get cooking for the Holi festival today! 

VEGAN GUJIYA RECIPE

Synonymous with holi sweets, Gujiya is a deep-fried wheat croissant-like sweet dish usually stuffed with mawa or milk solids. The simple switch? Coconut! This versatile ingredient, once mixed with nuts and jaggery, tastes amazing. We’re inclined to say that it can be better than the original and yes, definitely healthier.

Ingredients for stuffing

½ cup almond, cashew, walnuts

1/8 cup raisins

1/3 cup of desiccated coconut

1 tablespoon coconut oil

3 tablespoon jaggery

½ teaspoon poppy seeds (khus khus)

1 teaspoon semolina (optional)

½ teaspoon cardamom powder

2 teaspoon water if using semolina

Ingredient for the Pastry/Covering

2 cup whole wheat flour or plain flour/maida

2 tablespoon semolina

2 tablespoon oil/vegan ghee

1 cup warm water for kneading

1 tablespoon flour with 1 tablespoon water for sealing

Pinch of salt

Oil for frying

Instructions

For the filling:

1. Grind the nuts. Roast in a pan for a few minutes with poppy seeds.

2. Add desiccated coconut. Roast for a few more minutes. Add coconut oil and mix. 

3. Add cardamom powder and jaggery.

4. Once the jaggery has melted, add the raisins and turn off the heat.

To shape the gujiya:

1. Take the ingredients for the pastry/cover dough in a bowl.

2. Knead with water into a semi-hard dough.

3. Roll a piece of dough into a circle. Spread a spoonful of filling to one semicircular section. 

4. Fold from top half and seal. Do not leave any open gaps, otherwise the mixture will escape while frying. Alternatively, you can also use a gujiya mould.

5. Fry on low heat and remove when golden brown.

6. If you plan to make air fried gujiya, then cook the gujiya for 14-15 minutes in a preheated air fryer at 170C or until they sound hollow. Spray oil twice in between. 

VEGAN MALPUA RECIPE

This traditional North Indian delicacy is like a pancake made of wheat, spices and khoya (dried milk solids), topped with nuts and soaked in sugar syrup. Veganise it by using cashew paste and plant-based milk. 

Ingredients: 

½ cup maida or whole wheat flour (for a healthier version)

1 tbsp semolina

5-7 cashews soaked in hot water and ground into paste

1 cup thick coconut milk or reduced almond/cashew milk; you can also make a thick nut milk at home

3 tbsp fennel seeds or saunf lightly crushed

1 tsp powdered cardamom 

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Chopped nuts and sugar syrup for garnish (made with 1/2 cup water cooked with 1/2 cup sugar, saffron and cardamom powder)

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Use a whisk to make the batter smooth. Batter should be like dosa batter. Let it sit for 15 mins.

2. Take a 6" flat bottom heavy pan. Pour some oil on the base. 

3. Pour the batter in the centre of the pan and spread to make 4” circles.

4. Shallow fry on one side and then the other.

5. Drain on a paper towel. 

6. Continue till all the batter is used. 

7. Soak in the warm sugar syrup.

8. Garnish with cardamom and serve.

VEGAN THANDAI RECIPE

This cooling and refreshing drink is perfect for a tired afternoon after a morning of intense Holi celebrations. Made with nuts, seeds, spices and milk, this is very easy to veganise. Just swap the milk for a vegan plant-based one!

Ingredients: 

3 cups of almond/cashew/oat milk

20 almonds

10 cashews

15 pistachios

1 ½ tablespoons watermelon seeds

1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds

1 ½ tablespoons fennel seeds

12 cardamoms

1 inch cinnamon

4 to 10 black peppercorns

1 pinch saffron

20 rose petals or 4 to 6 tsp of gulkand

5 to 6 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons sliced nuts for garnish

Instructions:

1. Soak almonds, cashew and pistachios in water for 4 hours.

2. In another bowl, soak poppy seeds and melon seeds.

3. Peel almond skin and add to a blender along with soaked cashews and pistachios. Grind.

4. Add the soaked watermelon seeds, poppy seeds, fennel seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, rose petals and saffron to the blender jar.

5. Grind to a coarse paste. Add half a cup of plant milk and grind to a smooth paste.

6. If oat milk, warm till thickened. Other nut milks might split when boiled, so make thick nut milk and then use.

7. Add the thandai paste just made and then add sugar. Taste and adjust.

8. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.   

9. Strain well, press down the solids to extract all the milk.

10. Serve topped with sliced nuts and gulkand. 

VEGAN NAMAK PARA 

If you feel we’ve gone all sweet on you, worry not. We’re bringing some salt back into your Holi celebrations with this recipe for namak para. These crispy, savoury wheat bites or layered chips will break in your mouth and evoke memories of childhood! Just use oil instead of ghee and you are ready for some vegan, plant-based crunch. 

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (atta) or use jowar flour for a healthier version

1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)

1 tsp crushed black pepper (optional)

1 tsp cumin seeds (optional)

¼ tsp baking soda

2 tbsp oil

½ to ¾ cup water or as needed

½ tsp salt or as required

Oil for deep frying, as required

Instructions:

1. Sieve the whole flour, maida, baking soda and salt.

2. Add carom seeds, black pepper, cumin seeds and salt. Mix.

3. Add the oil. Add water in parts, as you knead the dough.

4. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.

5. Take medium sized balls of dough and roll between your palms till smooth. Place on a dusted surface. Flatten with a rolling pin to about 3 to 4 mm thickness.

6. Make diamond shaped patterns with a serrated knife lightly coated with oil.

7. Fry in hot oil till crisp and golden.

8. Drain on a paper napkin to remove the extra oil. Cool and serve. 

VEGAN COCONUT BARFI
 

Coconut Barfi is a childhood favourite of most Indians, whether it is the Holi festival or not. A delicious, fudgy coconut sweet made with fresh coconut, milk and sugar, this can be easily made vegan. Since this recipe already contains coconut, what better way to make veganise the barfis than to use coconut milk instead of dairy milk?

Ingredients: 

¼ cup coconut milk

½ cup sugar/coconut sugar

3 cups shredded coconut

½ tsp crushed saffron threads

Chopped and roasted cashew

1 tbsp of coconut oil (To make the barfis)

Instructions:

1. Line an 8 inch by 8 inch square brownie pan with parchment paper or spread oil along the base. Keep aside.

2. Heat a medium size stainless steel kadai. Add the coconut oil, coconut milk and sugar. Stir slowly to mix. Add the shredded coconut and stir to incorporate.

3. Continue to stir on low heat until you get a fully cohesive mixture. Turn heat off.

4. Add crushed saffron into the coconut mixture. Add a little coconut oil and stir again while the mixture is still hot.

5. Remove the mixture into the lined pan. Use the back of a flat cup to spread the mixture evenly. 

6. While warm, cut into squares with a serrated knife coated with oil. 

7. Serve once cold, or eat while still warm and at its fudgy best.

Yes, we did say five recipes, but how can we miss a VF team favourite of Puran Poli? A Maharashtrian speciality, this wheat based roti is stuffed with a sweet filling of dal or lentils mashed with jaggery. This is easy to veganise by just skipping the ghee needed for making them and using a neutral oil or vegan butter. Choose the recipes you like and indulge this week as you celebrate the Holi festival with your families.