Holi Day!

Holi Festival of Colors, Utah 2010 - Chalk Explosion
 (Photo credit: jeremy.nicoll)

Have you heard of Holi Day or as it is also known as the Festival of Colors.  I have several friends who are Krishna and it would be so much fun to have a way to celebrate Holi Day with them here in our small home town. We are not able to have the great colors all over us but we can the explosion of color in our food.  Also with my rough bare floors we let the kiddos use the colored chalk to draw us pictures.  You might want to have them decorate the sidewalk or porch with their bright colored pictures to celebrate. But I would have loved to look like this instead.  

You could make a meal with the help of  Cuisine from Tandoor Chef! 

Start your meal off with Appetizers! 

Lamb Samosas

Spinach and Paneer Pizza

Main Course: 

Chicken Curry

Vegetable Pad Thai

I did not have access to Tandoor Chef here in my lil town so we improvised with our own colorful meal.enjoyed making a quiche of tomatoes and mushrooms.   We added a lot of fresh fruit and veggies.  There was a few lil smokies for the kiddos who really love them (Dear Hubby too!).  I thought I would also share the recipe for our drink, Thandai.

Ingredients:
2 glasses of whole milk
1 cup water
1 tablespoon blanched almonds
1 tablespoon Pistachios
1 tablespoon Poppy Seeds
6 cashew nuts
Powdered cardamom, Cinnamon, Nutmeg- a pinch each
Honey as per taste 

Method:
Bring the water to boil in a small sauce pan. Add the spices. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Make a fine paste of all the nuts and poppy seeds along with the heated spices. Pour into a strainer lined with a damp cloth and set over a clean bowl. Squeeze all the milk out of the nuts by tightening the cloth by wringing it. You may use the nut pulp for thickening Indian curries or in baking.
Mix this paste with the other spices into the milk and stir well. Mix the honey and chill. Serve in glasses with crushed ice.