With splashes of colours and a whole lot of laughter, Holi is one festival that brings everyone together. In India, since no festival is complete without a festive meal, a show stopping dessert is a must. Inspiring you to go down the sugar tunnel, these fusion dessert recipes by some of the top chefs will not only make your Holi party a success, but will also turn you into the star of the festival.
Mulled Wine Poached Pear Jalebi With Gulab Ice by Executive Chef Lokesh Jarodia from Deltin, Daman
Ingredients:
For mulled wine:
750 ml bottle of dry red wine
1 orange, sliced into rounds
8 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
2-4 tablespoons sugar, honey, or maple syrup to taste (or your desired sweetener)
1/4-cup brandy or your favourite liqueur (optional)
2 Pears (for poaching)
For Poached pear jalebi
2 Mulled wine poached Pears
1 cup refined flour
1 cup + 1 tsp sugar
A few saffron strands
Ghee for deep-frying
1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
1/2 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp rose water
Sliced pistachios and fresh rose petals for garnishing
For rose ice cream
100 gms fresh rose petals
200 ml vanilla ice cream
2-3 Tbsp rose petal jam (gulkand)
3/4 cup chopped pistachios and almonds
Method:
1. Mulled Wine and Poached Pears:
Combine all ingredients, except pears, in a saucepan, and place it over medium-high heat. (Be careful not to boil the mulled wine — you don’t want to boil off the alcohol). Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let the wine simmer for at least 15 minutes or up to three hours and strain. In a heavy bottomed pan simmer the mulled wine over low heat; drop the peeled pears in the wine and cook for 15-20 minutes.
2. Pear jalebi
1. Core poached pears and cut into thin slices.
2. Combine sugar and water in a deep non-stick pan and boil.
3. Add saffron, mix and boil for about 10 minutes or till the sugar dissolves completely and syrup gets thick.
4. Heat sufficient amount of ghee in a kadhai.
5. Combine yeast and lukewarm water in a bowl and mix well.
6. Let the yeast dissolve completely.
7. Combine flour, cardamom powder, dissolved yeast and sugar in a bowl.
8. Add water and mix well to make a thick batter and set aside for 15 minutes.
9. Add rose water to sugar syrup and mix well.
10. Cook further till done.
11. Dip pears slices in the batter and deep-fry in ghee till golden.
12. Transfer pears jalebis in the sugar syrup and soak them for a minute.
For gulab ice-cream:
1. Combine ice cream, rose petals, rose petal jam and chopped nuts in a blender jar and blend well.
2. Transfer the mixture into a silicon container, cover with the lid and freeze till set.
Plating:
1. Transfer some pears jalebis on a serving dish.
2.Top it with a scoop of gulab ice cream, follow with another pears jalebi, garnish with pistachios and rose petals and serve.
Thandai Paan Cheesecake Recipe by Executive Chef Lokesh Jarodia from Deltin, Daman
Ingredients
For the crust
1-1/2 cups Cookies or any digestive cookies (crushed)
6 tablespoons Butter (unsalted) , melted
For cheesecake filling
1 cup Cream cheese
1/4 cup Condensed Milk
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 tablespoon Rose water
1-1/2 tablespoon Thandai Masala
For home-made Thandai Masala
6 Almond
6 Cashew nuts
1 tablespoon Poppy seeds
1 tablespoon Fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon Cardamom Powder
1/2 teaspoon Black pepper powder
1 tablespoon Melon seeds
Method
Thandai Masala
Grind the masala ingredients in a mixer grinder, until you get a coarse powder.
Cheesecake
1. Crush the cookies or any digestive cookies until very fine crumbs are formed.
2. Pour crumbs into a medium bowl, add butter and stir until well combined.
3. Press the crumb mixture into small cookie cutters, spread and press flat. Make all mini crusts to make mini cheesecakes and place them in mini tart pans. If you don't have mini tart pan, you can use a regular eight inch tart pan and set the crust at the bottom.
4. Chill cheesecake crust in freezer at least for about 10 minutes.
5. For cheesecake filling, using an electric whipping mixer set at medium-high speed beat the cream-cheese in a large bowl until smooth.
6. Add condensed milk, vanilla extract and rose water in it and beat again. Next, add the thandai masala and mix well.
7. Pour the cream-cheese filling on the crust and smooth the top with a rubber spatula and refrigerate the thandai cheesecake for at least five to six hours until it has set well.
8.Serve thandai mini cheesecake as an Indian dessert for your parties
Chaas Pannacotta by Head Chef Ranjan Rajani, Hotel Sahara
Ingredients
500 ml Butter milk
250 ml Fresh cream
Zest from one lemon
100 gm sugar
4 Gelatine leaves
Method
1. Bloom the gelatine in cold water.
2. Bring the cream with lemon peel and heat
3. Add the bloom geletine and let geletine dissolve
4. Rest the mixture to chill
5. Add the blended chaas to the cream mix and blend well
6. Fill the mould evenly and refrigerate to set.
7. Serve cold with garnish.
