Romy Gill discusses her connection to the Hindu holiday of Holi via cuisine, culture, and customs.

Festival food has helped me on my life's path, both professionally and personally, as a chef and food writer. I've expanded my knowledge and made connections with many fascinating individuals from over the world through learning about flavors, approaches, procedures, and traditions.

For my girls, growing up in the 1970s and 1980s was very different from life now. We were less materialistic and had fewer problems since social media didn't drive us to look beautiful. Except for our families, whose objective was to see their children succeed, we had nothing to prove to anybody.

Instead, we shared our experiences, meals, and leisure activities. My brother and I used to fight like cats and dogs, so it wasn't always a nice thing (and still does). With our friends and neighbors, we would play cricket and badminton, and we had scheduled TV viewing hours. When I was approximately 10 or 11, we were the first on our block to obtain a television. It was a large, black-and-white set, and I recall waking up early to watch the Cricket World Cup in Australia with our neighbors. My friends and I had posters of Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Chetna Sharma, and Imran Khan on our walls since they were the cricketers we most liked (and even fancied).

Romy Gill

In addition to these regular pursuits and activities, festivals played a significant role in my early life. Most of the people who lived close to us had made the same trip to the ISSCO steel mill in Burnpur as my father to work. It was a neighborhood that was a mash-up of many languages, cuisines, and traditions, as well as various religions and civilizations.

As kids, Holi, the festival of color, was what we looked forward to most. This Hindu holiday heralds the end of winter and welcomes the start of spring.

Like festivals, celebrations brought families together to take in one another's cuisine and cultures. In a community like ours, I had the good fortune to discover how cooking methods vary from home to home and how these variations may drastically alter the flavor of food.

Even though we didn't have much, our friendships were characterized by love and respect. Life was uncomplicated; we shared plates and ate without considering caste or religion.

Ladakh in the northern part of India

I learned through growing up in Burnpur, West Bengal, that just because I'm Indian doesn't imply I know everything there is to know about Indian cuisine and culture. I gained a bag full of information when I moved to the UK and finally opened my restaurant. I also had the chance to travel to other regions of India, which helped me transition from a job as a chef to one as a culinary and travel writer.

My first official journey, to Ladakh, made me feel like a visitor in my own country. I felt both sad and happy at the same time because, despite my lack of familiarity with my nation, knowing about other nations, states, and areas helped me to rethink my perspective on food. I've got the chance to tell more people about the cuisine and the people I've met by sharing their tales and the meals. It's a continuation for me of a journey that started with festival celebrations—a trip I hope will go on in the years to come as I get to know more and more of my home country as a visitor.

Because the colors occasionally stayed in place after being blended with water for days, my father was never a big Holi enthusiast.

As kids, Holi, the festival of color, was the one we looked forward to most. This Hindu festival commemorates the end of winter and the beginning of spring and is observed in several ways.

I can still picture my friends and I gathered around our Bihari neighbor, Bhabi, as she related the Holi legend. She related how the Hindu deity Lord Vishnu murdered the demon king Hiranyakashyap's younger brother. In response, the demon king started to behave like God, punishing or murdering anybody who defied him.

Yet Prahlad, Hiranyakashyap's son, remained loyal to Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap was furious about this and enlisted the aid of his sister Holika, who possessed a unique cloak that shielded her from fire, to help him.

Prahlad was supposed to be killed by Holika holding him down over a fire. Nevertheless, when she utilized her abilities for evil, her cloak flew off, shielding Prahlad and murdering her in the process. Following Hiranyakashyap's defeat by Vishnu, the Holi celebration commemorates the victory of good over evil.

India's Holi festival

Hindus burn a bonfire the day before Holi during the full moon in memory of this legend. Another Holi tale, however, also contributes to the festivities. The protagonist of this tale is Krishna, whose complexion had gone blue due to Putana's poisoning. Krishna was afraid that Radha would dislike him because of the color of his skin. He then playfully painted Radha's face. People continue to paint their loved ones' faces with vibrant colors (Abeer) to honor the occasion of Holi.

My dad was never a big Holi enthusiast since the colors, once blended with water, occasionally stayed on clothes for days or even a whole week. So, we were cautioned to use the powder just for pretend play.

Holi festivities in London

I can recall asking my best buddy Neeraj if anyone had ever misbehaved at school around Holi. He then clarified that while Holi was virtually ever spoken at school, some of the older children who were more mischievous had started covertly dousing each other in colored powder or applying it to people's heads; this behavior only became apparent on the next day's wash.

In defiance of our parents' desires, we started playing Holi. We used to devise complex arrangements with our brother to make sure that we colored others before they colored us. We loaded our pichkaris (water pistols) with the colored powder and water mixture that we had prepared in a bucket before attacking.

More than just color flinging was the point of Holi. People would congregate for dancing, entertainment, and food.

As we finished playing, we had soaked clothes and skin that was a rainbow of colors. My delicate skin would react to different colors, so I would constantly be hurting for a while, but it was worth it. Our mother would usually reprimand us when we got home because the colors wouldn't come off easily.

To this day, neither Neeraj nor I can recall the specifics of a time when we were arguing and silent. Malkiet, a common friend of ours, ended up caught in the middle, so I persuaded him to play Holi at Neeraj's place and we were reconciled.

We all followed various courses after getting our GCSEs; it was our final Holi as a group. The three of us, together with our buddy Reshmi, have agreed that one day we will return to our hometown and play Holi once more.

Traditional Indian drink thandai made with saffron and pistachios.

More than just color flinging was the point of Holi. People would assemble for dancing, entertainment, and food, and even now, particular foods remind me of those joyful, colorful days.

Before being deep-fried, gujiya pastries resemble Cornish pasties because they are stuffed with khoya (sweet dairy curd), dried fruits, or coconut. Another well-liked Holi treat was jalebi, which are spicy sweet swirls of crispy deep-fried batter. We also ate rasmalai, a sweet dumpling stuffed with creamed rice, pistachio, and saffron, and barfi, a condensed milk-based dessert available in a broad range of flavors.

Not just the meal but also the drinks are significant. A common beverage from northern India called thandai is prepared with milk, saffron, sugar, almonds, and a variety of spices and is topped with nuts. Some people would even include bhang (cannabis) in their thandai to honor the occasion during Holi.

Every Holi, our neighbor Bhabi used to cook malpua. We always devoured these delicious pancakes, which were crispy on the exterior and soft on the inside, and they gave us the energy we needed for the celebrations.

I have happy recollections of having gujiyas with my pals because my friend's mother was an expert in this field. The mix of the pastry and the filling is what gives this meal its unique flavor. Coconut, pistachios, sugar, and a range of spices are all packed into the sweet, delightfully textured filling. She would prepare the dough and fill separately, then combine them to form crescents, seal them, and deep-fry them in plenty of ghee or oil. Make them yourself this Holi using my recipe, which is provided below (Wednesday 8 March 2023).

Coconut Gujiya

Recipe for coconut gujiya

Makes 15

Ingredients

To make the dough

• 200g plain flour
• 3 teaspoons of ghee (can substitute with vegetable or sunflower oil)
• 100 ml of room-temperature water

For the fillings

• 150g freshly grated coconut
• 8 green cardamom pods' worth of crushed seeds
• 2 teaspoons crushed fennel seeds
• 1 kg of caster sugar
• 3 teaspoons ghee + more for frying
• 20 grams of freshly chopped pistachios plus an additional serving
• 15g of raisins
• White poppy seeds, 2 teaspoons

Holi: How this Hindu celebration of triumph, colour and food connects me to my childhood in West Bengal: https://t.co/B661h0N1bS

— Hangouts (@Hangouts) March 1, 2023

Method

Make the dough first. Sift the flour into a large basin, then stir in the ghee.

Remember that various types of flour require varying quantities of water as you add the liquid gradually and knead the mixture until it forms a soft dough. For 30 minutes, let the bowl sit at room temperature covered with a fresh tea towel.

Make the filler in the interim. In a bowl, add the shredded coconut, sugar, cardamom, fennel, chopped pistachios, raisins, and poppy seeds. Mix everything thoroughly.

The blended filling ingredients are added to a frying pan that has been heated with 3 tsp of ghee and cooked for 5 minutes at medium heat. Before assembling, remove from the fire and let cool.

Make 15 equal-sized balls out of your resting dough. Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll one ball into a thin circle 9–10 cm in diameter. Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the circle. Pinch the dough around the filling with your thumb and forefinger to keep it from escaping. Continue until each one is created.

Ghee should be heated at between 175 and 180 degrees Celsius in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan. When ready, fried your gujiyas for 3–4 minutes, until crispy and golden brown. To drain the extra ghee, remove it with a slotted spoon and place it on a dish covered with paper towels. After all of your gujiyas are cooked, repeat the process. To serve, top with the remaining pistachios. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

British-Indian chef Romy Gill, MBE, is a broadcaster living in the southwest of England who writes on cuisine and travel.