Black Cherry Glazed Thandai Burfi

Holi is a spring festival, also known as the Festival of colors or the festival of sharing love. It is an ancient Hindu religious festival which has become popular with non-Hindus in many parts of South Asia, as well as people of other communities outside Asia. The Holi festival has further cultural significance. It is the festive day to end and rid oneself of past errors, to end conflicts by meeting others, a day to forget and forgive. People pay or forgive debts, as well as deal anew with those in their lives. Holi also marks the start of spring, and for many the start of the New year.

There is a symbolic legend to explain why Holi is celebrated as a festival of colors. The word 'Holi' originates from 'Holika', the evil sister of the demon king Hiranyakashipu. The festival itself is believed to have origins from the Prahlad-Puri Temple of Multan in the Punjab region. The original temple of Prahladpuri is said to have been built by Prahlad, Hiranyakashipu's son. 

It also has a religious purpose, Symbolically signified by the legend of Holika. The night before Holi, bonfires are lit in a ceremony known as Holika Dahan (Burning of Holika) or Little Holi. People gather near fires, sing and dance. The next day, Holi, also known as or Dhuleti, is celebrated. Children and youth spray colored powder solutions at each other, laugh and celebrate, while adults smear dry colored powder on each Other's faces. Visitors to homes are first teased with colors, then served with Holi delicacies, desserts and drinks. After playing with colors, and cleaning up, people bath, put on clean clothes, and visit friends and family. 

Days before the festival people start gathering wood and combustible materials for the bonfire in parks, community centers, near temples and other open spaces. On top of the pyre is an effigy to signify Holika who tricked Prahalad into the fire. Inside homes, people stock up on pigments, food, party drinks, Specially Thandai and festive seasonal foods such as Gujiya, Mathri, Malpuas and other regional delicacies. There is no tradition of holding Puja, and the day is for partying and pure enjoyment. Children and young people form groups armed with dry colors, colored solution, the means to fill and spray others with colored solution (Pichkaris), Water balloons filled with colored water, and other creative means to color their targets.

The spring season, During which the weather changes, is believed to cause viral fever and cold. The playful throwing of natural colored powders has a medicinal significance: The colors are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Ayurvedic doctors. Many colors are obtained by mixing primary colors. Artisans produce and sell many of the colors from natural sources in dry powder form, in weeks and months preceding Holi. Some of the Traditional natural plant based sources of colors are:

On this Holi, I want to try something very new and so delicious in taste, So trying some fusion sweet here, Its a simple lauki ki burfi, But adding a Thandai Masala makes this Burfi Out of the world...Trust me the taste is amazingly merge in the burfi and take this sweet to the another level. Apart from that, Glazing it with black cherry spread, The taste of this cherry spread was too good, which is like a cherry on the cake....Its a celebration of colors and Sweets and delicious authentic Holi special Dishes, last year Prisha had a loads of fun On Holi, I was at My Mom's house, and she got a Benton featured Pichkari from the shop, and she used to spray wet colors from her Pichkari to her Mamaji and Naniji (My elder Brother and My mom). And nowadays she used watch her favorite Cartoon Called Veer, The Robo Boy ;) Lol....She watched one episode of Holi in this cartoon, and she learns one slogan from that cartoon which you all know very well.....It was "Holi he bhai Holi he, Bura na maano Holi he" Hahahahha....That little sentence from her little mouth was so so adorable....I love love it...When I was shooting this colors pictures she just take a colors from the plate and put a dots on my hands on my clothes..;) I was enjoying it because she was enjoying it a lot :) That millions bucks smile when she put one dot on my hands, and I was imaging that whats making her So So happy by doing this ??? I asked her that why are you Soooo Happy by doing this?? And the answer was, She was not believing, That dot was made by her, And the best part is, It was on her Mom's hand..I wish I could never rub that One small dot of color which was spotted by my angel...I am gonna make this happen for sure....In which way I don't know, But this is surely going to be happen. And yess She told me that Mom please take one pic of mine also with these beautiful colors...She told me to take all the colors in one pot only...So Mixed all the colors...She set on her chair and holded this small pot with colors and gave a me snap....A Million Dollar Snap for me....This is our 31st #foodiemonday #bloghop Event and this time our theme is #Fusionthandairecipes And, It was very nice experience to have experiment on different recipes, My entry will is with desi Burfi but with twist of adding Thandai masala and to give a different look I have glazed it with Cherry spread for this Holi, This Burfi is with Bottle guard, So its healthy too and Soooooo Delicious....So If you want to make something new in this Holi, Try out this simple, Easy,  and worth try recipe...Check out the step by step recipe below and share your thought below in comment!! :) Happy Holi to all of you :) Contributing my this recipe to my fellow Blogger Sonal Gupta's Holi special Collection...Check her wonderful recipes at her blog http://simplyvegetarian777.com/ and indulge in a Food world that takes you to the heaven !!!!

How to make Thandai Masala

Ingredients:

40 gm Pistachio
40 gm Almonds
2 Tbsp Rose petals (Dried)
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 Tbsp Fennel seeds
9-10 Cardamom
1 tsp Poppy seeds
5 gm Chirongy
11/2 tsp White pepper
1/2 tsp Dry ginger Powder

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients, Roast them for few minutes, crush in mixture, Keep it in an airtight container. :)

Cherry Glazed Thandai Burfi

Ingredients:

11/2 Tbsp Thandai Masala
500 gm Bottle guard, Grated
120 gm Mawa
100 gm Sugar
11/2 Tbsp Clarified Butter (Ghee)
2 Tbsp Cashew, Almonds, Chopped
1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
Pinch of Green color (Optional)
1/2 Cup Black cherry Spread, For Glazing

Method:

1. Heat a pan with clarified Butter, and add grated Bottle guard, cook it for at least 6-7 minutes, You will see the bottle guard is quite soft now, Add Sugar in it and cook it until all the moisture become dry. Meanwhile Grease an aluminum tray with Ghee.

 

2. Now add Mawa and mix it well, and add Thandai Masala, Chopped Cashew-Almonds and Cardamom Powder too, and pinch of green color Mix them all very well. (Note: You can avoid adding color in this Burfi, For a better look, I have added a pinch of it.)

3. Remove a pan from heat and add pour this mixture in an Aluminum tray and spread it evenly. let it cool for 3-4 hours. Now cut the pieces of your desired shape, I am cutting them in square Pieces, Now spread Cherry Glazed spread On Burfi and garnish them with some Chopped Almonds.

Enjoyy these Indo western version of Burfi in this Holi and Enjoyyyy!!! :)