Gudi Padwa will be celebrated on April 2 this year. Here are some delicious holiday sweets for you to try at home.

Gudi Padwa celebrated on the first day of Chaitra month, is an auspicious festival for Maharashtrians. It is the first day of the year for the people of Maharashtra and the Konkan region and is also known as Samvatsar Padvo. The start of the harvest season is marked with much splendour,  is prepared to commemorate the occasion.

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On this day, people get up early in the morning, decorate their homes with rangolis, and place a ‘Gudi’ at their front gate, which is said to ward off evil and invite wealth. It is followed by a traditional feast that includes items such as basundi, puran poli, modaks, and shrikhand, to name a few.

Gudi Padwa will be commemorated this year on April 2, the same day as Chaitra Navratri begins. Here are some delicious holiday dishes for you to try at home.

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1) Vermicelli Kheer

Recipe by Swapnadeep Mukherjee, Executive Chef, The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa

Ingredients

Vermicelli – 100 gm

Desi ghee – 10 gm

Milk full cream – 400 ml

Almonds – 10 gm

Sugar – 50 gm

Cashewnut – 20 gm

Cardamom – 0.5 GM

Method

* Wash vermicelli and put it in a saucepan along with ghee and stir for 2 minutes

* Add milk and sugar and stir well

* Simmer for about 1 hour or till milk reduces to half and of creamy consistency

* During this period stir from time to time

* Add almonds and cashew nuts

* Sprinkle crushed cardamom

* Serve hot or cold

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2. Puran Poli

Recipe by Dayal Singh Negi, Chef at Foodya, Noida Sector 63

Ingredients

For the stuffing:

* 1 cup of chana dal/Bengal gram (washed and soaked)

* 3 cups of water

* 1 cup of jaggery

* 1 tsp cardamom powder

* ½ cup ghee

For the dough:

* 2 cups of refined flour (you can mix it with whole wheat flour)

* A pinch of salt

* 2 tbsp ghee

* 1 cup of water

Preparation of the stuffing:

Add chana dal and water to a pressure cooker and let it cook for 3-4 whistles. After draining, take the coarsely mashed chana dal in a pan and add the jaggery and ghee. Sprinkle some cardamom and let it cook gently on a low flame. Cool the mixture once dry.

Final Preparation:

* Knead the flour, water and ghee into a bowl, and leave the dough for half an hour.

* Break the dough into round balls and roll each into a flat chapati. Dust the flat dough with some flour and add a generous amount of sweet stuffing.

* Cover the edges of the dough and roll it flat again. Heat the pan and grease generously with ghee. Place

the flatbread on top of the pan, and cook evenly on both sides. Dress the puran polis with some extra ghee as desired. Serve hot.

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3. Paneer Basundi

Recipe by Thayanithy Tamilarasu, Sr. Sous Chef, Signature Club Resort, Brigade Group

Ingredients

Milk – 1 litre (full cream)

Paneer – 100 g

Sugar – ¼ Cup

Almonds – 4 (chopped)

Cashew nut – 4 (chopped)

Pista – 4 (chopped)

Saffron – 4 strands

Cardamom Powder – 1 pinch

Method:

* Boil milk on low flame in a thick bottomed pan for about 10-12 minutes until it reduces to a quarter the volume (the milk should rise 4 to 5 times).

* Stir continuously while the milk is boiling. After the milk thickens add in a roughly smashed paneer and boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in diced almonds, cashew nuts and pisa.

* Add sugar and mix until it dissolves. Add saffron strands and mix well until the colour changes to light cream. Add cardamom powder mix. Serve Paneer Basundi garnished with slivers of nuts either chilled or hot.

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4. Milk Mawa Barfi

Recipe by Swapnadeep Mukherjee, Executive Chef, The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa

Ingredients

Milk powder -200 gm

Fat-free milk – 150 ml

Cardamom seeds powdered – 0.5 gm

Sugar – 100 gm

Method

* Mix all the ingredients in a flat bowl.

* Put the bowl in a microwave for 7-8 minutes, switch off the microwave every 2 minutes and stir well.

* Let the mixture cool for 3-4 minutes. Add sugar and mix it well

* Put all the mixture in a flat tray and let it cool to a temperature that is comfortable to touch. Make a dough of the mixture and roll it on a flat tray with a rolling pin or press by hand

* After about 2 hours, cut the burfi in diamond or square shape