recipes

7 Holi Recipes to Celebrate the Coming of Spring

The Hindu festival of colors represents the triumph of good over evil—and is the perfect excuse to make these snacks from chef Preeti Mistry.
A Holi spread featuring Bombay sandwiches burnt masala wings and mango lassi
Photo by Heami Lee, food styling by Frances Boswell, prop styling by Sophie Strangio

For a lot of food people, spring means the emergence of green garlic, ramps, or curlicued fiddlehead ferns at the farmers’ market. For me it doesn’t feel like spring until it’s Holi.

Known as the celebration of colors, spring, and love, Holi has long been a favorite holiday, a time to welcome in a new season and spread some joy. Traditions vary across the Hindu diaspora, but a centerpiece of Holi, which falls on March 28 and 29 this year, is the game of colors. When there isn’t a global pandemic, people gather in the streets, parks, and other outdoor spaces to play, smearing colored powder or water on each other. It’s a symbolic act of repairing broken relationships (and creating new ones) or marking the victory of good over evil. And it’s pure, messy fun.

Chef Preeti Mistry is known to throw a banging Holi party.

Photo by Alanna Hale

As a kid I was terrified of Holi games (I was shy!), but as an adult I’ve considered it an occasion to get to know my wider community. I’ve helped organize Holi dance shows, food drives, and children’s events, ordering boatloads of chaat, making blenders full of lassi, and filling hundreds of balloons with colored water. I love playing a role in something that brings people together, which is why, for years, I dreamed of going to one Holi event in particular: chef Preeti Mistry’s blowout bash in Oakland, California. Their Holi celebration commemorated the anniversary of their acclaimed restaurant Juhu Beach Club with stuffed puris, fun drinks, and an all-out game of colors. Mistry’s Holi party was beloved by the community. “As a queer-owned business, we basically co-opted the word love,” jokes Mistry. “Love wins. Love is love. It’s ours. So we get the festival of love.”

When Mistry closed the restaurant in 2018, I thought I lost my chance to try the menu specials they rolled out each year for the holiday. Then the idea for this story came about. With so many people stuck at home this year, we asked Mistry to create a vibrant, springy, veg-forward Holi menu that feels festive and can be flexible to feed however many people you’re able to celebrate with. “Holi is not conducive to a sit-down, coursed meal or a buffet—it’s more like finger food. And when you’re doing finger foods, you want intense flavors that are spicy, salty, and rich,” Mistry says. “Those are indicative of a really fun party.”

Get all their Holi recipes here:

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  • Burnt Masala Wings recipe from chef Preeti Mistry
    Photograph by Heami Lee, food styling by Frances Boswell, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
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    Burnt Masala Wings

    The unique smokiness that comes from tandoor cooking inspired this recipe. “Roasting, then grinding masala adds depth of flavor to the wings,” Mistry says. “The tamarind sauce is a nice tangy foil.”

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  • Photograph by Heami Lee, food styling by Frances Boswell, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
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    Spring Vegetable Bhajia

    “When frying the bhajia, you’re almost stretching them across the oil, not dropping a ball in,” Mistry explains. “That technique gives the bhajia a lot of crispy edges, so you get little poky bits of scallion, cabbage, and snap peas.”

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  • Photograph by Heami Lee, food styling by Frances Boswell, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
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    Bombay Sandwich

    “This is like a grown-up grilled cheese,” they explain. “So I feel like the technique should match that. I caramelize onions into a jam and use a really nice sourdough to give the sandwich texture and structure.”

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  • Photograph by Heami Lee, food styling by Frances Boswell, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
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    Dahi Puri

    “These are the perfect party snacks. They’re light, look really nice with sev [crunchy chickpea noodles] and chutneys on top, plus you can set it up as a DIY serving style—with a little bowl of potatoes, a little bowl of chickpeas—so people can assemble it themselves,” they say. “If you want to do the distanced thing, you can make individual plates for people.”

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  • Photograph by Heami Lee, food styling by Frances Boswell, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
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    Sweet & Salty Mango Lassi

    Mistry prefers their lassis not too sweet—and sometimes salty-savory like Gujarati chaas made with buttermilk. This recipe walks the perfect balance, mixing cumin and black salt with mint, mango, and lime. It’s a refreshing drink, and Mistry suggests “adding a little white rum if that’s your thing.”

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  • Photograph by Heami Lee, food styling by Frances Boswell, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
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    Mint, Scallion, and Cilantro Chutney

    “In the past, I liked to focus chutneys on singular flavors. I’d make a cilantro chutney and a mint chutney—but for this menu, I thought, Let’s just pack a lot of exciting flavor in there. Let’s deluxe it,” Mistry says. Make a batch and spread it on the Bombay sandwiches, drizzle over the dahi puri, and eat with bhajia as a dip.

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  • Photograph by Heami Lee, food styling by Frances Boswell, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
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    Beet Halwa

    “I don’t make a lot of desserts, and what I love about this recipe is that it’s really easy for someone who’s not a baker,” Mistry shares. “You just cook grated beets down in milk, which gives the halwa a surprising richness; fold in pistachios in for texture; and let it set.”

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  • Illustration by Amrita Marino 
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    Celebrate Holi at Home

    1. Prepare your color palette.
    We love Jai Jai Hooray Holi Powder, which is non-toxic and washable. You can pour the colored powder on thalis or small trays, like Mistry did at Juhu Beach Club, or mix with water to fill up water balloons or small spray bottles to play the game of colors.

    2. Wear white.
    The bright colors pop on white, but anything goes—Mistry remembers there was “at least one goth-punk sous chef who insisted on wearing all black” at their Holi parties.

    3. Set the mood.
    Find a parking lot, a large backyard, a rooftop, or an open field, because things can get messy. Search for a Holi playlist on whatever music streaming platform you use—if you’re having trouble choosing, you can’t go wrong with anything labelled “Bollywood hits.”

    4. Snack accordingly.
    You can either serve food before or after the game of colors. We prefer eating first, but if you’re feasting after the game, prep everything ahead and have your feast outside or lay down some newspapers inside to reduce the chances of powder getting everywhere.

    5. Improvise if you need to!

    • Can’t get outside? Consider buying colorful streamers or ribbons and have an indoor dance party.
    • Need something more social-distance friendly? Have every household buy their own tie-dye kits to create colorful new shirts or socks.
    • Worried about mess? Buy fun chalk and draw colorful designs on driveways or sidewalks instead.
Sonia Chopra joined Bon Appétit and Epicurious as executive editor in August 2020. Prior to that, she worked at Eater for almost a decade in roles that ranged from Eater Atlanta editor to Eater’s first managing editor and director of editorial strategy. She served as a co-executive producer on Eater’s... Read more
Executive Editor, Bon Appétit and Epicurious