BWW Previews: CHEF HEMANT MATHUR Celebrates Holi at 6 NYC Indian Eateries on 3/7

Michelin-starred chef, Hemant Mathur will celebrate the colorful, joyous and tasty festival of Holi by serving traditional offerings and complimentary sweets at his six New York City restaurants, Haldi, Chola, Kokum, Malai Marke, Dhaba and Chote Nowab on Saturday, March 7th, 2015. Broadwayworld.com has the details and some of Chef Mathur's special recipes.

Chef Mathur will be cooking up a variety of specials, such as Three Roots Chaat, Mint Chutney Marinated Grilled Flounder, and Coconut Ferni with Pineapple. His wife, acclaimed pastry chef Surbhi Sahni, will make delicious chickpea flour sweets called Besan Ladoo that will be gifted to guests at the end of their meal. The Sweet Exchanging Ceremony is considered the oldest tradition of Holi, since any festival commencement, when sweetened with the rich Indian confectioneries, is considered lucky and prosperous.

Holi is also known as the Festival of Colors. This ancient Hindu religious celebration marks the coming of spring. Always a boisterous event, revelers around the globe splash each other with a rainbow of colorful powders, dance to the rhythms of popular Bollywood films, gift mouthwatering sweets, and indulging in the intoxicating beverage Bhang (made in India with milk, water, spice and cannabis). In keeping with the holiday, Chef Sahni will whip up batches of Bhang, slightly altering the recipe to include rum instead of cannabis.

The recipes for Bhang & Besan Ladoo are below.

BESAN LADOO SWEETS

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients:
1 cup Besan Flour
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons Melted Ghee
1/4 tspn Cardamom powder
5 strands Saffron -
2 tbsp. broken Cashews

Method:

Sieve gram flour once and keep it ready. Heat a teaspoon of ghee, add broken cashews and roast until golden brown. Set aside. Heat 1/4 cup ghee in a nonstick pan. Now add sieved gram flour. Roast it in low flame until color changes to golden brown. Keep stirring continuously to avoid burning at the bottom, this may take 7-10mins. Add cardamom powder and saffron give a quick mix and turn off flame. Let it cool for 5 minutes, then add powdered sugar and mix well until completely blended. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl along with ghee and cashews. When the mixture is warm, combine well to form smooth dough. Then shape balls (recipe makes 8) with your hands. Let cool completely, chill and then enjoy.

BHANG BEVERAGE
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 oz. rum

4 cups warm milk
2 tbsp. blanched and chopped almonds
1/8 tspn garam masala (a mixture of cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom)
1/4 tspn powdered ginger
1/2 to 1 tspn rosewater
1 cup sugar

Method:
Bring the water to a rapid boil and pour into a clean teapot. Place almonds in mortar and add 2 teaspoons warm milk. Slowly but firmly grind the milk and almonds together until a fine paste is formed. Squeeze this paste and collect the extract. Repeat a few more times until all that is left are some fibers and nut meal. Discard the residue. Combine all the liquids that have been collected and combine with the water, the garam masala, dried ginger and rosewater. Add the sugar and remaining milk.

Chef Hemant Mathur's Indian restaurants are in the following locations:

Haldi - 102 Lexington Ave., NYC 10015 - 212-213-9615 www.haldinyc.com

Chola - 232 E. 58 St., NYC 10022 - 212-688-4619 www.cholany.com

Kokum - 106 Lexington Av, NYC 10015 - 212-684-6842 www.kokumny.com

Chote Nawab - 115 Lexington Ave, NYC 10015 - 212-679-4713 www.chotenawabnyc.com

Dhaba - 108 Lexington Ave, NYC 10015 - 212-679-1284 www.dhabanyc.com

Malai Marke - 318 E. 6 St., NYC 10003 - 212-777-7729 www.melaimarke.com

Photo: Courtesy of Chef Hemant Mathur

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