Holi is undoubtedly the festival of colours. But after a full day of playing with gulal, being drenched in water, dancing till our feet ache and downing an unadmittable number of glasses of thandai, you do come back, baked, pun not intended, with a large appetite. Awaiting you are the quintessential Holi treats — gujiya, malpua, dahi vada, puran poli, and many others that signal true celebrations.
While the country comes together to celebrate colour and chaos, food plays an equally important role in the festivities. Much like India itself, Holi food is diverse, regional, and deeply personal. Every part of the country and often every household has its own set of snacks and sweets that define the festival. From syrup-soaked indulgences to savoury bites best enjoyed with a cup of chai, what’s cooked during Holi tells stories of family, community, legacy and most importantly love.
And who better to give us insight into these traditions than chefs. People whose earliest memories of food often shape the way they cook today. We spoke to four chefs about the Holi-special dishes they grew up eating and the memories tied to them.
Chef Manish Mehrotra
For Chef Manish Mehrotra, founding partner of Indian Accent and chef-owner at Nisaba, Holi was extra special because his family ran a sweets shop which meant mithai was always in abundance. But two things that were always made at his home in Bihar were malpua and jalebas — the king-sized, substantially larger versions of the usual jalebis.
These jalebas had a thick, crispy exterior with a syrup-soaked, soft interior. “I never liked malpuas because they were a bit soggy for me,” he admits, “but I always ate the big jalebas with rabdi.” For him, Holi memories are inseparable from syrupy fingers, oversized sweets, and the sheer excess that only festivals allow.
Chef Amninder Sandhu
“For us, it is gheeyar, a traditional Sindhi sweet that is made only during Holi,” says Chef Amninder Sandhu, founding partner of Tipai, Bawri, Kikli, and Barbet and Pals. While gheeyar may sound similar to the Rajasthani ghevar, it is entirely different. It resembles a large jalebi — crisp, golden, spiral-shaped, soaked in syrup, and unapologetically festive.
“It is bold, deeply sweet, and completely tied to this one festival,” she says. Sandhu was introduced to gheeyar by her father-in-law when she got married. “I come from a Punjabi background, and marrying into a Sindhi family expanded my understanding of festive food. Gheeyar became a symbol of that bridge for me. It represents inheritance through marriage, tradition passed on through affection and inclusion.”
Her strongest memories revolve around the anticipation, watching her father-in-law speak about gheeyar with pride, the syrup being prepared carefully, the frying done patiently to achieve the perfect crisp texture, and finally breaking it, sharing it, eating it with sticky fingers. “As a chef, I understand technique and structure. But as family, I understand emotion. Holi for me is not just about colour, it’s about belonging to two homes. And gheeyar sits right at the centre of that story.”
Chef Jasleen Marwah
For Chef Jasleen Marwah, founder of Folk, Holi has always been synonymous with her mother’s dahi bhallas and meetha pooda. “My core memory of Holi is watching my mother make dahi bhalla for everyone who came home,” she says. “She would always say, ‘aaj itne ache nahi bane,’ just so people would praise her more! Till date, she enjoys making these dishes so much that we’ve included versions of them at Folk as well.”
Meetha pooda, the other Holi staple in her home, are atta pancakes with whole saunf, cooked in ghee and sugar. On Holi, they were made without sugar and then dunked into jaggery-water syrup. Even rotis that day were made using jaggery water, adding a subtle sweetness that made the day feel extra special.
Chef Hiren Kumar
For Chef Hiren Kumar, Head Chef at Saltt & Uppu, Holi meant a classic North Indian snack — namak pare with chutney. Namak pare are savoury pastries made with maida or wheat flour, seasoned with ghee or oil and ajwain, then fried till crisp.
“During Holi, the whole family gets into a colourful, playful mode,” he says. “Throwing colours and splashing water is the motto of the day. By evening, everyone is happy and exhausted, and there’s nothing better than ending the day with a cup of hot tea and namak pare with khatte-meethe chutney. That’s all you need to bring the memories flooding back.”
Holi, much like any Indian festival, is as much about food as it is about celebration. Whether sweet or savoury, if there’s a time when the country puts its best culinary foot forward, it’s during festivals. More than the dishes themselves, it’s the nostalgia, the act of cooking together, eating together, and creating memories with family and friends that makes these moments truly special. Because long after the colours fade, it’s the taste of those festive meals that lingers.
