Holi 2026: 15 traditional Holi dishes that make the festival a culinary feast

In India, festivals are incomplete without a culinary feast and the festival of Holi is no exception. From deep-fried delights to pan-fried treats, the festival celebrates many dishes that have been a part of Holi celebrations for generations. Let us explore the 15 traditional Holi dishes that make the festival truly special and flavourful.

Made with semolina, khoya, dry fruits, refined flour, and powdered sugar, this deep-fried sweet dish has now become world famous and now comes in baked variations too. No Holi celebration is complete without a sinful bowl of gujiya loaded with nuts.

It’s a sweet, tangy, and spicy blend of curd and deep-fried dumplings made with urad dal and moong dal. The use of thick yogurt, red chilli, chat masala and cumin powder along with tangy tamarind chutney adds to the taste of this treat, which is celebrated mostly in Northern and some Eastern parts of India.

These scrumptious discs of happiness are made with all purpose flour, milk and sugar. This deep-fried dish also has a strong flavour of cardamom and nuts. If you are health conscious, you may use wheat flour and stevia to make this sweet dish, which is also served to deities on the occasion of Holi as bhog.

For non-vegetarians, Holi means spicy mutton curry loaded with spices and aroma, which goes well with malpua and thandai too. It’s a slow-cooked dish that goes well with jeera rice, biryani, or pulao too.

It’s spicy, crunchy, and flavourful. Moong Dal Kachori is a sheer delight that is best served with aloo curry. It’s a Holi treat made in many homes with soaked moong dal sauteed along with black pepper, garam masala and coriander powder. This simple recipe goes well with spicy aloo curry, mint chutney, and curd. People also serve it with thandai during this festival.

For vegetarians, its a true delight and is made with pan-fried jackfruit cubes, which are cooked in a rich gravy of onions and tomatoes, along with spices and is topped with kasuri methi. It goes well with steamed rice, pua, and even khasta kachori.

It’s a regional dish of Bihar and Jharkhand, and is made with rice flour and chana dal. This deep-fried dish is served as breakfast and even an evening snack along with aloo curry and green chutney. It is crunchy and mildly sweet in taste too.

No Holi celebration is complete without Bhang Thandai. It’s a cold beverage made with milk, sugar, dry fruits, herbs and spice. Bhang Thandai is considered Lord Shiva’s favourite and is served to him during Shivratri too.

Shakarpare is also a popular sweet snack made with refined flour, sugar, oil, and water. This crunchy deep-fried snack coated in sugar syrup is enjoyed by kids and even adults.

Namakpare
It’s a popular evening snack made with refined flour, salt, carom seeds, oil, salt, black pepper, and chilli powder. This deep-fried snack is rhombus in shape and goes well with masala chai.

These are tender sweet laddoos made with grated coconut, milk powder, sugar, and milk. It’s a melt-in-the-mouth snack that people also use for greetings during the Holi celebration.

It is a popular side or snack dish that is mostly used to make chaat on Holi. It refers to a protein-rich chickpea curry made with boiled chickpeas, which are cooked in a spicy onion-tomato gravy and is topped with ground spices. It is best enjoyed with a topping of raw onion and curd.

For those who love non-veg, Holi is incomplete without a rich and spicy Chicken Curry, which is made with marinated tender chicken pieces, cooked in a gravy of onions and tomatoes and is best served with pua and even pulao, or biryani.

It is a melt-in-the-mouth deep-fried sweet, made with milk solids, paneer, nuts, and cardamom powder, which is further dunked in sugar syrup.

It is an aromatic rice preparation, made with par-boiled basmati rice, cooked on dum along with marinated meat or veggies, which is topped with fried onion and saffron water. It is best served with raita and salan.

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