Independence Day is around the corner and will be celebrated with much fervour across the country. People are looking forward to celebrating the weekend with their families and near and dear ones. Independence Day is an opportunity to take pride in our nation's heritage and culture and really an excuse to paint everything we can in three colours- orange, white and green. Festivals are occasions for togetherness and bingeing on festive sweets and dishes. One of the highlights of I-Day celebrations is tricolour dishes which can be easily made at home.
You might have seen food bloggers and food experts dressing their food up in the three colours of the Indian national flag. Although those dishes look incredibly beautiful, one might think they're too difficult to re-create at home. But that's not so. You may be able to create aesthetically pleasing tricolour delights for your Independence Day get-together by adding some natural ingredients.
Here is how to get the colours of the Indian national flag for your dishes:
1. Tricolour Salads
It's pretty simple when it comes to salads. All you have to do is get a mix of bright and fresh vegetables. With bright green lettuce for the green of the flag, some shredded radishes perhaps for the whites and some shredded orange carrots for the saffron colour, you might be able to create a beautiful tricolour salad plate for your lunch table.
2. Tricolour Mains
When it comes to desi Mains, there is endless possibility of creating incredible-looking 'patriotic' dishes. From tricolour pulao to tricolour pooris, you can use your creative imagination as much as you want. The green can be created using fresh spinach, white can be brought in using rice flour or suji and the orange can be created using carrot puree or puree from unripe tomatoes. Coconut milk and shredded coconut can also be used for the white colour.
(Also Read: 11 Easy Pasta Recipes | Popular Pasta Recipes)
For pastas, it's even simpler. Divide your pasta portion in three batches and cook them in tomato sauce, pesto sauce and cheese sauce and then plate them to make a tricolour together. Here's a recipe of tricolour pasta you'll like.
3. Tricolour Snacks
Small finger foods can also be given tricolour hues. For example, idlis are one of the easiest snacks to dress up patriotically. You can use mint or coriander for the green portion of the batter, white is the plain batter, and for the orange part, you may use the good old carrot puree or you can even use mashed pumpkin.
4. Tricolour Desserts
There are plenty of desserts that you can make for Independence Day. From tricolour halwas (three types of vegetable halwas) to tricolour rasgullas, there are plenty of great sweets to experiment with. For the green, you may use matcha powder and for the orange, saffron strands may work best. If you're making a three-layered pastry, you may experiment with a lot of different flavours. You may use kiwi pulp for the green and orange pulp for the saffron strip of, say a fruit trifle. Here's a list of tricolour desserts that you'll love.
Try and use as many natural colouring agents as you can, as added colours are said to be harmful for consumption. Happy Independence Day 2024!