Independence Day 2025 🇮🇳: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's top 3 recipes inspired by Indian flag; imarti and kheer to hara halwa

Independence Day 2025 🇮🇳: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor once shared some delicious Independence Day dishes inspired by the colours of the Indian flag.

Independence Day 2025 🇮🇳: The Indian national flag, also known as the tiranga, consists of three horizontal bands of distinct colours – saffron, the topmost band, represents strength, courage, sacrifice, and selflessness; white, the middle band, signifies peace, truth, purity, and honesty; and green, the bottom band, represents fertility, growth, auspiciousness, and faith. The Ashoka Chakra, a navy blue wheel with 24 spokes, is at its centre.

In an August 15, 2024, blog on his website, chef Sanjeev Kapoor shared three delicious dessert recipes inspired by the Indian flag's colours: imarti, a sweet, crispy, and syrupy dessert perfect for representing the saffron colour, and kheer infused with the flavour of rose and coconut, symbolising white, to a hara moong dal halwa. Read on for their detailed recipes.

Independence Day 2025: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's imarti recipe is perfect for August 15 celebrations. (Sanjeevkapoor.com)

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's imarti recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Tata Sampann Urad dal

2 cups Sugar

2 tablespoons Milk

1/4 teaspoon green cardamom powder

3 tablespoons cornflour

Orange food colour

To deep fry ghee

8‑10 pistachios blanched, peeled and slivered

Method

⦿ Take Tata Sampann Urad Dal in a bowl, add sufficient water and soak for 6‑7 hours.

⦿ Heat a deep non‑stick pan, add sugar and 4 cups water and mix well. Stir till all the sugar dissolves. Add milk and mix well. ⦿ When the scum rises to the surface, collect it and discard. Lower the heat and continue to cook the sugar syrup till it reaches one string consistency.

⦿ Add green cardamom powder, mix and take the pan off the heat. Keep the syrup warm.

⦿ Drain Tata Sampann Urad Dal and put it into a blender jar, add 1 cup water and blend to a smooth mixture. Transfer the mixture into a parat. Add cornflour and food colour, mix with your hand till well combined.

⦿ Heat sufficient ghee in a kadai. Transfer the ground mixture into a jalebi cloth and gather the edges to make a potli.

⦿ Pipe out the batter into medium hot ghee in the shape of imartis. Deep‑fry on medium heat till golden and crisp. Drain and immerse into the sugar syrup and let it soak for 4‑5 minutes.

⦿ Drain the imartis from the sugar syrup and arrange them on a serving plate. Garnish with pistachios and serve.

Independence Day 2025: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's kheer recipe is made more special with coconut and rose flavour. (Sanjeevkapoor.com)

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's coconut gulaab ki kheer recipe

Ingredients

200 grams coconut cream sweetened

1 tablespoon condensed milk

1 cup coconut cream

1 teaspoon Green cardamom powder

¼ cup tender coconut flesh

2 tablespoon almonds finely chopped

2 tablespoon pistachios finely chopped

4‑5 tablespoon desiccated coconut

For garnishing rose petals

Method

⦿ Heat condensed milk in a non‑stick pan, add coconut cream and green cardamom powder and mix well. Cook on low heat, stirring continuously.

⦿ Finely chop coconut flesh and add and mix well. Add almonds, pistachios and desiccated coconut and mix well. Cook on low heat for 4‑5 minutes.

⦿ Pour the kheer into a serving bowl. Drizzle rose syrup, garnish with rose petals and serve warm

Independence Day 2025: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's hara halwa recipe is a must-try. (Sanjeevkapoor.com)

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's hara moong halwa recipe

Ingredients

1 cup whole green gram ( oda moong)

1/4 cup Ghee

1-2 tablespoons Full fat milk powder

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons slivered pistachios for garnish

2 tablespoons slivered almonds for garnish

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts for garnish

1/2 teaspoon green cardamom powder

For garnish dried rose petals crushed

Method

⦿ Dry roast whole green gram in a non-stick pan till golden brown. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool. Transfer into a blender jar and grind into a coarse powder.

⦿ Boil 3½ cups water in a deep non-stick pan.

⦿ Heat ghee in the first pan, Add green gram powder and sauté for 3-4 minutes.

⦿ Add milk powder and mix well. Add boiling water, mix till smooth and lump free. Add sugar, pistachios, almonds, walnuts and green cardamom powder and mix well. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring continuously, till it reaches halwa consistency.

⦿ Transfer the halwa into a serving plate, garnish with pistachios, almonds, walnuts and dried crushed rose petals and serve hot.