A very happy ‘Holi’ to all those who celebrate this wonderful and colorful festival! A riot of colors, splashes of water, water balloons and yummy puran poli (sweet lentil stuffed flatbreads) are the images that come to mind when I think of Holi! Although we cannot afford to be that carefree now as we were when we were kids, the spirit of Holi is what I love the most – about having fun with a ‘happy-go-lucky’, jolly attitude! All work can wait – Little Johnny wants to play 🙂 Loved this wonderful and well-compiled article of Holi celebrations in India by Newsweek with lots of colorful pictures – Check it out!
So last night while in bed I remembered that it was going to be Holi today and so thought of making something colorful. Not just one color – something that I can do in multiple colors. Hmm…what can I make? Suddenly the image of a bright red cherry gummy that a fellow AIP blogger had shared on insta came to mind. The mind started working overtime – it started to quickly consider what I had available in the fridge and pantry. The beginnings of these 3 gummy recipes started to formulate (yes, the pharmacist in me!) in my head as I fell asleep.
What happened today morning is what is more interesting and worth sharing! So I planned these 3 gummies – Cranberry Coconut (I love that combination and I make a cocktail for myself with this combo), Blueberries (since those were the only berries I had) and Turmeric Ginger (since I wanted a lighter color!). Ok so as I finalized the 3 recipes, I thought this should be pretty straight forward. Well the ‘Holi’ God had something else in mind! For the blueberry one, since I was using frozen blueberries, I heated up the blueberries with the lemon juice and then had to blend the mixture to get a puree. And then I did something stupid. Yes, how incredibly foolish of me ! I poured the hot liquid into my small food processor jar and turned the knob on. Before I had time to react, there was a blueberry explosion and both I and my kitchen had blueberries all over us! After the spontaneous uttering of some expletives, I suddenly saw the humor in the whole thing! Ha Ha I was playing Holi in my own kitchen 🙂 But when I thought of the clean up, all my laughter vanished 🙁 Take a look at the colorful mishap(aka mess!) and I am sure you will sympathize with me! Actually my face and arms were also splashed with the blueberry mixture – My first instinct was to run to the bathroom and clean my face. I should have taken a pic – that would have been a real cool ‘Holi’ pic!
Anyways, I think it was worth it since the blueberry ones were the best according to me! Actually all of them came out pretty tasty! I liked the cranberry coconut a lot too. The turmeric lemon ginger was quite refreshing – I added honey in that one and will be great as a soothing lozenge when you have a sore throat! Btw, if you do not already know, pure grass-fed gelatin is incredibly healthy and has healing properties. So these gummies are a great snack for both kids and adults alike!
All in all, this was one successful ‘gummy cum Holi’ workshop in my kitchen 🙂 Maybe I should add this to my cooking workshops list 🙂 🙂
Sharing this recipe at the Paleo/AIP Recipe Roundtable this week. 
- 1 cup Blueberries (frozen or fresh)
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- Pinch sea salt
- 4 tbsp gelatin
- ¾ cup coconut water
- ¼ cup organic cranberry juice (no sugar added)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- Pinch salt
- 2 tbsp gelatin
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp fresh ginger juice
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tbsp gelatin
- Add all ingredients except the gelatin in a small cooking pot and heat until the blueberries are softened. Turn heat off and let stand for 5 mins. Blend the slightly cooled (should be still warm) mixture in a blender (use a large blender jar and be very careful otherwise you will have an explosion like I did) with the gelatin until you get a smooth mixture. Pour the mixture quickly into square tins(metal) or glass containers. Place container in refrigerator for at least 1 hour for the gummies to set.
- Place all ingredients except the gelatin in a cooking pot and heat until the mixture starts to boil. Turn heat to medium and slowly add the gelatin ½ a tbsp at a time stirring constantly to avoid lumps. If you have a few tiny lumps it is ok. Just strain the mixture through a strainer before pouring it onto a square or rectangle (glass or metal) container. Place in refrigerator for 1 hour before cutting into pieces.
- Place all ingredients except the gelatin in a cooking pot and heat until the mixture starts to boil. Turn heat to medium and slowly add the gelatin ½ a tbsp at a time stirring constantly to avoid lumps. If you have a few tiny lumps it is ok. Just strain the mixture through a strainer before pouring it onto a square or rectangle (glass or metal) container. Place in refrigerator for 1 hour before cutting into pieces.
- Store the gummies in an air tight container and place in refrigerator.
You could also 'bloom' the gelatin first by wetting it with some water in a bowl before adding to the hot liquid. This makes it dissolve faster.
Store the gummies in a refrigerator since they will develop mold at room temperature beyond 3 days.
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Had to laugh at your description of that incident! 🙂
I too love making such homemade gummies, but so far didn’t experiment with turmeric. It’s such a great idea! Though the others look so good too. 🙂
ha ha thanks for reading my weird adventures in the kitchen:) Yes Ronit all the gummies came out really good. I thought of turmeric because I wanted a lighter color too. And then while making it thought of adding ginger too and now its a perfect anti-inflammatory gummy when you have a bad throat! Have you posted any of your gummies? Curious to see what other flavors you have made.
No, I haven’t posted any of the gummies yet. I usually make one type at a time, and it doesn’t look as good in the photos as the lovely colorful medley you have here.
My favorite so far is using carrot juice. Next time I will be making it, I will add to it your turmeric-ginger. It sounds so good, and it is indeed so healthy. Thanks for a great idea! 🙂