Holi 2018: How to make Holi colours, a healthy way

Holi, the festival of colours is right round the corner. Although we are excited about the festival, there is also the concern about lot of pollution caused in various ways. So, choose herbal colours as alternatives to the ones induced with metallic chemicals. This will definitely be the best way to avoid the hassle and ensure a healthy play of colours.

Herbal colours are easily available in the market, and much to your surprise can be easily made at home too with the help of flowers, herbs, leaves and other household ingredients easily found in the kitchen.

Here is a list of colours which you can easily prepare at home:

Yellow

For dry yellow: Mix two teaspoons of haldi / Turmeric powder with double quantity of besan (gram flour). Haldi and besan are extremely healthy for our skin, and are also used widely as a ubtan while taking bath.

For wet yellow: Add one teaspoon of haldi to two litres of water and stir well. This can be boiled to increase the concentration of colour and further diluted.
Soak Amaltas (Cassia fistula) or Marigold / Gainda (Tagetus erecta) flowers in water. Boil and leave overnight.

Red

For dry red: Dry the petals of Red Rose in sun and after they become crisp, they can be powdered in a mixer and a little flour can be added to increase the volume.

For wet red: Mix the sandalwood powder in water to get a uniform solution.

Mix a teaspoon of limestome powder or chuna or sunnambu in a cup of water with a teaspoon of turmeric and dilute it with water as required.

Pink

For dry pink: Take beetroots and grind it. Now, spread the beetroot paste on a tray and keep it under the sun to dry. Once it is dried, mix it with besan or gram flour.

For wet pink: Cut beetroot into small pieces and boil it in a cup of water to make concentrated pink colour. You can use it by diluting it with water.

Green

For dry green: Take the henna powder and mix it with an equal quantity of besan or gram flour. Make sure the henna powder is of good quality and is not mixed with amla powder.

For wet green: You can crush mint leaves and mix the paste with water to make wet green color. You can also use leaves of fenugreek seeds or spinach to make the colour.

Saffron

For dry Saffron: The Tesu Flower or the Flame of Forest can be dried and powdered and mixed with flour for more volume.

For wet Saffron: The Tesu flowers can be either soaked in water or boiled overnight for a yellow orange colour water.

Henna can be mixed with water to yield a orange color water, if you are using it for kids, make sure you get a good quality Henna powder.

Blue

For dry blue: The Jacaranda flowers can be dried in the shade and ground to obtain a beautiful blue powder. The flowers bloom in summers. Also, the blue Hibiscus which is found in Kerala can be dried and powdered just like the red hibiscus.

For wet blue: Crush the berries (fruits) of the Indigo plant and add to water for desired colour strength. In some Indigo species the leaves when boiled in water yield a rich blue.

This Holi let's enjoy the festival to its fullest by using eco-friendly products like herbal colors and take care of the environment by preventing it from getting polluted further.

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