Easy to Make Organic Holi Colours at Home

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Holi is a festival of fun and frolic. We play with colours, but over the last so many years our colours have changed to chemicals. These chemical colours are harmful to our skin, system as well as environment. There has been an effort by a lot of people to create awareness and promote natural organic colours. When we were growing up in the 1960’s we used Tesu flowers for brilliant yellow colour and the excitement began much in advance as the colours had to be prepared. The gulal was also made at home. The colours are subdued, unlike the chemical colours. The making of colours involve the children in the festivities and also teach them about the environment.

I am posting this tutorial on how to make your own unadulterated organic colour at home with very little cost. There are some recipes for dry Gulal and two recipes for wet colour. So get hold of your Mum and raid her kitchen or your Granny’s Puja supplies and enjoy. All the material can also be bought from your local Grocer and vegetable market.

For the colours, you will need the following

Cornstarch
Dry Turmeric
Dry Roli
Raw Turmeric
Beetroot
Green food colour
Water
Bowl
Spoons
Plate
Fine mesh sieve.
Rolling pin

DRY YELLOW COLOUR

Take a bowl, add 2 teaspoons of turmeric powder and 3 to 4 tablespoons of water and mix till dissolved. Add cornstarch to the mixture and keep adding it till it is saturated. Remove from bowl, and spread it on sheets of paper leaving it to dry completely. Once dry, use a spoon to break it into smaller pieces. It is soft so this step is very easy. Using a rolling pin, grind it further into fine powder. Sieve with a fine mesh and your dry colour powder, Gulal, is ready to use

2.DRY RED COLOUR

Take a bowl; add 2 teaspoons of roli powder and 3 tablespoons of water and mix. Roli will take some time to dissolve. Add cornstarch to the mixture till it is saturated. Then leave the mixture on paper to dry. Once dry, powder it with a spoon. Sieve and use Gulal.

3. DRY GREEN COLOUR

Take a bowl; add green Food Colour and water and mix thoroughly. Add cornstarch to the mixture till it is saturated. Then leave the mixture on paper to dry. Once dry, powder it with a spoon. Sieve and use Gulal.

4. WET LIQUID YELLOW COLOUR- 1

Buy green or raw turmeric from the vegetable market. It looks like the photo below. Peel it and then shred it. Put it into a bowl and fill it with water. Leave it overnight and then strain it. This can be further diluted. Please remember that turmeric colour is very strong and stains easily.

5. WET LIQUID YELLOW COLOUR-2

Another great and easy way to make yellow colour is to buy dry Tesu flowers from the market. These are also known as PALASH or DHAK and their scientific name is Butea Monosperma. This flower is also known as the flame of the forest and has medicinal properties.

They are soaked overnight. Can also be boiled for better colour. The solution is then strained and the coloured water used to play Holi. There are 2 photos below one soaked in just water and the other in boiled water.

6. WET LIQUID MAGENTA COLOUR

Buy beetroot from the vegetable market. Peel it and then shred it. Put it into a bowl and fill it with water. Leave it overnight and then strain it. This can be further diluted. Please remember that the beetroot colour is very strong.