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Marking the harvest of rabi crops, like wheat, mustard, peas, etc, the North Indian states are set to celebrate Baisakhi on the 13th of April 2025. The popular festival not only marks the Punjabi New Year but also commemorates the historic formation of the Khalsa Panth by Guru Gobind Singh Ji in 1699. Apart from the family visits to Gurudwaras and folk dances, a festive spread with traditional Punjabi delectables takes the main stage.
While dishes like sarson ka saag and makki ki roti are a non-negotiable part of the spread, there’s an array of lesser-known treasures you must explore. To learn more about hidden gems and family rituals, Slurrp interviewed culinary experts from a Punjabi background. Read on for an exclusive sneak peek into the Baisakhi traditions.
How Baisakhi Is Celebrated, The Traditional Way
Apart from being a popular harvest festival, Baisakhi also commemorates the formation of Khalsa Panth by Guru Gobind Singh. Thus, most Punjabi households prepare kada prashad (atte ka halwa), and the families visit the beautifully decorated Gurudwaras.
On collecting memories from culinary experts who grew up in Punjabi families, Pankaj Singh Panwar, the Executive Chef at The Westin Resort & Spa Himalayas, says, “One of my fondest memories is of making Gulgule—sweet fritters made from jaggery and wheat flour. These were a staple during Baisakhi, Holi, and other harvest festivals. I can still recall the aroma that would fill the kitchen, the excitement of helping prepare them, and the joy of sharing them with family, surrounded by laughter and festive folk music.”
Discussing the more popularly made Punjabi dishes like sarson ka saag and the all-time favourite chole bhature, Chef Vinamr Manocha from Vivanta, Goa Panaji nostalgically adds, “Sarson da saag and makke di roti, of course, remains in my memory as prepared by our grandmother and other elderly ladies of our family. On this auspicious day, traditionally, we would start our day with chole bhature for breakfast. Then, the day progressed with lunch that typically consisted of pindi chole, kadhi pakoda, jeera rice or peas pulao and tandoori roti or missi roti.”
To conclude the meal, Chef Vinamr shared that their family would prepare a range of desserts like kheer, gajar ka halwa, pinni, and jalebi. Since no festive meal is truly complete with a beverage, they would also have both sweet and salted lassi to pair with the elaborate Baisakhi spread.
Lesser-Known Dishes Prepared For Baisakhi
Depicting the harvest festival, most of the dishes prepared for Baisakhi have a bright yellow colour. Some of the most popularly prepared dishes for the harvest include phulkari pulao, saffron phirni, peele laddu, and many more. However, there are many lesser-known Punjabi specialities that you cannot miss out on.
Talking to Vernika Awal, an Indian food journalist and Brand Lead for Ikk Panjab at Bright Hospitality Private Limited, about the lesser-known dishes prepared for Baisakhi, she focuses on the simplicity of the Punjabi cuisine, saying, “Whoever thinks Punjabi food is heavy and complicated clearly hasn’t experienced the true essence of Punjab’s flavours. Our cuisine is beautifully simple yet deeply nuanced, with authentic tastes shining brightest in the warmth of our homes. Take, for example, Roh Di Kheer. Much like Kada Prasad, this dessert calls for fewer than five ingredients and relies solely on love and patience to achieve its perfect texture. The term Roh refers to sugarcane in the Punjabi dialect of the Majha region, and this kheer is crafted by cooking broken basmati rice in fresh sugarcane juice. As the juice reduces, it transforms into a rich, thick, and creamy dessert.”
Adding to the importance of adding sugarcane to traditional dishes, Kriti Dhiman, a 24-year-old chef & content creator, shares how her family makes a sugarcane-based dessert, “Ganne ke ras wale chawal always makes me drool. For this, rice is slow-cooked in freshly squeezed sugarcane juice and then topped with ghee-laden dry fruits. We cook this dessert at festivals or any special occasion. It brings back old memories every time I have it.”
But amidst the sweet dishes, you cannot forget the spicy Punjabi chutneys and pickles most households use to make it on weekends as a wholesome family project. “Kache aam di chutney is one such nostalgic dish for me,” says Chef Vinamr Manocha from Vivanta, Goa Panaji. The Punjabi raw mango chutney is a tangy, sweet, and slightly spicy condiment made with raw mangoes, jaggery, and spices like fennel and cumin.
Chef Vinamr further adds, “Today in urban India, Baisakhi is not so popular anymore as there has been a massive shift from seasonal to instant eating. In earlier times, people cooked with the seasons—raw mangoes in early summer and mustard greens in winter. Now with supermarkets offering everything year-round, seasonal delicacies lose relevance, especially those made for just a few weeks. Ready-made pickles and store-bought chutneys have replaced simple home recipes.”
Family Recipes And Locally Sourced Ingredients For Baisakhi
One of the major crops that is harvested at the time of Baisakhi is wheat. Incorporating that, the most frequently recreated family recipes atte ka halwa, dry fruit pinni, meethe puda, etc.
To gain a deeper insight into the locally sourced ingredients to prepare Baisakhi-special dishes, Chef Rahul Rawat, the Executive Chef at Welcomhotel Tavleen Chail, Himachal Pradesh, told Slurrp, "We often use locally sourced saffron from Tarikhet, Hawalbagh and Lamgara blocks of Almora Region, which adds a unique fragrance and golden hue to the dishes. We also incorporate fresh sugarcane juice in some of our Baisakhi sweets, enhancing their natural sweetness."
Shedding some light on millets, which have gained a much-deserved popularity ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared 2023 the ‘Year Of Millets’, Chef Shagun Raizada Malhotra says, “Bajra, known as pearl millet, is a rural Punjab dish my maternal grandmom sometimes made for us. As a kid, I only knew of bajra as the food birds ate, and this makes me laugh now. We didn’t know about its health benefits until recently. For Baisakhi, we often make bajra khichdi, which is best cooked with moong dal and with lots of vegetables like carrots, beans, peas, etc. I usually pair it with curd or mango pickle. I also love to club this with yellow kadhi; it becomes an awesome flavour bomb!”
So, if you want to make a traditional Baisakhi spread, apart from the renowned dishes, do try out the hidden recipes of Punjab. With the seasonal produce and Punjabi family recipes passed down to generations, you can celebrate the harvest festival from anywhere across the world.
