7 Delicious Diwali Sweets- You Can Prepare At Home

Are you too excited for Diwali as much as I am? All the colours, lights, traditional dresses, crackers and beautiful lanterns lighten up outside every home. And if you’re an Indian then you know that no festival is complete without sweets so how can the biggest Indian festival be celebrated without a lot of mithai?

You can impress any Indian Aunty if you are a pro in making mithai like kheer or halwa. So, why don’t you try making them instead of buying them from sweets stores? You can call all your family members and join them too to make these sweet delicious sweets. 

If you still haven't rolled up your sleeves and started preparing for the festivals of lights and flavours, then here are some easy yet delicious traditional delights, which you can prepare for the festival and enjoy with your loved ones.

1) Gulab Jamun

The first sweet on this list is gulab jamun! You just can’t imagine celebrating Diwali without having these delicious khoya balls dipped in thick sugar syrup. The rich texture and yummy taste of this sweet dish can instantly impress everyone.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tin Nestlé MILKMAID
• 2 cups (200 gm ) of Flour
• 600 gm, grated Paneer
• 200 gm Sooji/Rava
• 1½ tsp Baking Powder
• 1½ tsp Baking Soda for 
• Frying Oil
• 2 litres of Water
• 1 kg Sugar
• 6-8 nos, coarsely crushed Cardamom

How To Make:

1. Boil sugar and water to prepare syrup to remove from fire; add cardamom and keep aside to cool.
2. In a mixing bowl put the flour, paneer, sooji, Nestlé MILKMAID, baking powder and baking soda.
3. Mix gently to make a soft dough, do not knead too much.
4. Divide the mixture into 30-35 portions and gently roll into round gulab jamuns.
5. Fry in the oil at a very low flame till golden brown in colour.
6. Keep putting the fried gulab jamuns in the prepared sugar syrup, once all the gulab jamuns are in the sugar syrup bring it to a boil and remove it from flame.
7. Serve warm.

2) Samosa

A crispy and spicy samosa is something to which nobody can say no! It can be the perfect snack for you for this festive occasion. So, if you are having a small Diwali party at your place then, you must serve ‘chai-samosa’ to your guests.

Ingredients:

• Mashed Potatoes
• Coriander seeds
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Salt
• Coriander powder
• Saunf
• Turmeric
• Amchur
• Oil
• Garam masala
• Red chillies
• Green chillies
• Curry leaves

Dough-making Tips:

1. The dough or Atta for samosa is made with Maida (all-purpose flour), ghee and salt. This is similar to making pastry for pies where the flour and ghee and mixed till the mixture is crumbly and then water is added little by little till the dough comes together.
2. Don't over-knead or your samosas will be tough instead of crispy
3. It’s okay if you can see small pockets of ghee in your dough
4. It’s normal for the dough to have dimples or cracks. It need not be smooth.
5. The dough should be kneaded stiffly. That's what helps form the crispy crust.
6. If your dough is too soft, you've added too much water and this will make it difficult to wrap samosas and the crust won't be crispy.
7. Rest the dough for 30-40 minutes for the best results

Samosa Filling:

1.  First pound all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. In a hot pan sauté the dry ingredients and add spices.
3. After the paste is brownish add the boiled potatoes.
4. Mix and mash the boiled potatoes and add curry leaves.

Tips To Wrap Samosa

1. Make sure to roll out the dough thinly and evenly. If the wrapper is too thick, the samosas won't cook properly from the inside.
2. Do not use any flour while rolling the dough. There is enough fat in the dough and it won't stick to the platform as you roll.
3. Any extra flour can burn when you fry the samosas making them bitter
4. Always fry samosas on low heat. This is so that the pastry cooks from inside.
5. If the oil is too hot, it browns too quickly on the outside but remains uncooked with a raw pastry inside.
6. Samosas take 15-20 minutes to fry to a golden brown.
7. Serve warm.

3) Murukku

Murukku, which is a popular South Indian snack, is made with the goodness of rice flour. It is commonly known as ‘chakli’ in the Northern regions of India. You can easily make this recipe at home with simple ingredients and minimum effort. This snack has a good shelf life and it can be stored for about 3-4 months. So, try it with your loved ones at tea time.

Ingredients:

• Powder 3 tablespoons of a roasted gram or fried gram. 
• Use the exact amount of fried gram powder as stated in the recipe – 3 tablespoons.

How To Make:

1. Clean and dry roast ¼ cup or 4 tablespoons of urad dal on medium heat. Roasting is highly recommended to prevent the murukku from becoming chewy instead of crunchy after a couple of days a day or two.
2. Keep stirring the urad dal for even roasting. When the dal turns light golden brown and aromatic, remove it from heat. We don’t want to over-roast and risk burning the dal.
3. Cool the roasted dal and add to a blender or grinder.
4. Powder it with fine flour. If the flour is coarse and not fine, the murukku will not be as crunchy or the murukku will break as you shape them. Measure and use only ¼ cup urad dal flour. You will have a little excess which you can add to any fritter batter.
5. Add 1 cup of rice flour and 4 tablespoons of the ground urad dal flour (or 3 tablespoons of roasted gram flour) to a mixing bowl. To this add:

• ¾ teaspoon of carom seeds/ajwain (omam/ vammu)
• ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
• ¾ teaspoon of sesame seeds/til (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon of asafetida/hing (optional)
• ½ teaspoon of salt

1. Mix everything to combine. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small Kadai and pour it into the flour mixture. Hot oil provides your murukku with a light texture. Mix again to combine with a spoon.
2. Slowly add water, start with 3 tablespoons, and keep mixing to form a dough. 
3. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, as required. Make a firm but pliable dough. 
4. The dough should be non-sticky but at the same time, it should not be crumbly or dry. 
5. If the dough is sticky, add a little flour and knead again. Or Add a few drops of water and mix again if it is dry.
6. If the dough is sticky and soggy, it will absorb a lot of oil while frying. If the dough is very dry, then murukku strands will break when you press them in shapes.
7. Grease the murukku mould, and fit it in the star murukku disc or plate. Stuff enough dough inside (up to ¾ the mould) and keep it ready.
8. Press the murukku maker to release the dough and shape the dough into spirals using circular hand motions on parchment, muslin cloth or aluminium foil. Make more gurukul and cover to prevent them from drying out.
9. Use small cuts of butter paper for convenience, as it is easy to lift each murukku and drop it into oil to fry.
10. Fry and serve hot.

4) Sooji Halwa

Sooji halwa is something which is very commonly prepared in every Indian household on special occasions. From birthdays to festivals, it is generally found on the dinner table because everyone likes the way it tastes. 

These almonds and cashew are rich soft and savoury sooji halwa prepared without milk is a welcome treat for taste buds at any time and can give tough competition to the best of the best sweets on the table. However, its mellow and aromatic sweet taste is not the only thing that makes it best, the ease of preparation can help you entertain your guests at short notice.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Sooji (semolina/Rava)
• 1/3 cup Ghee (clarified butter)
•  1¼ cups of Water
• 1/2 cup of Sugar
• 5 Almonds (badam), sliced5 Cashew nuts (Kaju), chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon Cardamom Powder

How To Make:

1. Pour 1¼ cups water into a small saucepan and bring it to boil over medium flame, it will take around 3-4 minutes. Remove it from the flame and keep it aside until you reach step 4 below.
2. Take sooji in a heavy-based pan, add ghee and heat it over medium flame.
3. Stir and mix using a spatula.
4. Roast it until golden brown. It will take anywhere between 8 to 10 minutes.
5. Reduce flame to low; slowly add boiled water and mix by stirring constantly (add water only in small incremental quantities because it will splutter as soon as you add it).
6. Stir and cook to avoid any lump formation.
7. Increase the flame to medium and cook until all water gets absorbed. Add sugar and cardamom powder.
8. Stir until sugar dissolves and it has a semi-solid consistency. Add and mix almonds and cashew nuts after reserving some of them for garnishing.
9. The sooji halwa is now ready for serving.

5) Atta Laddoo

You just need three simple Ingredients:

• Wheat flour
• Cane sugar 
• Ghee 

How To Make:

1. You have to dry roast the whole wheat flour in a non-stick pan until fragrant while stirring occasionally making sure it doesn't burn.
2. Further, add melted ghee and cook.
3. Next, after switching the flame off, add crushed nuts. you have to use almonds, cashew nuts, and pistachios to elevate the taste of whole wheat flour ladoos, you can also add other dried fruits like walnuts, raisins, and black currants too.
4. Mix well and transfer to a plate, let it cool at least for 30 mins.
5. Once slightly cooled, add jaggery. You can replace it with jaggery powder.
6. Lastly, add cardamom powder and mix well using your hands. Divide and roll between your palms shaping them into round ladoos.

Tip-

Wheat flour ladoos are ready to be relished. Roasting the flour well removes the raw smell and gives the whole wheat flour and jaggery ladoo a rich aroma while jaggery and ghee give it an intense, traditional flavour.

6) Aloo Bonda [Vadapav]

This streetside snack from South India will surely woo your taste buds! The delicious potato stuffing inside the golden crispy coating of gram flour makes this recipe a must-try for everyone. 

Aloo Bonda is served in almost all tiffin centres and restaurants in Karnataka for the evening Tea time snack. These originated in the Udupi hotels and eventually became one of the most common on all restaurant menus since they are loved by many.

How To Make:

1. To make aloo bonda, first boiled potatoes are seasoned and spiced.
2. Then dipped in gram flour batter and deep fried to golden. These are very good to make on weekends or during festivals or when you have guests home.
3. The consistency of the batter is very important. If the batter turns thin, the batter will stick up to the bottom of the Kadai and distort the shape of the aloo bonda.
4. The oil has to be enough hot to cook the batter in the shape of the ball. If the ball is dropped when the oil is at low temperature than required, then the bonda will not hold a round shape, instead, they turn out flat.
5. Avoid disturbing the aloo bondas for a minute when you drop them in the hot oil.
6. Making perfect shaped aloo bonda comes out of practice.

7) Rice Kheer

Rice kheer is something without which any Indian festival is incomplete! Not just for festivals, it can also be prepared on other occasions like kitty parties, game nights or potlucks. This Indian rice pudding is easy to make & needs only a handful of basic ingredients.

How To Make:

1. Keep your ingredients ready. We will need about 4 cups or 1 litre of full-fat milk. 1/3 to ½ cup of sugar, ¼ tsp cardamom powder, and ¼ cup of basmati rice, you can also use any other rice. Nuts as desired. You can also use sweet raisins.
2. Wash and soak rice for about 30 mins. This helps to cook the rice quickly. Drain and set aside.
3. While the rice soaks, you can blanch the nuts in hot water and peel off the skin. Chop them and set them aside. OR Alternately, you can just use some roasted cashews and skip blanching nuts.
4. Pour 1/4 cup water or grease a heavy bottom pot. This helps the kheer from getting scorched at the bottom. Then add milk and bring it to a boil on a medium flame.
5. When it turns hot or comes to a boil. Add drained rice.
6. Keep stirring often to prevent burning. Keep the flame low to medium.
7. Cook until the rice is soft and slightly mushy. You can mash it with a spoon and check.

Add Sugar

1. Add Sugar. You can add more or less to suit your taste.
2. Lower the flame and cook until the kheer thickens. You will have to scrape the sides and stir often.
3. Add nuts and cardamom powder. Stir and cook for 5 mins. If adding raisins just do it towards the end. 
4. Do not cook after adding them. 
5. When it reaches a thick but runny consistency switch off the stove. It thickens upon cooling down.
6. Garnish rice kheer with nuts before serving.