It’s autumn, the evenings are getting darker, there’s a bite in the air, and thoughts are turning to cosy nights and plenty of good food. It’s also the time when hundreds of millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains are preparing to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights - and food is firmly at the heart of it. From syrup-soaked sweets to savoury snacks and lavish feasts, what’s on the Diwali menu? Let’s find out.
Diwali Dining
Diwali is a major festival celebrated by more than a billion people all over the world. It’s the festival of lights, and is usually celebrated over five or six days between the middle of October and the middle of November. And, alongside the celebrations themselves, comes an array of delicious food! Let’s take a look at some of the very best Diwali dining classics.
The Sensational Sweets
It’s not a proper Diwali celebration without mithai, from the ancient Sanskrit word mishta, meaning ‘sweet’ or ‘sugary’. Boxes of colourful treats are exchanged with relatives, friends and neighbours, while homemade favourites are served to guests with tea or after a grand feast.
Ladoo
Ladoo – sometimes laddu – come in many varieties. Motichoor ladoo are made from tiny fried droplets of chickpea flour (besan) batter soaked in sugar syrup, while besan ladoo are made from roasted chickpea flour, ghee, sugar, and sometimes fruit, nuts or cardamom.
Barfi
A much-loved Diwali mithai found across India, barfi is a rich, fudge-like sweet traditionally made with khoya (reduced milk solids) and sugar, although modern recipes use a wide variety of ingredients. Barfi comes in countless flavours, from coconut and pistachio to mango, chocolate, rosewater and saffron. It’s usually cut into squares or diamonds for gifting, and decorated with an edible silver foil called vark. Asma Khan has a recipe for an amazing chilli-chocolate barfi here.
Gulab Jamun
A favourite at celebrations throughout India and South Asia, gulab jamun are soft, deep-fried dough balls made from khoya often mixed with a little flour. Some modern recipes use milk powder instead. After frying, they’re soaked in warm sugar syrup scented with cardamom, saffron or rosewater, giving them their signature sticky, syrupy centre.
Jalebi
Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and dripping with sweet syrup, jalebi are spiral-shaped deep-fried sweets of fermented flour batter soaked in a warm sugar syrup flavoured with saffron, rosewater, cardamom or lemon juice. Check out chef Nidhi Jalan’s jalebi recipe here.
Kaju Katli
Kaju katli is a smooth, delicate sweet made from finely ground cashews and sugar, and sometimes ghee for extra richness! Usually cut into thin diamond shapes and sometimes topped with edible silver leaf, it’s one of the most recognisable Diwali gifts.
Rasgulla
Strongly associated with Bengal and Odisha in eastern India, rasgulla are soft, spongy balls of chhena - a type of Indian cottage cheese - cooked in a light sugar syrup flavoured with rosewater, saffron or cardamom. Their gentle sweetness and bouncy texture make a refreshing contrast to richer, ghee-heavy sweets.
Soan Papdi
A familiar sight in Diwali gift boxes, soan papdi is a light, flaky sweet, traditionally made from gram flour, often combined with plain flour, sugar and ghee. It’s commonly flavoured with cardamom and garnished with nuts. The delicate, thread-like layers pull apart easily, creating a texture somewhere between fudge, brittle and spun sugar.
The Spectacular Savouries
Alongside boxes of mithai, Diwali tables are often filled with namkeen, the salty, spicy and crunchy snacks. Recipes vary, but fried or roasted snacks made with lentils, chickpea flour, rice flour, nuts and spices are especially common, and they’re a great balance to all the sugary sweets!
Samosas
Samosas are crisp, triangular pastries stuffed with a spiced filling, most often potato, onion and peas. They’re deep-fried until golden, then served hot with chutneys. Some varieties are also filled with lentils, minced meat or paneer. We’ve got some amazing samosa recipes, including potato and vegetable, chicken and spinach, crab and coconut, and even sweet blueberry and custard samosas!
Chivda
A crunchy snack mix (similar to what we know in the UK as Bombay mix), Chivda is traditionally made with flattened rice, peanuts, cashews, almonds, roasted chickpeas, and fried lentils. It’s usually flavoured with aromatics and spices including curry leaves, green chillies, mustard seeds and turmeric. There are an almost infinite number of sweet, salty and spicy versions of chivda, with many different varieties and options to explore.
Pakora
Popular throughout India, pakora are crisp, bite-sized fritters made by coating vegetables, paneer, or sometimes chicken, in a seasoned chickpea-flour batter before deep-frying. Onion bhaji-style pakora are very common, but cauliflower, potato, spinach and chilli versions also make a colourful, crowd-pleasing addition to a Diwali snack table. If you’re looking for a pakora recipe, how about potato, onion and spinach pakoras, cheesy paneer pakoras, popular north Indian and Pakistani kadhi pakoras made with a yoghurt-based gravy, fabulous fish pakoras with a sweet peach chutney, and spinach and onion pakoras with a pear and mint chutney.
Murukku
Murukku are crispy twisted snacks made from rice flour and urad dal flour. Often flavoured with cumin, sesame seeds or chilli, they’re shaped through a special press (or if an expert is available, by hand) before frying, producing their recognisable ridged pattern. They’re often eaten as a snack with hot tea or coffee.
The Main Event
Generally speaking, Diwali doesn’t have what would be called a ‘traditional’ menu. For many, the main meal is vegetarian and often built around a generous selection of dishes served on a single platter - known as thali - made for sharing.
A celebratory spread might include rich paneer curries, slow-cooked dals, chickpeas, fragrant pulao or biryani, and breads such as naan, roti or puffed poori. Tables may feature vegetable and lentil dishes, flatbreads, rice dishes, soup, curries, and crisp dosas or vadas - traditional south Indian lentil doughnuts.
A Light Feast
From homemade mithai and crisp savoury snacks to wonderful banquets for friends and family, Diwali food is made for sharing. Every Diwali celebration brings something different to the table, but tasty food, stunning snacks, and an array of delicious sweet treats are always part of the plan!
