Saturday 27 / April / 2024
With thousands of flickering clay lamps illuminating every nook and corner of the homes in India, there’s no missing the fact that Diwali, the festival of lights, has begun. Thousands of kilometres away, here in Oman, and around the world, the Indian community continue to celebrate this beloved festival, keeping their heritage alive with lamps burning, families gathering, and sweets on the table.
Perhaps one of the world’s brightest festivals, Diwali is a family affair where everything from the religious rituals to the preparation of culinary delicacies takes place at home. No celebration is complete without homemade sweets and savouries, with many of the recipes passed down through generations. From the ever popular sweets like barfi, rasmalai, gulab jamun, ladoo, kesar peda, balushahi, and anjeer, to savouries like vadas, murukku, and pakoras, Diwali is as much a festival of food as a festival of lights, with tasty specialities varying from region to region.
Sumathi Pandian, a resident of Muscat who hails from South India, learned traditional South Indian Diwali menus from her mother-in-law. “My mother-in-law would make these treats and store them in huge boxes. Murukku used to be a side dish with our meals. Other than murukku and rava ladoos, gulab jamuns, and adhirasam (a sweet made of rice flour and jaggery) was also made in our homes during Diwali,” Sumathi said.
Beena George, who is also from South India, grew up in Ahmedabad in the Western part of India where the Diwali celebrations were a community affair. “We did not celebrate Diwali in our house, but I would eagerly await this festival every year because we would be bombarded with sweets and snacks from all our neighbours and friends. Even today, come Diwali and my house gets filled with yummy goodies. A huge variety of them are traditional sweets from Western India to Northern India to the south,” Beena explained.
For Aarti Bhola being from Punjab, festivals have always been about fun and food. “Every festival was an occasion for us to celebrate, be it Lori, Holi, or Diwali and what better way of celebrating it than with homemade sweets made by my mother. I loved kaju katli and mung dal halwa as they were my favourite. I learned to make these sweets from my mother who inherited the recipes from her mother who passed on the traditional ways of making it,” Aarti said. Some of the prominent sweets and savouries from the north are besan ladoo, gujiya, gulab jamun, badam halwa, poori aaloo, kachori, aaloo samosa, tikki, and namak para.
For Rupali Vaidya whose roots are in Maharashtra, Diwali in Oman will never be the same, but she still celebrates Diwali with much love and revelry. “I have seen my mother and grandmother spend hours preparing sweets like ladoo, anarsa, shakarpara, karanji, and some spicy dishes like chiwada, chakali, and sev. As a child, I remember my sister and I sitting beside these two beautiful ladies awaiting a chance to showcase our talent to seal and decorate edges of the karanjis. It was so much of fun,” Rupali reminisced. Her house is decorated with diyas, and she explained that celebrating the festival in Muscat is a way of showing pride in her identity. It’s also a great time to reconnect with friends and others in the Indian community. “We invite our friends for our rituals. Since fireworks are not allowed here the festival revolves more around food than anything else. And the lights,” Rupali explained.
For Oneza Tabish, who grew up in the cosmopolitan city of Mumbai, she has always seen Diwali being celebrated by one and all, regardless of status or religion. “Oman is similar to Mumbai, where all nationalities co-exist in peace and harmony. I live in a multicultural complex here in Oman and for Diwali I visit my friends and neighbours with sweets and gifts. I help my neighbours in making rangoli outside their homes and also in cooking a few Diwali delicacies,” Oneza said.
Oneza’s mom was from Burma and settled in Kolkata before moving to Gujarat, and it was from her that Oneza learned to make traditional sweets and savouries from West Bengal in the Eastern part of India. Festive sweets from this region include sandesh, chom chom, mishti doi, and pithe. Oneza also learned to make traditional kucho nimki, diamond shaped savouries that are eaten as snacks for tea and also served on various festive occasions, to balance the overpowering presence of sweets.
“Sweets, or mishti as it is popularly known there, dominate the Bengali cuisine and the rasgulla has global presence. My mother would make these often and store them in an earthen jar and I could gulp them all within seconds,” she reminisced. Soft poached cottage cheese dumplings in sweet rose scented water inspire fond memories of Oneza’s mom humming Bengali songs while carefully dishing them out.
For these women, from the four corners of India, the sweetest memories are inextricably linked to the sugary, savoury, splendid Diwali recipes of their childhoods. Their flavours and sentiments are their offering this Diwali, an invitation into homes and kitchens, filled with the warmth and light of this blessed time of year. —[email protected]
**NORTH** Recipes by Aarti Bhola
1. Kaju Katli
This is one sweet that is relished by everyone. It is very easy to make and you can gift it to your friends and relatives or just eat it on any occasion. During Diwali you will find it in almost every house.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup or 200g cashew
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
2 teaspoons ghee
3 teaspoons water
Preparation
Grind the cashew to a fine powder.
Prepare sugar syrup. Add water and sugar in a pan, simmer it until it reduces to one thread consistency.
Add cashew powder and cook on a slow flame. Keep stirring constantly till the mixture attains a binding consistency.
Transfer the mixture on a greased plate with ghee and let it cool. Once it cools roll it into a big ball with greased hands.
Roll this ball into a square shape with help of a rolling pin.
Set for half an hour and cut into desired shape.
2. Punjabi Chole
Punjabi chole is a lip-smacking and easy chana recipe prepared with white chickpeas, spiced up with North Indian masala.
Ingredients
1 cup or 200g soaked kabuli chana
4 or 300g tomatoes
A bunch of coriander leaves
2 green chillies
1 inch ginger
1 potato
Salt to taste
Less than 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tea bags
2 to 3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon dry pomegranate seeds
1 teaspoon dry fenugreek leaves
1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon green chilli paste
1 teaspoon coriander powder
2 green chillies, slit vertically
1 piece of ginger, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon garam masala; red chilli powder
Preparation
Wash the chick peas thoroughly and soak for 8 to 10 hours in water. Drain excess water and wash them again with water. Chop the tomatoes and make a paste. Also chop coriander leaves, green chillies and ginger. Peel the potato. Pressure cook the soaked chana with 11/2 cups of water, make sure that the level of water should be bit more than the chana. Add salt followed by baking soda. This will help the chana to cook quickly and also enhance its flavour. Add tea bag as this gives the dark colour to the chana along with taste. Lastly add the peeled potatoes. Pressure cook the chana on high flame until it whistles once. After that reduce the flame and let it simmer for 6 to 7 minutes. Let the steam escape on its own.
Making the masala:
Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, dry pomegranate seeds, and fenugreek leaves. Keep the flame low. Add ginger paste and green chilli paste and sauté the masala for some time. Add coriander powder, green chilli slit vertically, add thinly sliced ginger followed by tomato paste. Sauté the masala until oil starts leaving its edges. Add red chilli powder and little salt and keep sautéing.
Remove the tea bag and potatoes from the chana. Add the boiled chana to the masala. Also add garam masala. Cut the potato into cubes (you can fry them or add them as it is to the chana). Cover and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on low flame. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
**EAST**
Recipes by Oneza tabish
3. Kucho Nimki
Kucho nimki is a diamond shaped savoury that is eaten as a tea time snack and served on various festive occasions to balance the mishtis (sweets).
Ingredients
11/2 cups all purpose flour or maida
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ajwain/carom seeds or kalonji (onion seeds)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup of water to be added gradually
4 tablespoons oil and oil for frying
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients in a wide mouthed bowl and add about 4 tablespoons of oil. Knead the dough lightly, to form a crumbly mixture.
Add water gradually and work the flour to make a tight dough. Knead the dough well for about 5 minutes till it is smooth. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes or so.
Divide the dough into 4-5 large round balls. Roll out each ball into a thin circle. With a fork or sharp tip of the knife prick the rolled out dough to avoid the nimki from fluffing up.
Cut the circle in small diamond shapes.
Heat enough oil for deep frying the diamond shaped pieces of dough (about 1 cup). Fry the pieces until they are uniformly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon for the oil to drain and drop the nimkis on absorbent kitchen paper. Once it cools down, store in an air tight container.
4. Rasgulla
Rasgullas are a soft and squeezy delight from West Bengal. These poached cottage cheese dumplings in sugar water are a must on all occasions in Bengal, especially during Diwali. One of the few Indian sweets that are also low in calories, they are an excellent dessert for the weightwatchers club.
Ingredients
For Chenna (cheese balls)
1 litre low fat milk
1 -2 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar
Preparation
Bring milk to boil, add 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice gradually so that the milk mass and whey separate completely. Add 10 to 15 ice cubes. Rest for a minute. Strain in a muslin cloth. Wash well under running water and hang for 15 to 20 minutes to get rid of any excess liquid.
Make sure the chenna is crumbly in texture. Rub the chenna with your fingers and your palm till chenna releases some fat. By this time it forms a dough that comes together easily. Take pinches of dough and make balls.
5. Sugar Syrup
5 cups of water, divided 4 1/2 cups, 1/2 cup
1 cup sugar, divided 3/4 cup and 1/4 cup
1/2 teaspoon of cardamom powder
Preparation
Boil 4 1/2 cups of water and 3/4 cup sugar; add cardamom powder.
Just as the syrup comes to a boil add the rasgulla balls. Boil covered for 12 to 15 minutes on medium flame.
Transfer the balls in a bowl full of drinking water. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water to the same syrup and boil till the sugar melts.
Let the sugar syrup cool to room temperature. Remove the rasgulla from the plain water and drop it in the sugar syrup.
**SOUTH** Recipes by Sumathi Pandian & Beena George
5. Murukku
Makes 15-20 pieces.
Ingredients
2 cups rice powder
3/4 cup powdered fried gram dal
1/2 cup urad dal, dry roasted on low flame and powdered
1 tablespoon ajwain
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
2 teaspoons melted butter
2 teaspoons salt or as per taste
Oil for frying
Preparation
Sieve rice powder, gram dal powder, and urad dal powder for a lump free flour mix.
Add ajwain, cumin and asfoetida powder.
Add melted butter to flour; mix thoroughly.
Add salt and enough water to make soft dough. Roll out a portion of the dough and fill the murukku press; press out murukkus in desired shape.
Deep fry in hot oil until crisp and golden.
Once cooled store in airtight jars.
6. Rava Ladoo
Ingredients
2 tablespoons ghee
2 tablespoons chopped cashew nuts
3/4 cup fresh grated coconut
1 cup roasted and coarsely ground rava or semolina
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cardamom pods
1 cup milk or enough to bind the ladoos
Raisins for garnish
Preparation
Heat ghee and roast the cashews and the grated coconut and keep it aside.
Dry roast the semolina in a low flame and if needed grind it coarsely.
Powder the sugar and the cardamom.
Mix all the above.
Heat milk and thicken it slightly.
Slowly add the hot milk to small portions of the dry ingredients, roll out ladoos, and garnish with raisins.
Leave the ladoos to set in the fridge for a day or so, and bring it to room temperature before serving.
**WEST**
Recipes by Rupali Vaidya
7. Karanji
Karanji is a traditional Maharashtrian sweet usually made during Diwali festival. In Maharashtra, karanji filling is made up of fresh coconut and sugar or jaggery, flavoured with cardamom powder.
Ingredients
250g fresh coconut
400g sugar or jaggery
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
2 cups refined flour
1/2 cup semolina
2 teaspoon clarified butter
1 cup milk
3 cups vegetable oil
Preparation
In one pan take coconut and sugar or jaggery. Cook on low heat till all melts. Add cardamom powder and cook the mixture. While cooking stir it properly. As it cooks the mixture starts thickening. Once it is done turn off the heat and set aside.
In another bowl mix refined flour and semolina. Pour hot ghee over top.
When cool, mix the flour and ghee.
Take milk (little warm) and start kneading the dough (It should be little hard).
Cover dough with wet cloth; set aside for 15 minutes.
Knead the dough and make small balls.
Take one small ball and use a rolling pin to roll it flat to the size of poori.
Top half with coconut filling and flip the other edge over top. Edges should be tightly sealed. Press the edges using fork.
Heat oil in a pan; slowly fry the karanjis on low heat till golden brown.
Remove from oil and drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.
8. Chakali
Chakali is a deep fried snack made for Diwali in Maharashtra. There are many versions, but this is the easiest one.
Ingredients
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup gram flour
3 teaspoons oil
2/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ajwain
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
Salt as per taste
Oil to fry
Preparation
First take rice flour and gram flour in a bowl. Add all ingredients and mix it properly.
Heat 2 teaspoon of oil in a small pan and add to flour mixture.
Add boiled water in the mixture. Knead and form the dough.
Apply some oil in the chakali maker and place portion of the dough
inside it.
Tighten the lid and press the chakali maker to prepare the chakali. Move in rounds to get spiral shape. Make chakalis on butter paper.
Heat oil for deep frying in a pan. Lift the chakali gently and slid in to the hot oil.
Fry the chakalis till golden brown.
Drain them on paper to remove excess oil.
