The Sweetness Of Dewali

 Monday is the start of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. As with any holiday. there are fun foods and treats. One of the best spects of the holiday is that there is always freshly made sweets on hand to enjoy with fanily and friends.

Regular contributor and cookbook author Proya Krishna wrote about this celebration of light over darkness in today's New York Times Food section. There will celebrations worldwide along with ones here in the States.Ms Krishna heads to South Asian shops across the country to sample their special Diwali treats or mithai. There is Maharaja Sweets in Jackson Heights Queens. Owner Sukhdev Bawa employees  travel back to India on aregular basis and bring back ideas for regional snacks. He has the Bengali sweet amarkali filled with cherries and pistacchios. He ships these and other mithai sweets across the country.Kent , Washingon  outside of Seattle has Punjab Sweets offering such treats as besan burfi made with chickpea flour and milk cake. The owner Iqbal Dha hires only other women to bake a variety of desserts. It's also the central meeting place for many of the desi community.Jayasri Sweets of Herndon Virginia has got such a reputation that even people bring its' signature sweet, kaja a deep fried pastry back to India to show relatives the Americn version. Owner Jaysari Gampa and her husband Dilipkumar run this popular bakery. 

Some mithai makers have adapted American ingredients. Sohan Lal Gaba uses cow's milk instead of buffalo for his slabs of milk cake in his Brij Mohan Indian Sweets and Restaurant in Sharonville, Ohio, a Cincinnati suburb.he also found the American versions of chickpea floir and sugar were much different too. Surati Farsan Market in Artesia, California, a big South Asian hub is opend for twenty hours a day during this time. The store is festooned with lights as owner Ashvin Patel sells such goodies as cashew based kaju katli and  coconut rich kopra pak. Ms. Krishna also includes recipes for coconut ladoos from Jaysari Gampa and Mr. Patels' caramel badam burfi. The ladoos are a mix of just unsweetened coconut, sugar and cardamon. The coconut and sugar are cooked together as they become a kind of candy. The spice is added later as the blend is rolled into golfball sized balls. The badam burfi is  like a milky fudge made with cooked milk , sugar and almond flour.It's then pressed intoa pan and caramel and nuts are poured over ir.

Celebrate Dowali with lights, love and sweets. These mithai are deilcious whether store bought or homemade. Enjoy them with family and friends.

A Divine Dish For Diwali

  Since it's Diwali, the Indian festival of light, I decided to celebrate with a tasty cholay I first made for the blog on August 4, 2018, (check it out for the full recipe.) It's a mix of cooked potatoes, chickpeas and diced tomatoes sauteed in a mix of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and veggie oil.

 I made double the amount and shortened some steps, like subbing in onion powder for chopped onions. The recipe was doubled and since I didn't have curry , I used turmeric and curry powder instead along with a good dose of garlic salt.

This is the end result - a tasty tribute to the holiday of lights.

Diwali Feasting

Today is Diwali, the  Hindu festival of lights, starts today. It's a time of celebrating but also feasting on delicious savory and sweet dishes They are easy to make , not just for this holiday but for  an every day treat as well. Usher in  the harvest with them or just have them star in a dinner.

Diwali is praying to the goddess Laksmhi, the goddess of prosperity and fertility. Families dress up in their best clothes, visit each other and exchange gifts.it's a five day affair with families honoring each other on the different days. Food  plays an important part and various  New York Times Food writers gives us some excellent savory and sweet ones. Try David Tanis' Chana Dal Sundal,  Southern India  street fare that reminds one of popcorn.It is the perfect party food, especially if there are a lot of kids in attendance . It's simply cooking cold water soaked chickpeas in abundant lightly salted water and then afterwards placing them on a cookie sheet to dry. They're then tossed with curry leaves cooked with curry leaves, red chiles and mustard seeds. A pinch of asafetida gives it a mild leek taste. An eggplant curry would be a great main dish . Again, most of the ingredients from the Chana Dal Sundal are used along with tamarind paste and unsweetened coconut. The eggplants are sliced and  slashed . Spices are then pressed into them and cooked over a high heat for six minutes.  A heartier dish is lamb curry , from David Tanis. It is rich with coriander, turmeric and cumin. The Indian clarified butter, ghee is used to cook the meat and sliced onions. A raita or sauce made from Greek yogurt, cumin and mustard seeds is also made to pour over the lamb.

Diwali is really a holiday of sweets, with sugary treats given to children.Kids will adore the chocolate burfi  - a kind of fudge given on holidays,birthdays and special occasions.  Like fudge it's super easy to make, using ghee, cocoa powder, and both condensed milk and powdered milk. A few drops of rose water  along with sugar gives the treet its' rich sweetness.The treat is made in layers, from the buttery ghee bottom to the chocolate top. Adults may choose shrikhand or sweet strained yogurt recipe from famed Indian food writer, Teja Rao.. This  is made by straining Greek yogurt for twenty-four hours in the  fridge and then gently adding in pistachios, confectioners sugar, saffron,  and cardamon. Once everything is thoroughly mixed , place into serving dishes and decorate with more pistachio and saffron threads.. A European take , again from Dave Tanis, is the coconut cardamom panna cotta. The spice's pods are added as well as unsweetened coconut milk. It's decorated with candied grated ginger along with peaches, nectarines, blackberries or raspberries. Sip some of Melissa Clark' mango rose waters Lassi, a refreshing mix of  mango, yogurt, milk and rose water. This can also be frozen intoa frozen yogurt for dessert.

Diwali is a time of lights and celebrating. It's also a time of feasting. Make savory and sweet treats to enjoy with family and friends.

Diwali Treats And Sweets

Right now is the joyous and mystical Indian holiday of Diwalli.It's a time of lights and fireworks , gifts and decorations. It's a time of celebrating light over darkness. It's also a time of feasting on traditional foods and treats. There are many to make over the holiday's five day period.

Diwali is an ancient holiday dating back to the first millennium where the goddess Lakshmi is celebrated along with the bierthday of Dhanvantari, god of health and healing. The festival goes for five days with relationships of all sorts being celebrated. There are lights and fireworks, along with rangoli, colorful patterns made on the ground using, colored rice, wheat or flower petals. as with any holiday there is a variety of different dishes and sweets to celebrate.There is the spicy and saucy butter chicken which involves cooking chicken in a highly spiced tomato almond sauce.Samosas are also popular, especially with holiday guests These are similar to dim sum dumplings and filled with moong dal, a kind of green pea. Since most Indian s are vegan due to their religion such as the Jains and Hindus, many Diwali dishes are meatless. Families and friends can enjoy palak saag paneer, tofus in a rich spinach and curry sauce.it has the traditional spices such as garam masala but also maple syrup for a hint of sweetness and coconut milk. It does have chili powder for heat, perfect for warding off the Northern Hemisphere's autumnal chill. Wives may make a roasted cauliflower with  a mahkala sauce, a rich mélange of onions ,tomatoes and coconut milk. It is served with warmed naan bread,

Sweets are one of the most important traditions of the five day celebration. Special ones are made for husbands and wives along with brothers and sisters. Visitors are always treated to trays of homemade goodiestoo along with special presents..One of the most popular is rasgulla, cheese curd or paneer balls cooked in a sugar syrup. It is also the most traditional and is usually served for the length of the festival.There is also the fried paal vadai, a fried sweetened dal or bean paste.It is then soaked in a jiggery sugar and cardamom syrup. Families may enjoy a fried  naan bread pudding dish called ka meeta that's studded with raisins and almonds or cashews.A delicious dish is papaya burfi, a kind of papaya meets applesauce, which is a perfect sweet after the main dishes' spiciness.. Kids probably munch on sugayan, a kind of fried stuffed dough nut filled with green moong dal and jiggery sugar. Trays of  kaju katli, a buttery cashew paste that's a kind of halvah and cut into decorative diamond shapes (these could actually be made for Christmas too, ) are put out for all to enjoy. Coffee and tea are also put out to sip while enjoying a visit or meal.

Diwali is a true festival of food and fun. The flavors run from fiery to sweet., but all are enjoyable. They are as fun as sparkling as the celebrations themselves.