Diwali Sweets - Recipes

1. BESAN LADOO

Besan Ladoo or Besan Laddu is a popular, one of the best and easy Indian sweet recipes prepared using gram flour or chickpea flour as the main ingredient. These laddus are served or distributed to friends and family during special occasions such as Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Birthdays.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup Sugar
• 2 Cardamom pods
• ¼ cup Ghee
• 1 cup Besan or Gram flour or Chickpea flour
• Pistachios, vark or rose petals for garnish (optional)

HOW TO MAKE

• In a mixer or blender, add sugar and cardamom powder and blend it to a fine powder.
• Heat ghee in a nonstick pan or kadhai on medium-low flame. Once the ghee is hot and melted, add besan and keep stirring on medium-low flame. If you see any lumps, ignore them. After few minutes, besan will loosen up, and then it will form a smooth paste.
• After few minutes, it will slowly start changing its color. The flour will absorb all the ghee and turn into a thick mass. As you continue to saute, the consistency of the mixture will be like a liquid. Eventually, the mixture will turn from light yellow to golden and becomes aromatic.
• Removing the mixture at the right time is very important. Else it will burn.
• Stir the mixture for another 3 to 4 minutes once you switch off the flame so that the mixture's temperature drops quickly and doesn't cook further.
• Let the mixture cool completely. You will see that the consistency slowly changes from liquid to thick paste as it cools down.
• Once the mixture has cooled down, add the powdered sugar and mix.
• First, mix using a spoon. Then use your hands to mix so that the powdered sugar is well incorporated. The warmth in your hands will help in binding all the ingredients.
• Finally, take a small portion of the mixture and shape them into balls of the desired size.
• If the laddu does not look round, don't worry. First, form a rough ball using the mixture. After 5 to 10 minutes, shape them gently by rolling them between your palms to form a smooth ball. Don't wait for too long as the laddus will set, and you may find it difficult to reshape.

2. KAJU KATLI

Kaju Katli or Kaju Barfi is a traditional and classic, popular Indian sweet or dessert recipe that has a smooth texture and nutty flavor and will literally melt in your mouth. One of the best Indian desserts or sweets to gift in form of a mithai box during special occasions or festivals like Diwali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Christmas, Eid, and Thanksgiving to your family and friends.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups Cashews, cut into halves
• 1 cup Sugar
• ½ cup Water
• 2 tablespoon Ghee or Butter, additional for greasing (use coconut oil for vegan version)

HOW TO MAKE

• Pulse or blend the cashews in batches in mixie or blender to powder form (this texture will be grainy, not fine or smooth).  Blend in intervals. Do not blend long as cashews will start to release oil. Make sure the mixture doesn't get hot or warm during the process.
• In a pan add sugar and water. Do not pour more water than mentioned in the recipe. This may unnecessarily extend your time in cooking barfis and the texture will also vary.
• On medium heat, stir this mixture and dissolve the sugar. Bring this to a rapid boil. (Note - at this point you can actually add cashew powder)
• It's highly recommended to boil sugar syrup to 1 string consistency.  This will give excellent results plus your burfi will turn out perfect.
• Add the cashew powder prepared in two batches on low flame to the sugar syrup and keep mixing it so that there are no lumps.
• Now keep stirring on low to medium flame until the mixture starts to thicken.
• At this point add 2 tablespoon of ghee or butter and continue to stir the mixture.
• As the mixture thickens, ghee starts leaving the sides of the pan. If you are not able to see that add another extra 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter.
• Within minutes the mixture will come together leaving the side of the pan. It took around 8 minutes to reach this stage from the time I added cashew powder. The time may vary for you depending on the flame, the thickness of the pan, amount of water you have added, etc.
• Once you feel the mixture is done, keep the pan aside. Take a small piece of the mixture and let it cool. Grease your fingers and try making a ball from this mixture. If you get a non-sticky dry ball, it means the mixture is ready.
• Transfer the mixture to a greased plate, butter paper, or greased parchment paper.
• When the mixture cools down slightly, i.e., after 2 or 3 minutes grease your hands and knead it.
• Within 3 to 4 mins the mixture will become smooth and start to look dry. This means you are ready to set the barfis. Don't over knead as this will release fat from cashews.
• Now cover the kneaded mixture with parchment paper or butter paper and gently roll it using a rolling pin to a rectangle or oval shape of around ¼ inch thickness.
• Add edible silver foil or vark to make it look pretty and festive. This is completely optional. It will not add any taste or flavor.

3. MANGO SHEERA

Mango Sheera, also called mango halwa or mango kesari or ambyacha sheera, is a rich & classic, quick and easy to make melt-in-mouth Indian sweet recipe prepared using sooji (semolina), ghee, sugar, and fresh mangoes. Sheera is one of the most popular Indian recipes offered to God in the form of naivedyam in temples and on special occasions like Diwali, Navratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Varalakshmi vratham.

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup Ghee
• 1 tablespoon Cashews, chopped
• ½ cup Semolina or Suji (Sooji)
• 1 cup Mango puree (just mango cubes blended without water)
• 1 cup Water, boiling
• ¼ to ⅓ cups Mangoes, chopped (optional)
• ½ cup Sugar
• ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder

HOW TO MAKE

• In a pot on a medium-high flame, keep 1 cup of water for boiling.
• In a pan on medium flame, add ghee. Once hot, add cashews and saute till it becomes light in color.
• Now add sooji or semolina and saute till it becomes aromatic. Don't roast it until brown - just until semolina gives a nutty aroma.
• Add the mango puree and saute it for 2 to 3 minutes on medium flame. Add boiling water and mix so that there are no lumps. Once all the water is absorbed, add the chopped mangoes and mix.
• Now add sugar and mix. Saute this for another 3 to 5 minutes or until ghee leaves the sides of the pan. Add cardamom powder and mix. Switch off the flame.
• You can also use Bansi Rava to make sheera. The texture will vary accordingly.
• Mango chunks are optional but adding them makes it more delicious in every single bite.

4. SOAN PAPDI

Soan papdi is a traditional Indian sweet with a light, airy, and a flaky melt-in-the-mouth texture that is a perfect addition for any festival from Diwali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Christmas, and to special occasions like weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 + 1 tablespoon Ghee
• 1 cup All purpose flour or Maida
• 3 tablespoon Besan or gram flour or chickpea flour
• ½ teaspoon Cardamom powder

For Sugar Syrup,

• 1 cup Sugar
• ¼ cup Water
• Juice of half lemon
• 8 strands Saffron or Kesar

Other Ingredients,

• Almonds, for garnish
• Pistachios, for garnish

HOW TO MAKE

• In a pan on medium heat, add 2 tablespoon ghee. To this, add besan and flour and mix till there are no lumps. Then add the remaining 1 tablespoon ghee and roast it until it becomes aromatic and the rawness from the gram flour is gone completely. Switch off the flame.
• Now add cardamom powder and mix well. Transfer this mixture to a large plate/bowl by passing it through a sieve and keep this aside.
• In a pan, add sugar, water, and lemon juice and cook on low flame till the sugar has melted and turns into light golden (amber) color with a hard ball consistency. Do not add any spoon or spatual until sugar is melted initially.
• Keep a small bowl with water handy. Add a few drops of syrup at different stages to check for hard ball consistency.
• The flame should be medium-low at all times. The entire process of making sugar syrup may take 20 to 25 minutes. Again make sure you don't rush and make this only on medium-low flame.
• Once the sugar syrup is ready, transfer it to a silicone mat or any steel plate greased with ghee along with some saffron strands. Keep stirring this so that its temperature comes down.
• Grease your palms with ghee. Now stretch and fold the caramelized sugar into a log shape several times.
• Now join the ends of the log to form a ring and place it in the plate containing the flour mixture. You will have to stretch the ring of sugar, dredge it generously with the flour mixture, make an 8 shape to form a ring again.
• Gently stretch this ring, making sure it never breaks, dredge with flour and keep repeating until almost all the flour is incorporated and thousands of sugar threads are formed.
• We start with one thick sugar thread. After the first loop (8 shape to ring), we will have two threads; after the second loop, we will have four threads. Similarly, after the tenth loop, we will have 1024 threads. After the 12th loop, we will have 4096 threads, and so on.
• In a glass bowl or ramekins, add chopped nuts and a small portion of the sugar threads prepared above and press gently with your finger. Flip it to the serving plate.

5. TENDER COCONUT KHEER

Tender Coconut Malai Kheer or Elaneer Payasam is a mildly sweet, hearty, and addictive kheer or pudding recipe that you should try this festival season.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon Ghee or brown butter (vegan butter for vegan version)
• 2 cups Milk  (Coconut milk for vegan version)
• ¼ cup Sugar
• 2 tablespoon Cashews
• 2 tablespoon Almonds
• 2 tablespoon Raisins
• ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
• ½ cup Malai or coconut flesh
• ½ cup Tender coconut water

HOW TO MAKE

• In a pan on medium heat, add ghee. Once hot, add almonds and cashews and saute until golden. To this, add raisins and saute for 15 to 30 seconds. Transfer this to a plate, set it aside.
• Add the milk to the same pan, bring it to a boil, and simmer until it reduces to almost half. Then, add sugar and cardamom powder. Switch off the flame, and let this cool completely.
• Once the milk is cooled, add coconut malai (flesh), coconut water, roasted nuts, and mix until combined. Keep this in the refrigerator till you are ready to serve.
• Do not mix coconut water and flesh when the milk is warm. Wait until the milk comes to room temperature. The milk may curdle if coconut water is added when warm.
• Adjust the amount of sugar depending on the sweetness of malai and coconut water. 

SOURCE: https://www.cookwithkushi.com/diwali-sweets-recipes/