Yesterday, families around the world celebrated Diwali, the Indian festival of Lights, by lighting sparklers and decorating their homes. Diwali celebrations include illuminating homes with oil lamps, diyas; decorating homes with rangolis; and eating traditional sweets and dishes. I asked GDS students to share how they celebrate Diwali and their favorite dishes. You can check out their recipes below, along with one of my family’s recipes for a traditional dessert.
Kalyani Rao: Milk pedas
Milk pedas are a soft fudge made from milk and butter. My family enjoys my grandmother’s traditional pedas with ghee, cardamom and pistachios. I modified this recipe so you can make it in under 15 minutes using a microwave.
Makes 20 pedas
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1¾ cups instant non-fat dry milk powder
- Handful of lightly salted pistachios
- 1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
Instructions
- Melt butter in the microwave.
- Add the sweetened condensed milk and milk powder to the mixture; mix well.
- Microwave for 1 minute, then remove and stir the mixture. Add the cardamom and taste for flavor intensity.
- Microwave for another 2 minutes, stopping to mix every 30 seconds.
- Let cool for no more than five minutes.
- Apply some ghee or butter to your palms. Form 1 tbsp.-sized balls of the dough. Flatten each ball, indent with your thumb and place a pistachio at the center.
- Store the pedas in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for up to a week.
Rohan Le: Gulab jamun
“My family and I,” sophomore Rohan Le said, “usually celebrate by decorating the house with diyas and lights, spending time together, and enjoying traditional Indian foods like samosas, biryani, paneer and sweets like gulab jamun and ladoos.” Gulab jamun is a fried dessert made with milk powder and soaked in a sweet, fragrant syrup. I modified this recipe to simplify the dough by using store-bought pancake mix.
Makes 18 gulab jamun
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. cardamom powder
- Splash of rose water
- 1 cup non-fat dry milk powder
- ½ cup pancake mix
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup ghee (clarified butter)
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, water, rose water and cardamom powder. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine dry milk powder and pancake mix. Add heavy whipping cream, stirring it in gradually. Knead until it is a soft dough.
- Add ghee to your palms. Divide the dough into approximately 18 pieces and form into balls with your palms. Make sure there are no cracks, as they may split when frying. Cover damp paper towels.
- Heat ghee in a deep frying pan or pot over medium-low heat. Fry the dough balls in the ghee and lightly stir them with a slotted spoon. Cook for about 3–4 minutes until they are a deep golden brown. Remove dough balls with a slotted spoon and let them cool for 3–4 minutes.
- Add dough balls to warm syrup. Let soak in the refrigerator for 3–4 hours or overnight.
- Reheat in the microwave before serving.
Kaiya Messina: Ladoos
“For Diwali,” seventh-grader Kaiya Messina said, “my family plays a game of luck by rolling seashells to see if we’re going to have a happy and prosperous year. We eat ladoos and gulab jamun.” Ladoos are round, bite-sized, melt-in-your-mouth sweets made with chickpea flour, cardamom and sugar.
Makes 8 ladoos
Ingredients
1 cup gram flour (chickpea flour)
¼ cup ghee (clarified butter)
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ tsp. cardamom powder
⅛ tsp. ground nutmeg
⅛ tsp. saffron
Crushed pistachio for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium pan on low heat, add ghee and gram flour. Slowly roast the flour for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula until fluffy and golden brown. Transfer to a large mixing bowl, and cool for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar, cardamom, nutmeg and saffron to the ghee and flour mixture. Knead the mixture so the ghee starts to bind the dough.
- With ghee on the palm of your hand, form 2 balls of dough that are as big as a teaspoon. Garnish with pistachio if desired.
- Ladoos can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.