What is Diwali without some delicious snacks with homes-made goodness and the taste of festivity?
Here are five best recipes you must try this Diwali:
Spicy Aloo Pakora/Vada
Photo credit: Evergreen Recipes
Ingredients
Potatoes: 6 (medium-sized)
Onion, chopped: 1
Green chillies, chopped: 5
Tomatoes: 2
Garlic, chopped: 5 cloves
Ginger, chopped: 1/2 inch
Cumin seeds (jeera) : 1/4 teaspoon
Carom seeds (ajwain) : 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon
Chaat masala: 1/2 teaspoon
Gram flour (besan) : 2 cups
Salt as per taste
Method of preparation
1. Boil potatoes into pressure cooker till cooked thoroughly.
2. Now peel the potatoes and mash them.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onions, green chillies, cumin seeds, carom seeds, ginger and garlic. Stir for 2 minutes or till onions are light brown.
4. Then add tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, chat powder and salt. Fry till the spices are well cooked.
5. Now add this spicy cooked mixture to the mashed potatoes and mix it well.
6. Make equal medium-sized balls with the potato mixture. Flatten them a little as it helps to deep fry them easily.
7. Now take the gram flour, add salt and red chilli powder to it. Add water to make a thick batter.
8. Dip each potato ball in the gram flour batter.
9. Heat oil in a pan, add 5-6 potato balls coated with gram flour paste. Fry them till golden brown.
10. Serve hot.
The Aloo Vadas / Potato cutlets are ready! They can be served with green chutney or tamarind-jaggery chutney or tomato sauce.
Besan Ladoo
Photo credit: Ministry of Curry
One of the easiest Diwali recipes, Besan Ladoo makes for a melt-in-your-mouth dessert often made during festivals and special occasions. Here is the recipe by Archana of Ministry of Curry:
Ingredients
Gram flour (besan): 2 cups
Clarified butter (ghee): 1/2 cup
Sugar, powdered: 1 cup
Nutmeg, grounded: 1/4 teaspoon
Green cardamom, grounded: 1/2 teaspoon
Saffron: 1 pinch (optional)
Almonds or Pistachios: 2 tablespoons (optional)
Method of preparation
1. Add ghee and besan to a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pan. Keeping the heat low, slow roast the besan flour, while stirring constantly with a spatula. Continue to stir evenly and break the lumps that will form initially.
2. After about 10 minutes, the flour will start to loosen up and become light and fluffy. Continue roasting for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the flour turns light golden brown. At this stage the ghee will start to separate, filling the kitchen with a delightful aroma.
3. Turn the heat off and take out the mixture into a bowl. This will avoid the besan from being overcooked. Allow it to cool for about 15 minutes or until it is lukewarm to touch. Add saffron, cardamom, nutmeg, and pistachios.
4. Add powdered sugar and mix well. Next, massage the mixture with the palm of your hands, and as you do so the ghee starts to release, allowing the mixture to bind together. Take 2 to 3 tablespoons of the mix at a time and start pressing and shaping to form round balls (photos 13 – 16). Repeat with the remaining mix.
Store in an airtight container. These laddus will stay good at room temperature for 8 to 10 days. For longer shelf life keep them in the refrigerator and optionally heat them in the microwave for about 10 seconds before enjoying them.
Khasta Dhaniya Stripes
Khasta Dhaniya Stripes are crispy and crunchy delicious snacks that take very fewer ingredients and are easy to make. Here is a must-try recipe by Cooking with Siddhi:
Ingredients
All-purpose flour: 1 cup
Cooking oil: 2 tablespoons
Coriander leaves, finely chopped: 3 teaspoons
Salt as per taste
Method of preparation
1. In a mixing bowl, add all-purpose flour, salt to taste, chopped coriander and cooking oil.
2. Mix all the ingredients well
3. Add water according to knead into a soft dough.
4. Cover it and set it aside for 5 minutes.
5. After five minutes, you will need a rolling board and a rolling pin (chakla-belan), and the prepared dough.
6. Divide the dough into several similar size balls, now take one flatten it in your palm.
7. With the help of a rolling pin, flatten it out, if needed use oil to smoothen it out.
8. Once you have the shape shown in the video, cut it into strips of 1 inch in width.
9. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan, and fry the stripes.
10. Put the stripes in oil one by one, on a medium flame, fry them until they turn crispy and golden from both the sided
11. Repeat the same for reaming dough balls.
12. Take them out on a kitchen towel-lined plate.
Mini Veg Puff Bites
Photo credit: Cook with Kushi
Here is the recipe by Cook with Kushi for a perfect snack or finger food for your upcoming Diwali parties:
Ingredients
Pastry sheets: 2
Onion, finely chopped: 1 (medium-sized)
Garlic, finely chopped: 3 cloves
Ginger, chopped: 1 tablespoon
Potato: 1
Mushrooms: 3
Carrot: 1
Bell pepper or capsicum: 1 (small)
Cauliflower, small florets: 1/3 cup
Green peas: 1/2 cup
Other ingredients –
Tomato sauce or ketchup: 2 tablespoons
Garam masala powder/ Curry powder: 1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves, finely chopped: 2 tablespoon
Cooking oil: 1 tablespoon
Red chilli powder/ Green chillies, finely chopped: 1 teaspoon
Salt as per taste
Method of preparation
Step I –
1. Thaw puff pastry sheet as per package instructions.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F or 200 degrees C.
Step II –
1. Heat oil in a pan. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and saute till onion becomes translucent. (If you are adding green chillies add at this stage)
2. Add all the veggies now – potatoes, mushroom, carrot, capsicum, cauliflower and frozen green peas. Make sure the veggies are cut into very small bites so they cook faster plus they are easy to eat. Else they will come out of the puff.
3. Cover this with a lid and cook on medium flame till the veggies are cooked through. This may take approx 5 to 6 minutes.
4. Add the ketchup or sauce, cilantro, garam masala powder, salt, red chile powder and saute it. See that this filling or stuffing is dry.
5. Switch off the flame and keep it aside.
Step III –
1. Dust the working surface. Lightly roll the puff pastry sheet once.
2. Using a pizza cutter or knife cut sheets into 24 rectangular pieces for bite-sized puffs. That is 3 horizontal rows (width-wise) and 8 vertical columns (length-wise) from each sheet.
3. Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons of filling on the centre of each rectangle and fold it over the filling. Brush the edges of each rectangle with egg wash (or water or milk or cream) and use a fork crimp to seal the edges
4. Place these on a baking tray.
5. Brush the top of each one of them with egg wash (or with milk or cream or butter for vegetarian version). This is done to give a shiny look to the baked puffs. Brush vegan butter for a vegan puff.
6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or till it is golden and crispy.
If using an air fryer, place the filled puff pastries on a single layer in the air fryer basket. Bake at 390 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes. Flip halfway through.
Mini Veg Puffs Bites are ready! Serve and enjoy.
Moong Dal Halwa
For all the halwa lovers, here is the best Moong Dal Halwa recipe by Meeta Arora of Piping Pot Curry.
Photo credit: Piping Pot Curry
Ingredients
Moong Dal: 1 cup
Sugar: 1 cup
Water: 2 cups
Pistachios or almonds: 10-12
Clarified butter (ghee): 9-10 tablespoons
Green cardamom, grounded: 4
Saffron, grounded: 1-2 pinches
Method:
1. Dry roast the moong dal lentils.
2. Add water and pressure cook the dal.
3. After the dal is pressure-cooked, add sugar and ghee. Don’t skimp on the ghee because that is what is required to make good moong dal halwa.
5. Add saffron soaked in warm milk and cardamom powder at this time.
6. Stir it for about 10 minutes on saute mode to get the well-cooked Halwa consistency.
7. Make sure to get a nice golden colour. Halwa is done well when ghee starts to separate.
8. Scrape the bottom of the pot, so the halwa does not stick to the base.
Halwa is ready! It is best enjoyed when warm.
Handvo
Photo Credit: Swasthi’s Recipes
Made with fermented rice and lentil, Handvo is a Gujarati dish that is a must-try this festive season. Check out this recipe by Dassana’s Veg Recipes.
Ingredients
Rice: 1 cup
Moong dal: 1/2 cup
Tuvar dal: 1 tablespoon
Urad dal: 1 tablespoon
Chana dal: 1 tablespoon
Curd (dahi): 1/2 cup
Baking soda: 1/4 teaspoon
Chopped ginger, garlic: 1 teaspoon
Chopped green chilies: 2 teaspoons
Bottle gourd: 1 cup
Mustard seeds: 2 teaspoons
Oil: 1 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds: 5 to 6
Asafoetida (hing): 1 pinch
Chopped curry leaves: 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Salt as required
Method of preparation
1. In a bowl or pan, take the rice the three dal. Rinse a couple of times with water and then soak it for 4 to 5 hours in enough water. Later, drain all the water and add the rice and dals in a grinder jar
2. Add the curd before grinding to a batter where you get a rava like consistency in the rice. Do not add any water while grinding. Add the baking soda. Mix very well, cover the pan and ferment the batter for 8 to 9 hours or overnight. The batter will have tiny bubbles and faint sour aroma. Since proper fermentation depends on a warm room temperature, keep for a few hours more, if you live in a cool climate.
3. In a small grinder, take 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, 1 teaspoon chopped garlic and 2 teaspoons chopped green chilies. Add 1 tablespoon water and grind to a smooth paste. Keep aside. You can even crush ginger, garlic and green chilies in a mortar-pestle.
4. Rinse, peel and grate 1 small bottle gourd (lauki, ghia, dudhi, opo squash). You will need 1 cup tightly packed grated bottle gourd.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds. Keep the flame to a low. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Then add 5 to 6 fenugreek seeds, 1 pinch asafoetida (hing) and 1 teaspoon chopped curry leaves. Fry for a few seconds. Then add the ginger, garlic, green chilli paste. Be careful as the mixture can splutter if you have added more water when grinding the paste. Saute till the raw aroma of ginger and garlic goes away.
6. Add 1 cup tightly packed grated bottle gourd. Also add 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder. Mix well and then switch off the flame. Now add ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves. Mix well again.
7. Add the tempered bottle gourd mixture to the handvo batter. Add salt as required. Mix very well.
8. Heat a pan and spread 1 to 2 teaspoons oil in it. Spread on the sides too. Keep the flame to a low. I have added less oil. If you add more oil, the base of the handvo becomes crisp and golden.
9. Serve handvo hot with coriander chutney, sesame chutney or papaya chutney.