Diwali is also known as the festival of lights. This festival signifies the victory of light over darkness. It is one of the most popular and biggest festival celebrated in India. It’s the time when all the family and friends gather, exchange gifts, and sweets with each other. It is incomplete without a touch of sweet dishes as they add enthusiasm to the festive spirit. Read on to gift your relatives one of the following sweet items that you can easily prepare at home or buy from the shop to spark the sweet tooth with joy.
1 Kalakand
Kalakand is the simplest recipe you can make at home rather than buying from a shop. There are mainly two ingredients – cottage cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Stir the mixture for 15-20 minutes and make the desired shape, and then allow it to set for a couple of hours.
2 Sandesh
Sandesh is a Bengali sweet made with cottage cheese. It is available in chocolate flavor too. You can make it at home or buy from market. Your relatives are going to love this one.
3 Boondi Laddoo
Boondi Laddoo is a popular Indian sweet made from sugar syrup and gram flour. You can gift both the hard and soft textured laddoos to your loved ones. The only difference between the two is of the sugar consistency.
4 Chenna Poda
Chenna Poda, a popular sweet dish hailing from Odisha. Usually made with Chenna, also known as Paneer. It is said that it is a favorite of Lord Jagannath.
5 Rava Laddoo
Rava Laddoo is prepared using rava which is also known as sooji. The other ingredients are khoya, milk, sugar, and ghee. Just mix them well, give them a shape of laddoo, and your sweet is ready. They easily melt within the first bite.
6 Makhana Ki Kheer
Makhana is usually eaten during Navratri fasting as it is good for fast. It is light on the stomach and rich in protein, phosphorous, calcium, carbohydrates, and zinc. They have a neutral taste, so you can make its kheer and spice it up with the way you want. Gifting this sweet will make your relatives smile wide.
7 Banana Halwa
Banana Halwa or Banana Sheera, by whatever name you call it, this will make you drool. Usually made for an auspicious occasion like Ganesh Puja or Satyanarayan Puja. It is also served as a prasad which means a gift from the divine.
8 Dry Fruits Barfi
We all gift and get dry fruits as a gift from our relatives during Diwali. Why not we gift a different a tastier version of dry fruits? It is a guilt-free sweet that you can enjoy at any time of the day. The sweetness comes from dates, figs, and raisins and not from sugar.
9 Puran Poli
A maharashtrian sweet dish made during Ganesh Chaturthi or Diwali. It is a flatbread stuffed with a filling of sweet lentils made from chana dal and jaggery.
10 Shrikhand
Shrikhand is a traditional Indian sweet made with hung curd, saffron, and cardamom is added to give it a flavor. Apart from the classic shrikhand, you can gift two other flavors like mango shrikhand and Greek yogurt shrikhand.
11 Zarda Pulao
Zarda Pulao, also known as Meethe Chawal is a pulao made with rice, dry fruits, and saffron. You put dry fruits like cashews, pistachios, almonds, and raisins which are loved by all grown-ups and kids.
12 Besan Laddoo
Among all the laddoos, Besan Laddoo is the most popular made with gram flour, ghee, and powdered sugar. You can even make at home by roasting the gram flour with ghee, give them a shape of laddoo, and you are good to go.
13 Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun
You might have heard of normal Gulab Jamun, how about Gulab Jamun made with Sweet Potato. It is healthy and easily prepared by using sweet potatoes, refined flour, and sugar syrup. They are popular in Bengal, and also known as mishit aloo’r pantua.
14 Whole Wheat Nankhatai
Nankhatai has the main ingredient which is refined flour also known as Maida. It is a healthier version as it is made with whole wheat flour, known as aata. They are topped with besan to give them a texture.
15 Karanji
Karanji is a crisp, fried pastry having a flaky cover which has a filling of coconut and dry fruits. They melt in the mouth within the first bite. The crisp outer cover makes you feel like you are having a savory snack, but when its filling enters your mouth, makes it a sweet dish. It is perfect for an occasion like Diwali.
16 Mishti Doi
One can never say no to Mishti Doi. It is a popular and classic Bengali sweet dish made with milk, curd, and jaggery or sugar. Usually, the jaggery used is palm jaggery. In Bengali, ‘mishti’ means sweet and ‘doi’ means curd.
17 Peanut Laddoo
Peanut Laddoo is the easiest laddoo you can make at home or buy from shop. It is made with roasted peanuts and jaggery and can stay good for about a week in room temperature. You can make them in large proportion and will be finished in no time.
18 Til Gud ke Laddoo
As the name suggests, Til Gud ke Laddoo are made with sesame seeds, peanuts, coconut, and jaggery. There are two versions of these laddoos that you can gift. Sesame seeds laddoo where the jaggery syrup is cooked until the mixture turns into a soft ball consistency. Til Khoya Laddoo where the laddoos are made with sesame seeds powder and khoya.
19 Phirni
Phirni is a classic creamy pudding made with powdered rice, cardamom, and saffron sweetened with sugar. It is a perfect dish to have and gift on the occasion of any festival like Diwali.
20 Sheer Khurma
Sheer Khurma is made with vermicelli, milk, dates, dry fruits, and ghee. It is an excellent dessert during winters as it includes loads of dry fruits which give heat and warmth to the body.
