Diwali Dessert Recipes: Gulab Jamun, Kheer, and Gajar Halwa for the Festivities

With the festival of lights comes an assortment of traditional desserts, their fragrance drifting through homes and inciting a familiar sense of warmth and comfort. This Hindu festival symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. Here are some easy Diwali sweets for beginners with recipes that you can make this year, for your guests and loved ones.

These Diwali dessert recipes can also be used for other Hindu religious festivals, like Dussehra and Navaratri. In fact, many of these dishes overlap with Dhanteras sweets recipes too.

Gulab Jamun

If you are fairly accustomed to Indian culture, you'll know this one sweet dessert is known virtually all over the world. Gulab Jamun has gained massive popularity in different parts of the world, and is considered not only a festive dish but also a sweet delicacy that rounds meals off in many parts of the country, like eastern India. You can easily make this dish at home without having to run to the supermarket to buy canned and processed sweets.

Ingredients:

• 250 gm milk
• 95 gm ghee
• 53 gm sugar
• 2 tsp cardamom
• 12 ml rosewater
• Almond flakes

Method:

1. For the first step of this recipe, you need to mix together ghee, rose water, milk powder and sugar in a medium-sized bowl, and give everything a good stir with a spoon.
2. Then, keep mixing these ingredients until they form a crumbly texture, after which, you can shape them into small balls or dumplings.
3. Once the doughballs are ready, add oil to a deep-bottomed pan, and start frying these dumplings over high heat until the crust is reddish brown.
4. On the side, make a sugar syrup by combining water, rose water and sugar in a ratio of 2:1:1, and simmer it on medium flame until the sugar has completely dissolved.
5. Once the dumplings are fried, dunk them into the sugar syrup and let them sit for at least 5 minutes so that the balls become soft, and spongy after soaking up the syrup.
6. Before serving, garnish the individual Gulab Jamuns with almond flakes, and serve with savory evening snacks.

Kheer

Ingredients:

• 200 gm plain rice
• 2 l milk
• 215 gm sugar
• 50 gm ghee
• 2 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp saffron
• Assorted dried fruits (roasted and halved cashews, raisins)
  
  

Method:

1. This super easy and super creamy dish will need you to first cook the rice in milk after washing it in cold water to get rid of the starch as much as possible.
2. After that, add ghee, sugar and cardamom powder, and give everything a good mix.
3. Once the mixture has started to thicken, you can add saffron, and keep stirring so that the bottom of the pan does not start to overheat.
4. After about 30 minutes, your rice pudding will be ready.
5. Before serving, you must not forget to garnish with a generous helping of cashews and raisins.

Gajar Halwa

Ingredients:

• 500 gm carrots
• 500 ml milk
• 210 gm sugar
• 65 gm ghee
• 2 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp saffron
• Roasted almond for garnish

Method:

1. This rich dessert will need you to first wash and grate carrots into fine shreds.
2. After that, add milk to a saucepan and let it boil.
3. Transfer the carrots to the steaming milk, followed by spoonfuls of ghee, sugar and a pinch of cardamom powder.
4. Let the mixture simmer on low heat until it starts to become slightly thick.
5. You can choose to add saffron for an extra flavor dimension. However, even without saffron, this dish is absolutely delicious.
6. It will take about 40 to 50 minutes for this Halwa to get completely cooked. During this time, you need to keep stirring it occasionally.
7. Once done, you can serve it slightly hot and sprinkle some roasted almonds on the top.

Rabdi

Ingredients:

• 2-liter milk
• 201 gm sugar
• 53 gm ghee
• 104 gm chopped almonds
• 2 tsp cardamom

Method:

1. In a thick-bottomed saucepan pan, heat the milk until it starts to boil.
2. You need to keep stirring the boiling milk until it starts to form a creamy texture. It will take about 45 minutes for the milk to turn into rich cream.
3. Once the creamy texture has been properly achieved, you need to add ghee, sugar and almonds, and mix everything together.
4. After cooking it for another 10 to 15 minutes, you can take it off the heat and let it cool down a little.
5. While serving in small dessert bowls, you must not forget to add a dash of cardamom powder for that kick of spice.