Mithai for Diwali: Must-Try Sweets Such as Rasmalai, Chum Chum, and Chandrakala

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is a legitimate time to let your hair down and sink your teeth, literally, into every kind of snack and sweets that the festival season has on offer. Whether you enjoy playing Tambola with a home full of guests, or like to wind down during the holidays, one thing is for certain, you will go looking for those red coloured cardboard boxes with rows of fried ghee sweetmeats – the traditional mithai for Diwali – that hark you back to your childhood days. These Diwali traditional sweets were often recreated for other festivals, like Navratri and Dussehra, and even passed off as Dhanteras sweets recipes, because many of these sweets were dry, and would last for a month without any preservatives or refrigeration per se. 

These are four traditional Diwali sweets from our childhood that you ought to learn how to make. 

Rasmalai 

This is a popular paneer-based Indian dessert that is sold in sweet shops almost all across the country.

Ingredients:

• 250 gm paneer
• 500 ml milk
• 180 gm sugar
• 70 gm ghee
• 2 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp saffron

Method:

1. You have to let the paneer soak in water for half an hour. After draining it, you can puree it into a paste.
2. Then, fill a big pot with milk and boil it.
3. Next, you need to add cardamom powder, ghee, paneer paste, and granulated sugar to the milk.
4. You have to continue to cook, while stirring periodically, until the mixture thickens.
5. After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and stir in saffron and mix everything thoroughly.
6. Transfer it to individual bowls and let it refrigerate for a few hours so that the flavors get an opportunity to meld together. 
7. Garnish it with finely chopped pistachios and cashews, and serve. 

Chum Chum 

Hailing from Bengal, Chum Chums are cylindrical sweets served with sugar syrup. They are similar to Rasgulla, but have a creamier, milkier mouthfeel and a discernable rose flavor. 

Ingredients:

• 250 gm chhena
• 200 gm sugar
• 50 gm ghee
• 2 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp saffron
• 500 ml water
• 4 pods of cardamom
• 4 tsp edible rose water

Method:

1. Combine the chhena or cottage cheese with ghee, and granulated sugar, in a medium-sized bowl.
2. After that, gently make dumplings from this mixture and give them a cylindrical shape.
3. Next, fill a big pot with water, and let it come to a boil.
4. Once the water has begun boiling, gently drop the cottage cheese cylinders into the water and wait till they float to the top.
5. Make a sugar syrup separately by diluting 3 tablespoons of sugar in water. Add in a few drops of the rose water and the cardamom pods and let the syrup come to a sticky but runny consistency. 
6. Now, take the cylinders out and immerse them in the syrup until the sweets soak up all of the sticky liquid.
7. When serving, garnish with some chopped dry fruits and a single rose petal. 

Chandrakala 

This fried sweet from Tamil Nadu is similar to Gujiya, in that it also has a fried coating made with flour and a filling traditionally made with a selection of dry fruits like coconuts, raisins, almonds and cashews in a base of khoya and semolina.   

Ingredients:

• 200 gm maida
• 55 gm ghee
• 160 gm sugar
• 2 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 500 ml water
• Few cardamom pods
• 50 gm sliced and toasted coconuts 
• Dried fruits – raisins, almonds and cashews, chopped
• 120 gm khoya 
• 100 gm semolina

Method:

1. To make the coating, start by combining baking soda, ghee, and maida in a bowl, ensuring there are no lumps.
2. Then, gradually pour lukewarm water onto the dry ingredients to make a smooth dough.
3. In a pan laced with ghee, add in the semolina, sugar and khoya and toast the mixture on low to medium heat for a few minutes till the mixture starts to impart a nutty aroma. Take it off the heat and let the mix come down to room temperature before folding in the chopped nuts and toasted coconut. 
4. Scoop out small portions of the dough and flatten it with a rolling pin into small and round discs. Place the khoya mixture in the centre and fold the pastry in a semi-circle, sealing the edges with water. 
5. Then, pour ghee or oil into a large pan to deep fry the dumplings until they get a golden brown color. 
6. Immerse them in a homemade sugar syrup made with water, sugar, rose essence and cardamom pods 
7. You can serve them warm with some dry fruits as toppings, or refrigerate them for a few hours and serve them with vanilla ice cream.