Arts & Culture, Food & Drink

3rd November 2021

Festival Food: Diwali

Food is the staple of any celebration, let’s be honest! For Diwali, a principle element of celebration is the sharing of sweets and desserts. We wrote about this in our article all about the background to Diwali. Sahithya Deepika Puppala is an International Business MSc student from Andhra Pradesh, India. She’s come to Liverpool to learn and explore her strengths and she brought a hundred recipes with her!

Staying in another country gives me opportunity to explore without any barriers. Diwali is a festival that brings joy and hope in the form of light. As a community, we celebrate it as a victory over darkness and negativity.

We as a family come together and celebrate Diwali by lightning 🪔 divas and fireworks, having sweets as a sign of prosperity and happiness.

Sahithya Deepika Puppala

What’s on the Menu for Diwali?

I love Indian food but honestly can’t handle spice! Sahithya assured me she can make anything at all, add coconut milk and make it 50% less hot. For Diwali, she offered up a recipe for a sweet dessert that is easy to make, is very cheap and won’t catch me out!

Food is one of the most crucial parts of my culture, as every occasion has it’s own special food, with its own health benefits. There are a lot of foods that I love but gajar ka halwa is my favourite because it’s easy to make with limited ingredients and time.

Sahithya Deepika Puppala

Ingredients Needed

  • 500g carrots, coarsely grated
  • 8 green cardamon pods, pierced with a knife
  • 500ml whole milk
  • 125g unsalted butter
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 25g raisins
  • 25g blanched almonds or chopped pistachios, roughly chopped

How to Cook

Step 1
Shred carrots and take a thick based pan. Add the shredded carrots, milk, sugar and cardamon.
Step 2
Slowly cook the base until the water from both the carrots and milk is evaporated.
Step 3
Heat butter in another pan and fry raisins, almonds and pistachios. Then add the base to the butter and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 4
Turn off the heat and serve it hot or cold!

The best news? This dish can be stored for up to a year in the fridge! Let us know if you have a go at making your own or you want to submit a recipe for everyone to try!

Cover image created in Canva.