The festival of lights and firecrackers is purely mithai-centric. The mind boggling variety available at sweet shops is simply irresistible! Though chocolates and pastries have taken over conventional sweets on many occasions, during Diwali traditional mithais still rule the roost. Besides, you can also play with Indian and non-Indian desserts to make your version of mithai for Diwali. Here are 10 traditional mithais you can give a modern tweak to:
Lip-smacking Laddoos: Make oat and peanut laddoos - healthy and lets you indulge your sweet tooth too. Besan ke laddoo has always been a hot favorite, but now you can substitute fattening ghee with healthy olive oil and create the same. A modern avatar of traditional coconut laddoos are choco-coconut laddoos that can be made with coconut, chocolate and dried fruits, a sure fire hit with both young and old.
Mithais in a jar: Dessert in a jar looks attractive and is quite popular. You can create a jar of your favorite mithai with a sponge cake or chocolates. Make alternate layers of mini gulab jaamuns, white chocolate mousse and garnish with dry fruits in a trendy jar. Or layer a cinnamon sponge cake with cream cheese and the traditional gajar ka halwa for the best of both worlds. These jars look colorful and make a great give-away as well. So, what will be in your jar this Diwali?
Goodness of Gujiya: We all love those pretty-looking gujiyas and they are a must for our snack tins during Diwali. This year instead of the traditional filling try chocolate and nuts or simply dates and dried coconut and instead of deep-frying the gujiya or karanji in ghee, you can brush ghee over them and bake in the preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius and there! A healthier and tastier version’s ready!
Bountiful Barfi: This Diwali, give your favourite barfi a makeover. How about a combination of papaya and mawa - papaya barfi! Or a banana or green peas and pista barfi. Full of flavours, this one will be the talking point at your parties!
Guilt-free Kalakand: Kalakand is traditionally made by curdling milk. However, try making a unique kiwi kalakand, on this occasion, a delightful fusion of kiwis and cottage cheese. Or stuff a fresh fruit, maybe peach with kalakand and dip it in tempered chocolate. Let your guests wonder about the secret ingredients!
Sweetmeat Pancakes or Paranthas: Make boondi and rabdi stuffed pancakes. You can also substitute boondi laddoos with sweet boondi available in the market. Mix boondi and rabdi and spread over the pancake and make two more alternate layers of these. Arrange it in a cake tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180º C. Besides stuffed pancake, try parantha stuffed with barfi and serve it up with rabdi and candied rose petals.
Tweak your Halwa: On the occasion of Laxmi puja, we usually offer sooji halwa as prasad. This time however, use up what you get in the fruit and vegetable hamper to cook up a different type of halwa like pumpkin or pineapple halwa, make it with lots of khoya, ghee and of course sugar and dried fruits. Or try the Saeb aur Badam ka halwa – a unique combination of almonds and apples. Motichoor Cheesecake: Let’s be creative with cheesecakes! Add your favorite mithais like barfi, rasmalai or motichoor laddoos to any cheesecake. If you are running out of time, get cheesecake from the market, top with any traditional mithai and garnish with lots of sliced almonds and pistachios.
Mithai Mousse: Create melt in mouth mousse with mithais! Balance sweetness of laddoos or barfis by having a base of salty biscuits. Add a pinch of cardamom or nutmeg powder over it to maximize the deliciousness. Your mithais will definitely be the star of your party. Basundi or Saffron Panna cotta: Twist this Italian dessert by adding traditional basundi as a base. And lastly top with fresh fruits like red grapes and kiwis. Panna cotta spiced up with saffron to enhance the flavours. You can serve saffron pannacotta in miniature glasses at your Diwali party. For more innovative mithais, surf SanjeevKapoor.com or SanjeevKapoorKhazana this Diwali and spellbound your guests! Happy Diwali!
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor is the most celebrated face of Indian cuisine. He is Chef extraordinaire, runs a successful TV Channel FoodFood, hosted Khana Khazana cookery show on television for more than 17 years, author of 150+ best selling cookbooks, restaurateur and winner of several culinary awards. He is living his dream of making Indian cuisine the number one in the world and empowering women through power of cooking to become self sufficient. His recipe portal www.sanjeevkapoor.com is a complete cookery manual with a compendium of more than 10,000 tried & tested recipes, videos, articles, tips & trivia and a wealth of information on the art and craft of cooking in both English and Hindi.
OR
Enter your email id
Hello, this email address has already being registered on www.sanjeevkapoor.com Not You? Create your Account Now REGISTER HERE
for signing up with www.SanjeevKapoor.com
Hello, your account with www.SanjeevKapoor.com is yet to be Activated.
You will be receiving intimation on your registered email address. Kindly confirm your registration by clicking on the link provided in the mail. Your login details would continue to remain the same post activation also.
Happy Shopping!
Team SanjeevKapoor.com
