Chef Karan Gokani's Delicious Delicacies for the Diwali Festival – Culinary Creations

Diwali, often called the festival of lights, is a celebration of positivity over negativity. It stands as the most extensively celebrated celebration across India and feels a bit like holiday festivities abroad. It’s synonymous with sparklers and fireworks, brilliant shades, non-stop gatherings and countertops straining under the immense load of dishes and sweet treats. Every Diwali celebration is finished without packages of confections and preserved fruits shared among loved ones and relatives. Across the United Kingdom, these customs are maintained, putting on festive attire, going to places of worship, narrating ancient Indian stories to the children and, crucially, gathering with friends from every background and religion. For me, Diwali represents community and offering dishes that seems extraordinary, but doesn’t keep you in the cooking area for extended periods. The pudding made from bread is my version of the indulgent shahi tukda, while these ladoos are excellent for giving or to savor alongside some chai after the meal.

Simple Ladoos (Pictured Top)

Ladoos are among the most recognizable Indian desserts, comparable to gulab jamuns and jalebis. Envision a classic Indian halwai’s shop overflowing with sweets of every shape, colour and size, all expertly crafted and liberally topped with traditional butter. These sweets frequently occupy centre stage, making them a popular choice of present for festive events or for offering to Hindu deities at temples. This particular recipe is among the easiest, calling for a small set of items, and can be prepared in minutes.

Prep a brief 10 minutes
Cook 50 minutes plus chilling
Makes 15 to 20

4 ounces of clarified butter
250g gram flour
1/4 teaspoon of ground green cardamom
a small amount of saffron (as an option)
50 grams of combined almonds and pistachios, heated and broken into pieces
6-7 ounces of white sugar, to taste

Liquefy the clarified butter in a Teflon-coated pan on a moderate heat. Lower the flame, mix in the chickpea flour and cook, stirring constantly to integrate it into the heated clarified butter and to prevent it from sticking or burning. Persist with cooking and blending for 30-35 minutes. Initially, the mix will resemble wet sand, but as you keep cooking and blending, it will turn to a peanut butter consistency and emit a delightful nutty aroma. Do not attempt to speed it up, or walk away from the blend, because it may scorch quickly, and the gentle heating is vital for the typical, roasted flavor of the ladoos.

Remove the pan from the stove, mix in the cardamom and saffron, if added, then leave to cool until moderately warm on contact.

Add the nuts and sugar to the room temperature ladoo mix, combine well, then pull apart little portions and form using your palms into 15-20 spherical shapes of 4cm. Place these on a dish with some distance between them and allow to cool to ambient temperature.

They can be served the ladoos right away, or place them in a tight-lid jar and store in a cool place for up to a week.

Classic Indian Bread Pudding

This draws inspiration from the shahi tukda from Hyderabad, a dish that’s typically made by cooking bread in clarified butter, then drenching it in a heavy, luxurious rabdi, which is produced by heating whole milk for a long time until it thickens to a small portion of its initial amount. The recipe here is a more nutritious, simpler and faster option that demands minimal supervision and lets the oven do all the heavy lifting.

Prep 10 min
Cook 1 hr+
Serves about 4-6 people

A dozen slices old white bread, crusts cut off
100 grams of ghee, or melted butter
1 litre whole milk
1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk
150 grams of sugar, or as preferred
a small pinch of saffron, steeped in 30ml of milk
1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom, or the contents of 2 pods, ground
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg (as an option)
40g almonds, coarsely chopped
40 grams of raisins

Slice the bread into triangles, coat nearly all but a spoonful of the ghee on both faces of each piece, then set the triangular pieces as they fall in a greased, approximately 20cm by 30cm, oblong baking pan.

Using a big bowl, mix the milk, condensed milk and sugar until the sugar dissolves, then mix in the saffron and its soaking milk, the cardamom and nutmeg, if added. Pour the milk mixture consistently across the bread in the dish, so everything is immersed, then leave to steep for a short while. Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius (180 fan)/390 Fahrenheit/gas 6.

Bake the pudding for 30 to 35 minutes, until the surface is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre emerges clean.

Meanwhile, liquefy the rest of the clarified butter in a little pot over medium heat, then cook the almonds until golden. Switch off the stove, incorporate the raisins and leave them to cook in the leftover temperature, mixing continuously, for one minute. Scatter the nut and raisin combination over the pudding and offer heated or cooled, plain as it is or alongside a portion of vanilla ice-cream.