SOON we will be celebrating one of the most important festivals in the Hindu calendar, Deepavali. We know that there are so many things to do before the celebration of the Festival of the Lights, but let’s start with one of the most important things to do, ahead of time – making Deepavali sweets and snacks!
There are countless Indian traditional sweets and snacks to choose from, probably numbering in the hundreds. Some sweets from different parts of India are quite similar, but with different flavours, while others are unique.
Here, we picked the quintessential Deepavali delights that commonly made and eaten during special occasions in Malaysian Indian houses. So, let’s start cooking!
Murukku
First foremost, the best of all snacks , Murukku. In Malaysia, no Indian families would celebrate Deepavali without the staple delight-the traditional South Indian savoury and crunchy murukku!
It’s almost like a celebration without the murukku meant there is no Deepavali!
Murukku is the Tamil word, which means twisted, as the delight has a twisted shape. In most houses, murukku is the first snack they prepare before others, as it marks the beginning of all preparations for Deepavali.
There are numerous murukku varieties, but the must-haves are the Mullu murukku (thorn or spike) and muthusaram, which has a spiral shape appearance with twists and turns, and little spikes.
Apart from this, Omapodi (or the awesome Madras Mixture with fried nuts like peanuts, cashews, and curry leaves sold at shops) and the ever-sweet and crispy Achu murukku, or rose-shaped murukku, are favourite snacks.
All the murukku are made from simple ingredients like rice flour, sugar, and milk.
Kesari
Kesari is served during Deepavali or any special occasion. Its made in a heated pan with ghee with semolina or cream of wheat flour and raisins, dry fruits, cashew and almond nuts, sugar, ghee, and milk, among other ingredients.
The thickened mixture is then poured into a steel pan or tray. Once cooled, the mixture gets firm and it is cut into diamond shapes or square slices.
There are different types of kesari in India, like pineapple kesari, paal kesari, but the most popular one is Rava Kesari.
Rava is much tastier due to the aromatic spice and sweetness. Originally bright yellow or golden coloured because saffron is added into mix. Saffron put into warm milk and stirred until the colour mixed . Usually, we can find the easily available orange coloured ones in the shop.
Adhirasam
Adhirasam looks like a doughnut-shaped vadai or a patty, but is brown in colour and softer. It is not easy to produce the right taste and texture of adhirasam even when you have the best recipes on hand.
The basic ingredients are rice flour, jaggery syrup, spices, and ghee, but one needs skills and technique to make the sweet the right way. Mostly, the older generation are experts at making this traditional delicacy.
The texture of the sweets must be slightly sweet, fluffy, and soft, despite deep frying in oil for over 20 minutes. The origin of the sweet dates back to the era of a South Indian ruler, Krishna Deva Raya in the 15th century.
Laddu
One of the cutest sweets of all, laddu is popularly made by the North Indians during festivals and celebrations, and it’s made with gram flour, sugar, ghee, cashew nuts, spices.
The round ball tastes tender, soft, and delicate. Sometimes, it falls apart just after a bite.
There are various types of laddus in different regions of India and the most popular ones are Motichoor laddu, boondi laddoo, coconut ladoo, rava ladoo, peanut laddoo, and the list goes on.
Laddu was actually made to be consumed as medicine and not as a sweet. It is believed that Indian physician Susruta rolled a ball out of ingredients like sesame seeds, jaggery, herbs, and a bit of honey as medicine , for instance, for patients to consume and call it laddu in the 4th century.
But there is a different story about the origin of laddu. It is said coconut laddu was made during the Chola empire in South India as the warriors would carry it on their travels as food due to its long shelf life and also as a symbol of good luck. No matter where its origin but we are sure its never stop tempting us with its sweetness and the taste in the mouth.
Palkova (ghee palkova)
Palkova or palgova is also known as Theratipaal and its originated from Srivilliputtur, near Tirunelvelli, Tamil Nadu.
Rich, tasty, and the melt-in-the-mouth sweet is made with just three ingredients: sugar, ghee, and milk or milk powder, with three easy steps, but a lot of time and hard work required for stirring the mixture.
The traditional South Indian milk sweet is creamy, soft, and super delicious, and the delicate sweet is usually cut into little bite-sized cubes and, at times, topped with pistachio, almond, or cashew nuts for decoration.
Palkova comes in a variety of shapes, including diamonds, round and poured into a mould for desired shapes.
