Diwali sweets that sets the mood

Diwali without sweets is like Christmas without Santa.
Unimaginable.

The festive season has enveloped us with abundance of love,
breezy wind and an exuberance in the air, that is simply infectious. It’s like
falling in love once again. You can never get enough of this festive spirit,
that brings family and friends closer, that celebrates love.

And Diwali is the King of festivals for our Hindu community
in India. It celebrates the homecoming of Lord Rama and to do that, the homes
are cleaned till shining bright, lit with diyas and candles, and the food table
is laid with yummy treats to welcome the royalty. The tradition continues, and we all try to keep it alive in our own
ways.

We have spent almost all the diwali in India with our
family, but this year we couldn’t manage to go. Though felt terribly homesick,
yet the positivity of the festival and the bright anticipating faces of the
kids, motivated me to recreate the feel of the occasion.

So the house was spruced clean; new idols of Ganesha and
Laxmi were bought, as per the tradition; and then these yummy sweets were made.
Many of you might be familiar with how tricky preparing Indian sweets could be.
Yes it requires lot more patience than a
simple cake. So I decided to go both routes – traditional way of making sweet
and other modern/quicker microwave version. So take your pick of which way to
go. Or like me…..create both.

I love all types of sweets made of besan (chickpea flour)
like besan ka halwa, besan ke ladoo and this one – besan ki barfi. Ingredients
are simple and few, but the trick is to be patient while roasting the flour.
It’s a slow process, and you have to constantly keep stirring. Not stopping even
for a minute. By following this simple thing, this delicious sweet will adorn
your dessert box.

Besan Barfi Recipe

(A delicious fudge like Indian sweet made of chickpea flour)

Ingredients:

Besan (chickpea flour ) – 2 cup

Sooji (semolina) – ¼ cup

Ghee – ¾ cup

Powdered sugar – 1 ¼

Crushed cardamom – ½ tsp

Crushed nuts – ¼ - ½
cup

Method:

In a heavy bottomed
pan, melt the ghee. Add besan and sooji on medium flame.

Fry the besan, while constantly stirring, till its nicely
browned and smells wonderful. This might take 15-20 mins, but be patient.

Now add the crushed cardamom and mix well.

Then add the powdered sugar, and keep cooking till its well
mixed and is coming together. Finally add the chopped nuts.

Grease a tray with ghee and put the mixture on it and make
it even. Now keep in fridge to set for an hour. Then cut in desired shape and
store in air tight container. Enjoy!

The second recipe is of instant peda, made in 3mins microwave. Yes you heard it right...just 3 min is what you need. The recipe I used is from here, which uses milk powder and condensed milk. The only variation I did was that I added 2tbsp cocoa powder to half the batch and also made chocolate barfi. Great way to add variation to my gift box.