The world is slowly beginning to discover the utter sumptuousness of Diwali sweets.
The Washington Post ran a special feature on Diwali sweets this autumn. The New York Times has done so off and on for many years. The BBC too, with really interestingly varied takes on what you can do for Diwali. The international Vogue had Two Dishes for Your Diwali Table a few days ago. The Guardian regularly puts up recipes for Indian festival sweets.
But gourmet food magazine Cook's Illustrated, that generally sticks to far more conservative recipes like Cornbread in Cast Iron or Hot Honey Chicken, had a whole spread on Diwali sweets in its October 2024 issue with recipes of Kaju Pista Roll, Penda, Boondi Laddus and Kaji Phool!
What might be hard to imagine, for those reading these articles, is the sheer and dizzying variety of sweets produced in India for the Diwali season. India does not stick to a few festival favourites.
Every home has a different set of sweets and savouries, totally new and unlike the next home, and many of these recipes are hundreds of years old.
Jayanti Soni offers a preparation for the festival made from jaggery and wheat. Her Sukhdi, she says is the easiest and fastest Diwali sweet recipe &-- it takes less than 20 minutes to make.
Sukhdi is made with simple ingredients. It looks good and tastes good too. In Gujarat it is also called God Papdi or jaggery papdi.
Jayanti, who hails from Bhinmal in Rajasthan, on the border of the state of Gujarat, is a fund of asli, unusual recipes for ghar ka khana and traditional sweets. Have you tried her Green Mung Halwa?
Sukhdi
Serves: 4 to 5
Ingredients
- 250 gm aatta or wheat flour
- 250-300 gm ghee + extra to grease the plate/thali
- 200 gm jaggery, finely grated
- 20 gm khus khus or poppy seeds
- 15-20 whole cashews
- 15-20 whole almonds
Method
- In a saucepan or a kadhai, roast the wheat flour with the ghee over medium heat for 10-12 minutes.
Keep stirring so the wheat flour does not stick to the pan.
Keep on adding small amounts of ghee if the flour appears dry.
It should have enough ghee so the mixture appears khasta (crumbly) and not dry.
Once it turns golden brown and releases a nutty aroma, take off heat.
Add the jaggery and mix well until the jaggery is completely incorporated.
Transfer the hot mixture onto a plate or thali has been greased with a thin layer of ghee and quickly spread the wheat-gud mixture evenly.
Use a spatula, or the back of a large serving spoon, to keep pressing down and spreading it evenly.
Allow it to settle and mildly cool for a minute.
Now score it with a knife and cut into small square pieces.
While still warm and mildly sticky, quickly garnish with the nuts -- 1 whole nut per square -- and allow it to cool for another 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the poppy seeds over the squares evenly.
Gently take out the pieces Sukhdi once completely cool and serve or store in an air-tight container.
Jayanti's Note: You can adjust the sweetness by adding more or less jaggery according to your taste.
Remember to add the jaggery while the ghee-wheat mixture is piping hot and do so immediately after you take it off the heat, otherwise it will not remain soft.
Adding the nuts gives the sweet a pretty look.
Consider adding cardamom powder while mixing in the jaggery.
WATCH: How to make Sukhdi and watch how quickly Jayanti puts together this sweet!
Jayanti Soni lives in Kandivali, north west Mumbai. She did her master's in Hindi and higher studies in vocal music and teaches. Rajasthani food is her speciality.
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