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Diwali, widely known as the festival of lights, symbolizes the victory of light over darkness. It’s the most broadly observed Indian festival and feels a bit like Christmas in the west. It’s synonymous with fireworks, brilliant shades, continuous festivities and dining surfaces groaning under the sheer weight of culinary delights and sweets. Every Diwali celebration is finished without containers of mithai and dried fruit exchanged between friends and family. Throughout Britain, the practices are preserved, putting on festive attire, visiting temples, narrating ancient Indian stories to the little ones and, crucially, gathering with friends from diverse cultures and beliefs. Personally, Diwali is about togetherness and offering dishes that appears unique, but doesn’t require you in the kitchen for hours. This bread-based dessert is my version of the rich shahi tukda, while these ladoos are ideal for presenting or to enjoy with a cup of chai after the meal.

Easy Ladoos (Featured at the Top)

Ladoos are one of the most iconic Indian sweets, alongside gulab jamuns and jalebis. Envision a classic Indian halwai’s shop filled with confectioneries of all forms, hue and dimension, all expertly crafted and liberally topped with traditional butter. Ladoos commonly hold the spotlight, making them a popular choice of gift during auspicious occasions or for giving to gods and goddesses at temples. This particular recipe is one of the most straightforward, requiring just a handful of ingredients, and can be prepared in minutes.

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

4 ounces of clarified butter
250 grams of gram flour
1/4 teaspoon of ground green cardamom
1 pinch saffron (as an option)
50 grams of combined almonds and pistachios, heated and broken into pieces
180 to 200 grams of granulated sugar, to taste

Heat the ghee in a nonstick pan on a medium heat. Turn down the heat, add the gram flour and heat, while stirring continuously to combine it with the liquid ghee and to prevent it from sticking or burning. Persist with cooking and blending for 30-35 minutes. Initially, the mix will resemble damp sand, but as you continue cooking and mixing, it will turn to a peanut butter consistency and smell wonderfully nutty. Do not attempt to speed it up, or walk away from the blend, because it can burn very easily, and the slow roast is critical for the typical, roasted flavor of the sweet balls.

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

Mix in the nuts and sweetener to the chilled ladoo blend, combine well, then pull apart little portions and form using your palms into 15-20 spherical shapes of 4cm. Put these on a plate separated a bit and leave to cool to room temperature.

You can now serve the sweets promptly, or store them in an airtight container and maintain at room temperature for up to a week.

Indian Bread Pudding

This is inspired by the shahi tukda from Hyderabad, a dish that’s typically made by cooking bread in clarified butter, then immersing it in a dense, creamy rabdi, which is created by simmering whole milk for an extended period until it condenses to a fraction of its original volume. The recipe here is a better-for-you, straightforward and speedy version that needs much less attention and allows the oven to handle the work.

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 1 hour or more
Serves about 4-6 people

Twelve slices old white bread, crusts cut off
100 grams of ghee, or heated butter
1 liter of whole milk
1 x 397g tin condensed milk
150 grams of sugar, or as preferred
a small pinch of saffron, steeped in 30ml of milk
a quarter teaspoon of cardamom powder, or the insides of 2 pods, powdered
a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg powder (optional)
40g almonds, coarsely chopped
40g raisins

Slice the bread into triangles, apply almost all except a teaspoon of the ghee on both faces of each piece, then place the triangles as they fall in a greased, roughly 20cm x 30cm, rectangular baking dish.

Using a big bowl, beat the milk, sweetened milk and sugar until the sweetener incorporates, then blend the saffron and the liquid it steeped in, the cardamom and nutmeg, if added. Pour the milk mixture consistently across the bread in the dish, so each piece is saturated, then allow to soak for 10-15 minutes. Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6.

Cook the pudding for 30 to 35 minutes, until the upper layer is browned and a pick stuck into the center emerges clean.

At the same time, liquefy the rest of the clarified butter in a small skillet on moderate flame, then cook the almonds until golden brown. Extinguish the flame, mix in the raisins and let them simmer in the remaining warmth, mixing continuously, for 60 seconds. Dust the almond and raisin blend over the sweet dish and serve warm or chilled, plain as it is or with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.