Diwali dishes

The festival is synonymous with long, sumptuous, elaborate feasts, the preparations for which begin several days in advance. No expense is spared, and everybody buys the best ingredients that they can afford. Women get together and spend several days preparing sweets, snacks and savouries – although these days they are more likely to buy them from specialist shops.

Indian sweets, known as 'mithai', are made with semolina, wheat flour, chickpea flour or thickened milk, to which freshly grated coconut, carrots or white pumpkin is sometimes added. The mixtures, perfumed with sweet spices like cardamom and nutmeg, and studded with nuts and raisins, are then shaped into colourful squares and rounds. The preparing, consuming and giving of sweets is a significant facet of the festival.

Snacks - both sweet and savoury - are also prepared and eaten in vast quantities. These include countless variations on crisp poories (deep-fried poppadam-like breads) made with lentil flour, cumin and crushed green chillies, or sugar and cardamom; Bombay mix-like chidwa (every city in India has its own version); and crescent moon-shaped pasties, known as 'ghugara', stuffed with fresh coconut, raisins, nuts and spices.

more information :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/news_and_events/events_diwali.shtml