How do you celebrate Diwali ?
In my 2008 Diwali post (https://arvindbatra.blogspot.com/2008/10/diwali-post.html), I had asked this question - how does one celebrate Diwali ? For someone who does not like bursting crackers (pollution, money, ROI, you name it, there are many reasons to not do it), not too much in Pooja either, how does one celebrate the festival?
(Side note - It is amazing that I had asked this question back in 2008 :), sometimes I look back at this blog and it is just amazing to reconnect with a past of myself)
Anyways, responding to this in 2024, I can proudly say that this question has been answered. Kanishka and I have created our own Diwali ritual and have followed this tradition over the last 10 years.
Our ritual is that we will prepare one sweet from scratch on the day of Diwali. It has to be a sweet that we have never prepared before, we like it and hopefully prepare-able within a day. We have done with almost consistently.
Diwali 2014 - Malpua
Diwali 2015 - Imarthi
Diwali 2016 - Kala Jamun
Diwali 2017 - Badam Katli
2018 - No sweet. Spent Diwali in New Zealand :)
Diwali 2019 - Chennapoda
Diwali 2020 - Sandesh
Diwali 2021 - No sweet. Spent Diwali in Goa :)
Diwali 2022 - Mawa Jalebi
Diwali 2023 - No sweet. Were lazy this year :)
Diwali 2024 - Madeleine
2024 dessert of the year was Madeleines - a French tea cake. We had Madeleines made by deepali Sawant and also in US. It was yum. We gave it a try. There are hundreds (or may be thousands) recipes for this. But, the one that really worked for us was by PastryLiving - https://pastryliving.com/vanilla-madeleines/ . Her Youtube video was very helpful and in the comments, we learnt a lot of what can go wrong.
(Bonus Tip - In youtube videos, the way to judge a good recipe is to read the comments and learn from folks who have tried it. There are always some quirks, and dos and donts that are not covered, which are discussed in the comments. Comments determine the video/recipe value. In this case, the fact that the batter and the tray had to be refrigerated for the madeleines to get the right shape. was a very good tip)
Like every year, we do not make one recipe but we make variations and do our experimentation. This year, we tried Vanilla madeleines, Chocolate covered madeleines and chocolate madeleines. We tried two or three different variations but the pastryliving was incredibly useful.
Madeleines were a definite hit this year and almost everyone liked it. It is not so common, so I am guessing that folks didn't had a good reference point either to compare :) . Anyways, they are always nice to us. so gave glowing reviews.
Overall, we made close to 200 madeleines and it took us almost the entire day :)
2024 -
2022 -
2014 -
I love the fact that we have innovated our own Diwali Ritual. This way of celebration resonates much more closely - both of us have a sweet tooth. Also, making something on your own has a lot of fun. It is a great way to spend the Diwali day and it makes the day memorable too. What else is Diwali if not to create memories and spend it with the loved ones.
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