5 Diwali Dinner Menu Ideas for Your 2020 Celebration
Diwali is right around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than by cooking up some authentic treats to mark the occasion? At Hōmdoor, we’re all about bringing traditional Indian cooking to homes all over the United States. We’re helping you prepare for the holiday season ahead with a few special recipes we think will wow your guests for the Festival of Lights.
Try your hand at recreating some of the Diwali recipes we put together below. Be sure to share your cooking experience on social media using #CookingWithHomdoor so you can be a part of our creative cooking community!
Top 5 Diwali Recipes to Try This Holiday Season
These simple and easy Diwali recipes are sure to please even the pickiest eater at the table. Check out what some of the top chefs in the Indian foodie community are cooking up this season to celebrate (click to jump to recipes):
YouTuber, Madhura Bachal, has a super-simple Diwali chicken curry recipe that she touts as the number-one favorite dish in her home. The secret to her take on this Indian classic? Use whole garam masala to enhance the flavor of the curry!
Whole garam masala — cloves, black pepper, cinnamon stick, bay leaf
Instructions
Heat 2 tsp oil in a pressure cooker and add onions, frying until translucent.
Add ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell dies down. Then add turmeric powder and add in the chicken.
Add water and sprinkle some salt to taste.
Cook until the pressure cooker gives three whistles.
In a pan, set the heat to medium and add grated coconut, roasting until golden brown. Remove from the pan once it’s finished, then heat 2 tsp oil in the pan.
Add in whole garam masala and wait until it’s cooked. Then, add sliced onions and fry until brown.
Combine roasted coconut, fried onions, minced garlic, minced ginger, tomato, and cumin powder in a blender and grind into a smooth paste. Add water as needed if it’s too thick.
Heat up 4 tsp oil in a pan, then add the masala mixture and fry until the oil loosens from the spices. Then add the boiled chicken in and mix.
Add water as needed to create the desired gravy texture. Sprinkle some salt to taste, and bring it to a boil for 10 minutes.
Keywords: Chicken Curry
2. Diwali Ghughra Recipe
Ghughra (or gujia/karanji, depending on your preference) is a special fried pastry typically filled with delicious nuts. Indian food blogger, Bhavna, has her own amazing Diwali ghughra recipe that’s perfect for the upcoming holiday. Give it a try for yourself!
Roast the poppy seeds and coconut, then keep aside.
Roast the cream of wheat until lightly browned, then mix in the roasted poppy seeds and coconut. Add the sugar, mixing well, and finally add the cardamom and nutmeg.
Mix ghee and maida together, and add water gingerly to make a stiff dough.
Roll out puris and stuff them with the sweet mixture. Close the puri in a half-moon shape to lock in the stuffing.
Keep twisting around the edges or use a sawtooth cutter specially designed to create the edges.
Heat the frying oil and fry on a low flame until golden brown.
Keywords: ghughra, gujia, karanji
3. Diwali Shankarpali Recipe
Similar to ghughra, shankarpali is a crispy, sweet snack that’s super-easy to create at home. Food blogger, Archana, from the Ministry of Curry has an excellent Diwali shankarpali recipe that’s extremely easy to follow and results in a tasty Diwali snack you can’t help but love.
Recipe credit: Archana, from the Ministry of Curry, Diwali Shankarpali recipe
Ingredients
Maida
Sugar
Ghee
Milk
Frying oil
Salt to taste
Vanilla extract
Instructions
Combine equal parts ghee, milk, and sugar into a saucepan and cook on low heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and vanilla, then gradually add the cooled milk mixture to form a soft dough. Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into four parts, rolling each out into a 8 – 10 inch circle. Using a knife for pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1-inch squares. Use a spatula to place the squares on a tray.
Heat up the frying oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot enough, use a slotted stainless steel spatula to pick up the squares and add them to the oil carefully. Wait a minute, then lower the heat to medium-low. Fry the shankarpali on medium-low heat for 2 – 3 minutes until golden brown on both sides. Remove from oil and voila — you’ve got your Diwali-ready dessert snack!
Keywords: shankarpali
4. Diwali Biscuit Recipe
A buttermilk biscuit might seem like the kind of side dish only American Southerners can appreciate. But this Diwali biscuit recipe by Nisha Madhulika make for a mouthwatering treat that would put any country breakfast to shame.
Cut the butter into small pieces, then set aside. In a big bowl, combine maida, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar, mixing together evenly. Then, add the butter chunks and mix with hands. Add in buttermilk and mix all ingredients to bind the dough.
Roll the dough to give it a round shape. Spread some flour on a board and place dough on it, then flatten with your hands to ½ inch thickness. Cut the dough into individual circles for your biscuits. Place the biscuits on a buttered baking sheet at a distance from each other and grease all biscuits with butter.
Place biscuits in an oven at 350º F in the middle rack of your oven for 15 minutes. Once golden brown, the biscuits are ready to remove from the oven.
Keywords: buttermilk biscuits
5. Diwali Chakli Recipe
Yet another delicious treat from Chef Madhulika is her Diwali chakli recipe. Also called ring murukku, these traditional south-Indian snacks are hard to turn down!
Add ½ cup water, ½ tsp cumin seed, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp red chili powder, 1 tsp of sesame, less than ¼ tsp of salt, 1 tsp of ghee, 1 pinch asafoetida, and mix well into a frying pan, bringing to a boil.
Once boiled, add ½ cup of rice flour, pouring in gradually to mix. Turn off the flame and add 1 tbsp of split black gram flour and mix well. Once slightly cooled, apply some ghee to your hands to mix the dough while still warm. Cover and keep aside for 20 minutes to set.
Apply a little ghee to your hands and knead the dough once more. Take a portion of the dough and cover in a bowl. Bind it well and roll it over a board into a long, thin rope. Cut the rope into 2.5 or 3 inch pieces, then join the ends to make rings.
Heat the frying oil on medium-high heat in a pan and drop the rings in once the oil gets hot. Fry the rings until golden brown.
Keywords: chakli, ring murukku
More Diwali Snacks to Try in 2020
Looking to break with tradition this year and try something new at the Diwali dinner table? We’ve got plenty of tandoori recipes available on our blog for you to take a crack at and wow your guests this season. Check out the following recipes to make your Diwali celebration even more delicious in 2020:
With these fabulous recipes added to your repertoire, everyone will be asking you to host the Festival of Lights celebration for years to come!
Make Diwali Even Better with Hōmdoor
The only way to have a truly authentic Diwali dinner is by having the right cooking tools at your home. Stock up on what you need to make your celebration a succulent success by shopping our tandoor ovens online today. And from all of us here at Hōmdoor, we wish you and your family the happiest of holiday seasons no matter what you’re celebrating.