দিওয়ালি বা দীপাবলী অনুষ্ঠিত হয় প্রতিবছর অক্টোবর থেকে নভেম্বরের মাঝে। বিভিন্ন ধর্মীয় সম্প্রদায় এটিকে নানা নামে অভিহিত করে থাকেন। যেমন, দিওয়ালি, দীপাবলী, তিহার, বান্দি ছোড় দিবস, সোওয়ান্তি এবং সোহরি।
‘আলোর উৎসব’ নামে পরিচিত এই উৎসবটি সাধারণত পাঁচ দিন ধরে চলে। ঘর-বাড়িতে ও রাস্তায় তখন মোমবাতি এবং প্রদীপ জ্বালানো হয়।
দিওয়ালির একটি বড় অংশ জুড়ে রয়েছে আত্মীয়-স্বজন এবং বন্ধু-বান্ধবদের বাড়িতে বেড়ানোর ও আদর-আপ্যায়নের দিকটি।
অস্ট্রেলিয়ায় একসময়ে মাস্টারশেফ প্রতিযোগিতায় অংশ নিয়েছিলেন শেফ সন্দীপ পণ্ডিত। ভারতের বিভিন্ন অঞ্চলে বসবাসের অভিজ্ঞতায় সমৃদ্ধ এই শেফ ভালভাবেই জানেন দিওয়ালি উদযাপন এবং এতে প্রস্তুতকৃত নানা ধরনের বৈচিত্রপূর্ণ খাবার-দাবারের বিষয়ে।
এসবিএস ফুড-এর টিভি শো ‘ইনডিয়া আপডেটেড’-এর হোস্ট সন্দীপ পণ্ডিত চারটি স্পেশাল দিওয়ালি রেসিপি শেয়ার করেছেন এসবিএস-এর সঙ্গে।
ভারতের বিভিন্ন স্থানে বিভিন্ন জনগোষ্ঠী কীভাবে দিওয়ালি উদযাপন করে, এই উৎসবে যে-সব বৈচিত্রপূর্ণ ও মুখরোচক খাবার তৈরি করা হয় সেগুলোর কিছুটা পরিচয় আপনারা পাবেন এই চারটি ডিশে।
রেসিপিগুলোর এবং ভিডিওর জন্য নিচে দেখুন:
Sandesh: Diwali dessert from Bengal
"Very, very few places in India celebrate sweets like the Bengalis do," says Chef Sandeep.
And he has highlighted sandesh, a traditional treat made with chhena or ricotta, sugar and cardamom, as being the one Bengali dish that represents Diwali best.
Sandesh: Diwali dessert from Bengal, India. Source: SBS / Matthew Leigh
1 litre full cream milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp plain yogurt
¼ cup castor sugar
¼ tsp cardamom powder
Pinch of salt
To garnish
2 silver leaves (optional)
3 tsp almonds or pistachios
Method
- Boil the milk in a thick bottomed pan, stir occasionally.
- Turn off the stove add the lemon juice and yogurt
- Mix until the milk curdles (add more lemon juice if needed)
- Drain off the curdled milk into a cheesecloth or muslin and rinse with cold water (to remove the acidity and retain softness)
- Squeeze off the excess whey and hang the cloth for no more than 30 minutes
- Mash the paneer well for 10 minutes until it turns smooth and soft
- Add the sugar and combine well
- Transfer the prepared paneer dough onto a wok or kadai and cook on low flame
- Cook for 5 minutes or till the curdled milk is cooked well
- Add in cardamom powder and mix well. Take off the heat and allow it to cool for 5 minutes
- Prepare small balls once its lightly cooled and make a dent in centre
- Finish off the sandesh with silver leaf, almonds or pistachios and serve chilled.
Pistachio Srikhand Cups: Diwali dessert from Gujarat and Maharashtra
Chef Sandeep's next recipe takes us to the western part of India, specifically the states of Mahasrashtra and Gujarat.
Shrikhand, a traditional sweet made from strained yogurt, is common to both states and is a popular dish during the festive season.
With Gujaratis also celebrating the new year a day after Diwali, Chef Sandeep proudly presents his version of pistachio srikhand cup with summer berries.
Pistachio Srikhand Cups: Diwali dessert from Gujarat and Maharashtra, India. Source: SBS / Matthew Leigh
1 kg Greek yogurt
50 g crushed pistachios
¼ tsp ghee
Pinch of salt
200g castor sugar
½ tsp cardamom crushed
4-5 strands of saffron (crushed)
To garnish
Dried rose petals (optional)
3 raspberries per cup
Method
- Hang the yogurt in a muslin/cheesecloth and keep it in the fridge (overnight preferred)
- Keep aside 2 tbsp crushed pistachios and heat the rest of the pistachios on a gentle flame, add ghee, salt, half of the cardamom and take it off the flame. Allow to cool slightly
- Add 50 g sugar to the warm pistachios to form a light crumble
- Take about a tablespoon of the crumble in each of the serving glass and make a pistachio base
- Mix the (hung) yogurt, saffron, remaining cardamom and sugar
- Put the sweet yogurt into piping bags and pipe the yogurt into the cups (with pistachio crumble)
- Top with the dried rose petals, some crushed pistachios and fresh raspberries
- Serve chilled
Modur Puri and Kahwa: Diwali dessert from Kashmir
This combo of modur puri, a type of sweet flatbread, and kahwa, aromatic Kashmiri tea, is something very close to Chef Sandeep's heart.
"[Growing up in Kashmir] Diwali meant waiting for mum to finish making the modur puri... and waiting for dad to finish the Laxmi Pooja [deity worship], so that we could all sit and gorge on these delicious puris, have our kahwa, light the lamps and go burst some firecrackers," he says.
Below is the recipe for his family's ritual Diwali dish.
Modur Puri and Kahwa: Diwali dessert from Kashmir, India. Source: SBS / Matthew Leigh
¾ cup warm water
¾ cup sugar
2 cups of atta flour (or wholemeal flour)
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp black cardamom pods (seeds only)
Ghee to deep fry
Poppy seeds for finishing (a pinch for each puri)
Kahwa
1 tsp green tea leaves (kahwa tea, oolong tea)
1.5 cups water
1 tbsp sugar
1 cardamom
1 inch cinnamon
1 strand saffron (per cup)
½ tsp crushed almonds
Method
- Mix the sugar in warm water and make a syrup, the sugar need not fully dissolve
- Mix flour, 2 tbsp ghee, black cardamom
- Slowly add syrup to the flour mix and form a firm dough, do no over-knead
- Make small portions (dough balls) and roll them out into flatbreads
- Score the breads in a pattern, to avoid the puri from puffing
- Fry in a kadai or a deep pan, on medium heat (about 165-170 degrees Celsius in a fryer) until the puri is golden brown
- Take it off the kadai and sprinkle a pinch of poppy seeds on the puri
- Enjoy with a cup of traditional kahwa chai
- In a pot, brew the tea by adding the tea leaves, water, cardamom and cinnamon and bring to a boil
- Add the sugar and stir until it mixes in
- In a teacup, add the saffron and the almonds, pour the (filtered) tea into the cup
Badam Puri: Diwali dessert from Karnataka
Chef Sandeep’s Diwali recipe of badam puri takes him back to his childhood.
He discovered the dish as a kid when his family went from Kashmir to Karnataka in India's southwest.
"I had it at a friend's place and his agy (grandmother) was making it for all of us, and on that day I discovered this exceptional sweet which is like a cross between baklava and a cookie," he reminisces.
Badam Puri: Diwali dessert from Karnataka. Source: SBS / Matthew Leigh
100 g plain flour
50 g almond meal (or almonds ground in a food processor)
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp semolina
2 cardamom pods seeds (crushed)
15 g ghee (for the dough) (3 tbsp more for making the puris)
20 g castor sugar (or powdered sugar)
¼ tsp baking powder
40 ml milk
10-12 cloves (whole)
Ghee/oil for deep frying
For sugar syrup
500 g sugar
2 pods of cardamom (crushed)
Few strands of saffron
250 ml water
1.5 tbsp lemon juice
To garnish
4-5 pistachios crushed
Dried rose petals
Method
- Mix the flour, almond meal, salt, semolina, cardamom pods, ghee, castor sugar and baking powder until it looks like a coarse sandy texture mixture
- Add the milk slowly (1 spoonful at a time) to make a firm, but smooth dough
- Knead the dough well on a hard surface, for 7-8 minutes
- Keep the dough covered and allow it to rest for 20 mins
Sugar syrup
- In a cooking pot, add the sugar, cardamom, saffron, water and lemon juice
- Bring it all to boil, until the syrup seems to froth (about 8 mins)
- Carefully, cool a drop of the syrup and check it between your fingers. If slightly stringy, take the pot off the heat
- Keep the syrup warm, and keep it aside
- Portion the dough into small balls (about 30 grams each)
- Roll these out into thin discs (Like a flatbread)
- Apply some ghee on these rolled out discs and fold them into a half moon shape
- Apply ghee on these half-moon discs and fold them further to make small triangles (this process creates layers between the puris)
- Gently roll out these triangles, and increase their size by half
- Pierce the rolled out puri with a whole clove and place it on a plate, over a baking paper
- Repeat the above steps, until all the dough is utilised (makes about 7-8 badam puris or almond cookies)
- Heat some ghee/oil in a frying pan for deep frying
- Fry the puris on a very low flame for about 12-15 minutes. This is essential to cook them evenly
- Once the puris turns a darkish golden brown, take them out on a paper towel, to soak up the excess ghee/oil
- Allow these fried biscuits/puris to cool a little (warm, but not piping hot)
- Dunk these warm puris into the sugar syrup for 30 seconds (and not more) and coat the syrup evenly
- Take them out of the syrup and add some pistachios and dried rose petals on them for a final garnish
- Serve these immediately, or slightly chilled
