For a food lover, Diwali is all about exchanging delicious food with friends and family. With the gifting trend is slowly evolving, there has been a shift from traditional Indian sweets to desserts. The calorie- and diet-conscious come up with creative Diwali sweets. Some like to keep to the Indian theme, but come up with interesting options. A few even gift candles, home accessories and cookbooks for Diwali.
I feel that making Diwali sweets at home can be fun and exciting. The love you put into it goes a long way in showing your loved ones how much you care.
For working women and men, finding time may be a challenge, but with careful planning, it can be tackled easily. The cooking process can be phased over a week, and the deliveries can also be timed accordingly. Use ingredients that are readily available in the market, rather than hard-to-source ones.
If you have a kitchen garden, look no further. You don’t even need exotic ingredients. A simple lime-and-ginger cordial, made from the produce in your garden, in a recycled wine bottle, makes a stunning Diwali gift.
Do you have excess basil growing? Convert it into basil oil or basil salt and pack it in attractive glass jars to give it a trendy makeover. Fruits can be made into jams and sweet chutneys with little effort.
If you are in the mood for chocolate, the options are endless. A moist and chocolatey brownie is a crowd-pleaser. More innovative ideas using chocolate include hot chocolate lollipops, cupcakes, chocolate bars and chocolate truffles.
If you want to think outside the box and try savoury gifts this year, the middle-eastern spice mix, Dukkah, is an ideal choice. Tasty idli powders in different flavours also make great gifts. A bagful of healthy granola, with dry fruits and nuts, is a perfect choice for the health-conscious.
Play on your strengths to decide the dish. If you are good at baking, pick a cake or cookie recipe you are familiar with. If you are creative with packaging, pick a simple dish and focus more on presentation. Use beautiful glass jars and a wide range of paper and textile products to make your Diwali gift look festive and elegant. Another great idea is to include a handwritten note along with storage instructions — such as refrigerate or store in an air-tight container — which adds more value to the gift.
A personalised Diwali greeting card with individual names is very thoughtful. Here is a recipe for a salted caramel sauce that can be filled in attractive glass jars for a gift.
Salted Caramel Sauce
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients
2 cups Sugar
1/8 cup Water
3/4 cup or 170 gm Butter
1 cup Cream
2 tsp Salt
Method
Put the sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan and drizzle the water around the edge of the sugar. Place the pan on medium flame and wait for the sugar to melt. Do not stir. Swirl the pan if you want the sugar to melt evenly.
Once the water evaporates, the melted sugar will caramelise and start to turn golden brown. Allow the sugar syrup to turn amber in colour. Add butter and remove from flame. Whisk the butter well into the caramel. Then add cream and whisk until the mixture is homogenous. Finally add salt and mix thoroughly.
Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before pouring into jars. Ensure that the jars are free of moisture.
The sauce will stay well for a couple of months, if refrigerated. It can be drizzled on toast, fruits, desserts and ice cream to give them a salty-sweet dimension.
