Diwali sweets recipes 2022: Pumpkin barfi to karela pak, try these unique sweets

Diwali, the festival of lights is just a few days away. Sweets or Diwali ki mithai is an intergral part of the celebrations and it is considered auspicious to prepare it at home or buy it from shops and share it with your relatives. Markets all across the country are decked up with all varieties of sweets right now from rasgulla, gulab jamun, kaju katli, kalakand, rasmalai, cham cham, mysore pak sandesh, besan ke laddoo, balushahi, batashe, khilone to name a few. While we love to indulge in all the delicious Diwali delights during this time of the year, we also feel guilty of ruining our diet plans and overburdening our digestive system with high-calorie foods. So here’re some low-calorie Diwali sweets made with healthy ingredients to relish on the festival. (Also read: Diwali 2022: Traditional dishes you must try this festive season)

1. Sitaphal Barfi

Ingredients

Sitaphal (pumpkin) – 500gm

Sugar – 250 gm

Mawa (Khoya) – 150gm

Cardamom powder – 5gm

Water – 250ml

Desi ghee – 100gm

Sliver leaf – 05nos

(Also read: Diwali 2022: Here’s how Deepawali is celebrated in different parts of India)

Method:

• Firstly rinse, peel and grate the pumpkin. Heat ghee in a heavy pan on medium flame.

• Add the grated pumpkin and mix well with the ghee. Cook pumpkin on medium flame. Continue to stir until the moisture dried. Add sugar and sauté continues until pumpkin turn thick. Add khoya, cardamom powder and desi ghee and mix well. Before transfer the mixture into the greased tray switch off the flame

• Set a block of desired thickness and level the mixture. Now top with silver leaf and press slightly. And keep it in fridge for 30 minutes to let barfi set, cut into diamond shape or of your choice, garnish, serve and enjoy!

2. Pista Barfi

Ingredients

Green Pista – 500gm

Sugar – 250gm

Mawa (Khoya) – 150gm

Cardamom powder – 5gm

Water – 250ml

Desi ghee – 100gm

Sliver leaf – 5

Method:

• Soak the pistachios in warm water for about 30 minutes. Drain the water and remove the skin. Blend pistachio in a mixer grinder to make a smooth paste. Now prepare sugar syrup by adding sugar in the water on low flame and make thick syrup

• Add the pista paste in to the sugar syrup and keep stirring. Add khoya, cardamom powder and cook on low flame till it forms thick paste. Once the mixture begins to boil, add desi ghee and mix well. Before transferring the mixture into the greased tray switch off the flame

• Set a block of desired thickness and level the mixture. Now top with silver leaf. And rest for 30 minutes, cut into pieces, garnish and enjoy!

3. Karela Pak

Ingredients

Karela (Bittergourd) – 500gm

Sugar – 200gm

Mawa (Khoya) – 300gm

Cardamom powder – 5gm

Water – 200ml

Almonds – 50gm

Raisins – 50gm

Cashew nut – 50gm

Method:

• Wash and peel the karela. Slightly slit the karela at the center and scoop out the seeds, keep aside. Put some water in a pan and bring it to boil. Once the water starts boiling, add karela and boil on medium high flame till it becomes soft.

• Once karela becomes soft, take out from the water and put into the cold water and let the karela soak in with water for half an hour to get the bitter taste off.

• Put water and sugar in a pan and boil for 10 minutes on medium-high flame. Once sugar syrup gets cooked then add karela and boil it for 15 minutes with sugar syrup then cover the lid and let the karela soak in hot sugar syrup for an hour so it will become sweet.

• Meanwhile prepare khoya mixture; in a mixing bowl, put mawa and add all chopped nuts, cardamom powder and mix until well combined. Khoya mixture is ready.

• Now take out the karela from sugar syrup in a strainer so that excess syrup drips off. Then take the mawa mixture and stuff all karela. Cut into pieces, garnish with nuts and serve

(Recipes by Chef Swapnadeep Mukherjee, Executive Chef, The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa)