Food Holidays & Occasions Diwali Light Up Your Diwali Parties With Recipes From Padma Lakshmi and Maneet Chauhan Celebrate the festival of lights with samosas and sweets from some of our favorite chefs. By Chandra Ram Chandra Ram Chandra Ram leads the digital food strategy for Food & Wine. She has 15 years experience writing and editing food content and developing recipes. A former restaurant cook and server, she also writes cookbooks. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 25, 2024 Close Photo: Andria Lo Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, is the most significant holiday throughout India and the South Asian diaspora. The holiday celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, and celebrations lasts five days, during which time people decorate their homes, buy new clothes, exchange gifts, and gather with families and friends to enjoy a magnificent feast of savory and sweet treats. We've joined Hetal Vasavada, Maneet Chauhan, and Padma Lakshmi for their Diwali parties in the last few years, and have collected recipes from them and other chefs to celebrate vibrancy of this holiday with chaat, samosas, and other snacks; plus biryani, tandoori fish, Indian-style pizza, and of course, desserts and sweets to celebrate the occasion. 01 of 25 Pani Puri Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Pani puri is an Indian snack of crispy puffed bread filled with potato and spicy mint water. Using store-bought puri ensures it comes together easily. Get the Recipe 02 of 25 Mango Lassi Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne This sweet lassi is made with canned kesar mango purée and blended with the yogurt or buttermilk until smooth. A bit of lime juice balances the sweet mango and makes this a refreshing drink. Get the Recipe 03 of 25 Masala Nuts Matt Blair Maneet Chauhan seasons fried peanuts, cashews, almonds, and walnuts with a mix of spices, including mild Kashmiri chile powder and garam masala. The dusting of tart chaat masala after the nuts are fried makes them especially irresistible at a Diwali party. Get the Recipe 04 of 25 Aloo Samosas Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Annie Probst / Prop Styling by Gabe Greco F&W's Chandra Ram fills Punjabi-style samosas with cumin-spiced potatoes and peas and then bakes in a pastry wrapper that crisps and browns in the oven, eliminating the need to fry. Get the Recipe 05 of 25 Laal Maas (Rajasthani Goat Curry) Matt Blair Spicy goat curry meets sweet saffron rice in this holiday meal. Both Maneet Chauhan and her husband, Vivek Deora, grew up eating spicy goat curry. Chauhan created this recipe, which is Rajasthani in style, based on what Deora's mother made when he was a child for Diwali. Get the Recipe 06 of 25 Hash Brown Chaat Andria Lo Sweet, spiced apple butter chutney and an herbaceous green chutney, crunchy toppings, and plenty of spices and herbs make this potato-based snack, which blogger and cookbook author Hetal Vasavada serves at her Diwali celebration, a riot of texture and flavors that is so essential to chaat (a category of Indian cuisine that roughly means "snacks"). Get the Recipe 07 of 25 Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry) Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver This North Indian dish of mashed eggplant and tomatoes with ginger and spices is easy to make and perfect paired with roti or naan. get the recipe 08 of 25 Tandoori Chicken Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle This Indian chicken dish is popular throughout the world for the big flavor that comes from cooking chicken in a tandoor, the deep, urn-shaped clay oven. Legendary cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey adapted the recipe for a charcoal grill to make it accessible to home cooks. Get the Recipe 09 of 25 Boiled Peanut Chaat Victor Protasio Chef Vishwesh Bhatt's boiled peanut chaat is boiled with turmeric, ginger, garlic, and other spices to create a delicious and aromatic snack we can't stop eating. Get the Recipe 10 of 25 Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken) Food & Wine / Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Christina Daley This rich curry by F&W editor Chandra Ram features chicken coated in a rich, spiced tomato sauce and topped with toasted cashews. Best of all, it's ready in 35 minutes. get the recipe 11 of 25 Pista Burfi Bark Andria Lo Floral, fragrant cardamom shines in this rich and nutty dessert inspired by burfi (a type of fudgy, milk-based Indian sweet), so sourcing fresh, quality spices is a must. For her Diwali celebration, blogger and cookbook author Hetal Vasavada tops her bark with edible flowers and gold leaf for a stunning presentation. Get the Recipe 12 of 25 Chivda Photo by Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Popular during Diwali, this snack mix has many variations. Yamini Joshi's version, which she keeps on hand for visitors during the holiday, includes crispy rice flakes, nuts, shredded coconut, spices, seeds, raisins, and roasted split chickpeas. Fragrant from curry leaves, sour from ground dried pomegranate arils, and lightly smoky from black salt, it's a crunchy, chewy blend that's wonderful with hot chai. Get the Recipe 13 of 25 Tandoori Pomfret Matt Blair Pomfret or another light, flaky fish is seasoned with a spice-rice yogurt marinade and then broiled for a quick and flavorful supper. Maneet Chauhan calls pomfret a prized fish, noting that in India, it is one of the few freshwater fish that doesn't have a lot of bones. If you can't source pomfret, swap in sea bass, tilapia, or another light, flaky fish. Get the Recipe 14 of 25 Cardamom Shortbread Cookies with Dulce de Leche Peda Filling Andria Lo Adorned with edible flower petals and gold leaf, these spiced sandwich cookies, which blogger and cookbook author Hetal Vasavada makes for her Diwali celebration, are an occasion unto themselves. Get the Recipe 15 of 25 Cheesy Masala Corn Pizza Eva Kolenko / Food Styling by Natalie Drobny / Prop Styling by Nidia Cueva Tangy, sweet and spicy corn is paired with a wonderfully gooey mozzarella cheese sauce in this party-ready Indian pizza created by former F&W restaurant editor Khushbu Shah. Get the Recipe 16 of 25 Chicken Tikka Masala Samosas Matt Blair Creamy chicken tikka masala is the filling for these flaky samosas Maneet Chauhan created for her son, Karma, as part of her family's Diwali celebration. The ginger-garlic paste, tandoori masala, and garam masala spice blends give the chicken complex flavors, while the creamy tomato sauce adds richness. Get the Recipe 17 of 25 Mango Rasmalai Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen This creamy dessert by chef Vijay Kumar is spiked with cardamom and infused with a touch of floral saffron. Get the Recipe 18 of 25 Vegetable Biryani Food & Wine / Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling Aromatic basmati, ginger, spices, and paneer stud this classic Indian rice dish from F&W's Chandra Ram. Feel free to swap in seasonal vegetables for an easy dish that is ready in less than an hour. get the recipe 19 of 25 Chicken Samosas Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Tender, flaky dough is folded around a garam masala-spiced chicken filling and fried until golden and crisp in this classic samosa recipe from Vijay Kumar of Semma restaurant in New York City. Get the Recipe 20 of 25 Tempered Curry-Ginger Sweet Potatoes Antonis Achilleos Chef Samantha Fore of Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites in Lexington, Kentucky, learned to make this dish from her mother. She toasts whole spices like cumin and mustard seeds in hot oil to bring out their flavor and then pours the oil and spices over the sweet potatoes, which are ideal for soaking up the chile-and-spice-laden oil. get the recipe 21 of 25 Ombré Coconut Burfi Cake Andria Lo Underneath the purple-and-white ombré coat of sweetened coconut, cookbook author and blogger Hetal Vasavada's slim, tall layer cake is bound with a cloud-like layer of Swiss meringue buttercream. But the best part is the chewy coconut filling, inspired by burfi, a type of fudge-like, milk-based Indian sweet. Get the Recipe 22 of 25 Mango Lemonade Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen This non-alcoholic refresher from Vijay Kumar of Semma restaurant is easy to make, with vibrant, sweet mango pulp, tangy fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and bubbly club soda. Get the Recipe 23 of 25 Hare Mutter Ki Samosas (Green Pea Samosas) © Marcus Nilsson Sanjeev Chopra has advice for filling his delightful vegetarian samosas: "Mash the peas, but not too finely; you want little pieces, for texture." He makes his own buttery dough, but frozen empanada wrappers, widely available in supermarkets, are an excellent substitute. Get the Recipe 24 of 25 Spiced Pumpkin Lassi Marcus Nilsson For this thick and creamy pumpkin lassi from chef Rupam Bhagat of Dum in San Francisco, be sure to use a nice, healthy squash for a smooth texture and rich flavor. If you want a thinner consistency, add water gradually until it reaches your desired consistency. Get the Recipe 25 of 25 Crispy Turkey Kathi Rolls with Mint and Date Dipping Sauce © John Kernick Kathi rolls, a popular street food in India, are made by rolling vegetables or meat in roti, an Indian flat bread. In her fabulous take on the recipe, Padma Lakshmi wraps flour tortillas around a succulent filling of ground turkey, fresh ginger, curry and basil, then pan-fries the rolls until crispy for decadent hors d'oeuvres that can be eaten as finger food. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit