EDIBLE DIYAS

DIYA KI MITHAI

: every whereEdited: Diya means lamp in English.

HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL IN ADVANCE

To make these diyas no cooking or baking is required. These are edible diyas, can be made at home and can be distributed to friends and other family members at the time of diwali. The word Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word Deepawali meaning row of lamps. On this day people light up their houses with lines of diyeverywhere (lamps) in the front, back, on the stairs, balcony and of course in a small temple inside the house where they worship.

Diwali is a festival of light, joy and happiness. Hindus celebrate this festival as good over evil and light over darkness. Even few days before diwali, every body is in a mood of celebration and do a lot of preparations of buying new clothes, sweets and gifts etc. The religious significance is that, this day Lord Rama came back to Ayodhya after killing many demons including ravana, so every house was lit with lamps to honour their king and to show their joy.

Prier to the festival people make lots of savory and sweet dishes to offer to Lord Ganesha, who removes all the evil in your life and Goddess Laxmi, who gives all wealth and prosperity. After the puja there is a family feast and distribution of sweets to friends and extended family. For children the main attraction after the puja is fireworks.

In my long stay in Africa, where Indian population was low, no Indian sweets were available. On this festival I was making lots of sweet and savoury dishes and distributing to all my friends, they were reciprocating with the sweets they had made.. That's how me and my family have enjoyed our festival days and were celebrating diwali at home (in Africa) away from home (India).

My daughter made these diyas many years ago. A few days back, it came in my mind that this is a good time to make these diyas, when diwali is just round the corner. Then I asked her if she can help me, as she is very creative in doing things. I learnt many creative things from my daughter, and I am very proud of it because I believe that your children can even teach you good things in life. I remember a few years back I was watching a contest of Miss world. The winning question amongst the five finalist was, “What can you learn from children?”. The winner answered, “We can learn unconditional love from children”. It means you can learn any thing from any body.

To make them, you just need to assemble the ingredients and give the shape of a diya.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 200 grams almond powder
• 200 grams fine coconut powder
• 300 ml sweetened condensed milk
• 50 grams Nesquik /Milo chocolate powder
• 10-15 lengthwise slices almonds

Method

• Mix coconut powder and almond powder nicely.
• Add little condense milk, mix well, then add little more till you find nice consistency to mold and give shape of a diya.
• Keep a small amount of it aside for the middle part of diya.
• Add chocolate powder and mix well to the rest of it.
• Make small bite size diyas, pinch a small amount of white mixture, flatten it lightly and put it in the middle of a diya.
• Put one slices almond on the side of a diya.

           30-35 diyas can be made depending on the size

This recipe I am sending as my blog entry for Showcase-Your-Talent event, and for The Hearth and Soul Hop, and with Inspire me monday.