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Diwali, widely known as the festival of lights, symbolizes the victory of positivity over negativity. It stands as the most widely marked celebration across India and feels a bit like Christmas in the west. Diwali is characterized by pyrotechnic displays, brilliant shades, continuous festivities and countertops straining under the immense load of culinary delights and sweets. No Diwali is complete without containers of mithai and dehydrated fruits exchanged between friends and family. Across the United Kingdom, we keep those traditions alive, dressing up, visiting temples, sharing tales from Indian lore to the little ones and, crucially, meeting with companions from every background and religion. In my view, Diwali is about unity and offering dishes that appears unique, but doesn’t require you in the culinary space for long durations. The bread pudding is my interpretation of the decadent shahi tukda, while the spherical sweets are perfect to gift or to relish with a hot tea after the feast.

Simple Ladoos (Featured at the Top)

Ladoos are some of the most famous Indian confections, comparable to gulab jamuns and jalebis. Picture an Indian halwai’s shop overflowing with confectioneries of all forms, hue and dimension, all expertly crafted and liberally topped with traditional butter. Ladoos commonly hold centre stage, rendering them a favored option of offering for propitious moments or for presenting to divine figures at places of worship. This version is among the easiest, requiring just a handful of ingredients, and is ready quickly.

Prep a brief 10 minutes
Cook 50 minutes plus chilling
Makes approximately 15-20

110 grams of ghee
250 grams of gram flour
1/4 teaspoon of ground green cardamom
a small amount of saffron (optional)
2 ounces of assorted nuts, heated and broken into pieces
180 to 200 grams of granulated sugar, according to preference

Heat the ghee in a Teflon-coated pan on a medium heat. Reduce the temperature, incorporate the gram flour and cook, stirring constantly to blend it with the heated clarified butter and to make sure it doesn’t catch and burn. Continue heating and mixing for 30 to 35 minutes. Initially, the mix will resemble moist granules, but with further heating and mixing, it will transform into a peanut butter-like texture and smell wonderfully nutty. Avoid hurrying the process, or walk away from the blend, because it may scorch quickly, and the slow roast is critical for the typical, roasted flavor of the ladoos.

Turn off the heat and take the pan, stir in the cardamom and saffron, if using, then set aside to cool until slightly warm when touched.

Add the nuts and sugar to the cooled ladoo mixture, stir completely, then pull apart little portions and shape with your hands into 15-20 x 4cm balls. Set these on a platter spaced slightly apart and let them cool to ambient temperature.

These are ready to be enjoyed the ladoos right away, or keep them in a sealed container and maintain at room temperature for up to a week.

Classic Indian Bread Pudding

This is inspired by Hyderabadi shahi tukda, a recipe that is usually prepared by frying bread in ghee, then immersing it in a dense, creamy rabdi, which is made by boiling whole milk for hours until it reduces to a reduced quantity from the start. My version is a more nutritious, simpler and faster option that requires a lot less tending to and lets the oven do all the heavy lifting.

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 1 hour or more
Serves 4-6

Twelve slices stale white bread, crusts removed
100g ghee, or liquid butter
1 liter of whole milk
A 397-gram tin condensed milk
150g sugar, or as preferred
a pinch of saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp milk
a quarter teaspoon of cardamom powder, or the contents of 2 pods, ground
¼ tsp ground nutmeg (as an option)
1.5 ounces of almonds, roughly chopped
40g raisins

Cut the bread into triangles, coat nearly all but a spoonful of the ghee on both faces of each piece, then arrange the triangles as they fall in a greased, about 8x12 inches, oblong baking pan.

Using a big bowl, beat the milk, thick milk and sweetener until the sweetener incorporates, then blend the saffron and the liquid it steeped in, the cardamom and nutmeg, if added. Empty the milk combination evenly over the bread in the dish, so each piece is saturated, then leave to steep for a short while. Set the oven temperature to 200°C (180°C fan)/390°F/gas mark 6.

Cook the pudding for 30 to 35 minutes, until the surface is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre exits without residue.

At the same time, heat the leftover ghee in a little pot over medium heat, then cook the almonds until golden brown. Extinguish the flame, mix in the raisins and allow them to heat in the leftover temperature, stirring constantly, for one minute. Scatter the nut and raisin combination over the sweet dish and offer heated or cooled, plain as it is or accompanied by vanilla ice-cream.