From the crunchy mathris to the sweet shakar pare, Punjabi cuisine has a lot in store when it comes to traditional Diwali treats. Being the most awaited festival of the year, Diwali calls for traditional treats made across the country to make your festivities utterly special. With each diverse region adding its unique touch, the festive flavours of Diwali are unmatchable.
If you're interested in exploring the authentic cuisines of different parts of India, you’re at the right place. Known for its bold flavours and rich ingredients, Punjab offers some celebrated snacks and sweets that mark the festive season. Here are some of the best Punjabi treats that are truly the essence of Diwali. Why don’t you try to make them at your home?
Mathri
In a typical Punjabi household, the festive season is marked by making and indulging in crispy mathri ahead of Diwali. The tea-time snack can be made by kneading dough with maida, warm water, spices like ajwain (carom seeds), black pepper, and some salt. By rolling small portions of the dough, you can deep-fry to get crispy mathri.
Namak Para
Namak Para is another Punjabi go-to treat that is relished during the Diwali season. Since it has a long shelf life, namak para is made in large batches to serve and gift to friends and family. If you want to make it at home, you can knead a similar dough like mathri with maida, salt, and ajwain. After rolling the dough, you can cut small diamond-shaped pieces and then deep-fry them. The crunchy treats are a must in Punjabi families to start off the festivities.
Shakar Para
Taking namak para to the next level, you can make its sweet cousin, shakar para. The process to make shakar para is almost similar to that of namak para. All you need to do is let the fried namak paras cool down and prepare chaashni (sugar syrup). Once cooled, you can transfer the crispy namak para to the sugar syrup and coat each diamond piece. Finally, you’ll get a crispy sweet treat to enjoy Diwali the traditional way.
Atta Halwa
No Punjabi festivity is complete without making atta halwa. Also popularly known as kadha parshad, which is prepared in Gurudwaras, atta halwa can be made to make the most of your Diwali preparations. To make it at home, you just need the basic kitchen ingredients like whole wheat flour, sugar, and ghee. Cook the ingredients together while mixing the contents to avoid any lumps or uncooked flour at the bottom of the pan. Once you’re done, garnish with chopped dry fruits and serve.
Pinni
Pinni is a traditional Punjabi dish that will definitely remind you of your grandmother, who used to pack these in a box for a casual dessert, especially on occasions when you had the flu. It is a very easy-to-make dessert as well. All you need is wheat flour, ghee, sugar, dry fruits and nuts, and jaggery powder. Just add sugar, dry fruits and jaggery into an electronic mixer and grind to make a powder form. Next, take a pot and add some ghee. Introduce the powder you just made and cook it until it turns golden. Simultaneously, add wheat flour and ghee and cook until you get a uniform mixture. Then, add both the contents together, mix well, and give the mixture the shape of a sphere or cubes as per your liking and dig in.