As the festival of lights takes away darkness from our lives, it is a time to celebrate. In the city of food lovers, no celebration is complete without good food and get-togethers. We have collected traditional and fun recipes that you can wow your guests with. In addition to preparing these savoury treats, remember to garnish with chutney and accompany it with fresh fruit juice and buttermilk to balance brunch.
Crispy Ribbon Pakoda
Pakkavada or ribbon pakoda is a traditional recipe prepared in Kerala. In addition to chakli that is prepared for guests on Diwali, Pakkavada is a surprise dish loved by children and adults. Sharing the brief recipe of Pakkavada, food enthusiast Shari Nair said, “Pakkavada is an easy to make dish that we can prepare even in morning for serving our guests.” The dough is prepared in two parts.
First, one has to prepare liquid blend using onion, garlic, curry leaves and water. “Dry roast gram and rice flour for 3 to 5 minutes and then combine the roasted flour with liquid blend and pepper, salt and asafoetida to form dough,” Shari said. This dough is used to make fried pakoda using idiyappam maker or seva press.
Sandwich bread pakoda
Adding a twist to normal stuffed bread pakoda, hobby chef DP Shrivastava takes it a step ahead with three-layered pakoda. The delicious recipe is sure to add flavours to your Diwali platter.

DP Shrivastava
To prepare it, you have to first prepare a proper three-layer club sandwich using chutney, mayonnaise, mustard sauce, mashed potatoes and some veggies. The club sandwich is dipped in gram flour paste and fried.
Grilled delicacy
To load up on proteins, this delicacy is perfect for vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Bringing traditional flavours of Punjab, connoisseur Bindia Sharma shared a traditional recipe. “Seekh kebab recipe can be made using meat or veggies or soybean, depending upon the choice,” she said. It is mostly suggested to prepare them using a protein source like soybean for vegetarians. “Stir fry vegetables and par-cook beans and potatoes,” Bindia said.

Bindia Sharma
Meat and beans must be marinated for a couple of hours using gram flour, garlic, ginger, salt and black pepper. “Add bread crumbs, combine well and give the mixture shape of long tubes on the skewers,” Bindia said. Cook the mixture on grill and serve with rice or as snack.