Chocolate Diya Sandesh: Diwali Special Sweet

Today’s post is all about Diwali festival and Indian Sweets. First let me give you some brief information regarding Diwali. Diwali is one of the biggest Hindu festivals which are celebrated throughout India. It is a five day long festival, starting from Dhanteras and ending with Bhai Dooj.

Traditionally Diwali is also celebrated in many other countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal, Myanmar, Fiji, and Mauritius. These days Indians from countries like USA, UK are also celebrates Diwali in their own ways. During Diwali Kali Puja(Worship of Goddess Kali) is celebrated in Eastern parts of India like West Bengal, Assam etc

Like all other Hindu festivals Diwali is also a family oriented celebration which is performed with traditional rituals in most of the Hindu families. Diwali is a festival of colors and lights. Traditionally people used to lighten oil filled small clay lamps and used to keep these lamps around the house.

Rangoli at entrance of my place

These earthen lamps are called ‘diya’. These ‘diyas’ are still used to decorate entire home and family members keep pouring oil in these ‘diyas’time to time so that they can be kept on all night long.

Rangoli at my drawing room

After lighting the ‘diyas’ it comes to the colorful part of Diwali, ‘rangoli’. ‘Rangoli’ is another way to greet the guests with a warm welcome in Hindu households. It is nothing but beautiful patterns made with bright colors on the ground. Sometimes colorful flowers or other materials are also used to create ‘rangoli’.During Diwali people decorate their front yards, drawing rooms or near the main entrance of the house with ‘rangoli’.

Colorful Rangoli before Lighting the diyas

Another exciting part of Diwali is firecrackers. Traditionally firecrackers and ‘diyas’were used to keep the evil power away from home. But these days it has become almost a fashion on Diwali to decorate home with ‘rangoli’ & ‘diya’ and burst various firecrackers together with all family members and friends.

Firecrackers at my balcony

Firecrackers at my balcony

Finally last but the most important part of Diwali is sweets and savory snacks without which no festival will be complete. But we Indians are so choosy that we need fresh and new sweets on each occasion. Like previous year I prepared Komolabhogon Dussehra and Choco Mawa Roll on Diwali. But this year they became already ‘too old to have’ on occasions (sad me!) for my family.

I had to prepare Angoori Rabri for Dussehra and now for Diwali my magical entry with Chocolate Diya. These cute ‘diya’ shaped sweets are made of homemade Khoya/Mawa and cocoa powder for the chocolaty flavor. “OMG! They are just too adorable to gulp down” this was the instant words of a friend’s mom when I gave her a box of these Chocolate Diyas on Diwali. And she just made my day!

Here is your chance to surprise your loved ones with these Chocolate Diya or Chocolate Sandesh. Go through the recipe and try out your own versions too.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

Resting time: 00 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Yield: 12-14 medium sized ‘diya’ sandesh

Ingredients:

Finely grated khoya/mawa: 500g (homemadeor store bought)

Condensed milk: ¼ cup (or approx. equal amount sugar)

Cocoa powder: 2 tsp

Yellow food color: 1-2 drops

Warm milk: 4-5 tsp (for kneading, if needed)

Clarified butter (or ghee): 1 tbsp (optional)

For Garnishing:

Glazed Cherry

Preparation:

You can use either homemadeor store bought khoya/mawafor this recipe but remember the khoya/mawa needs to be fresh and moist but definitely not watery or dry. If you are using store bought khoya/mawamake sure you grate it finely.

Take the mawa or khoya in a large non-stick pan. Switch on the flame and keep it on simmer. Place the pan on flame. Keep stirring continuously. Don’t stop stirring in between otherwise khoya will stick at the bottom and it will give the smoky flavor to the dish which is the least thing you want for your dessert.

Pour the sugar over grated khoya. Mix sugar with khoya as much as possible with a ladle. Quickly it will start becoming like liquid milk. Don’t panic. Keep stirring on slow flame.

After 3-4 mins it will start to thicken. This is the crucial moment. Don’t stop stirring now. Within a few more minutes you will notice khoya is not sticking to the pan and it is forming a smooth lump. (See Tips)

This is the time to switch off the flame and keep the mixture in the pan itself to cool down completely.

Once the mixture is cool knead well to make smooth dough. If you feel your dough is too dry add 1-2 tsp of warm milk. If you find the dough is not tight enough, apply 1 drop of ghee on your palms and continue kneading. (See Tips)

Now make two separate portion of the entire dough in 4:1 ratio. Meaning, in one portion keep 1/4^th of the dough and in other portion keep rest 3/4^thof the dough. While working on one portion keep the other portion covered with plastic. (See Tips)

Mix cocoa powder in the larger portion (i.e. 3/4^th portion of the dough) and yellow food color in rest 1/4^th portion of the dough.

Grease your palms with clarified butter or ghee and take 2 tbsp of chocolate dough in your palm. Roll it between your palms and give it a shape of circular disc.

Cut out the middle portion of the chocolate dough disc by using a tear-drop cookie cutter. Now gently press the edge by your fingers and give it a shape of ‘diya’. Do the same with rest of the dough. Keep all chocolate ‘diyas’ in a wide palate separately. Don’t overlap them, otherwise ‘diyas’ will fall apart. (See Tips)

Now start working with the yellow dough. Take 1 tsp of the dough in your palm & gently press it to give it a shape of small tear-drop. Now carefully place the yellow tear-drop inside the chocolate ‘diya’.Make sure yellow tear-drop is smaller in size than chocolate ‘diya’. Follow the same with the rest of the yellow dough. (See Tips)

Place the glazed cherry on the pointed edge and press gently to set it properly. Chocolate Diya or Chocolate Sandesh is all set to be served fresh. It tastes best when served at room temperature. Arrange the excess Chocolate Diya or Chocolate Sandesh in airtight container and refrigerate. They will be fresh up to 6-7 days. But always bring them to room temperature before serving.

Tips:

1. The entire process of cooking of khoya will take 6-10mins maximum for 500 gms. khoya.

2. While kneading the khoya you may feel grains in between your fingers and palm. Don’t be afraid. It can happen due to over cooking of the khoya. Just keep kneading the khoya with little pressure and keep mixing 1-2 tsp of warm milk. After a while you will feel smooth grain free dough.

3. If you leave the dough open in air while you are kneading the other one, it will lose its moisture and will become too dry to handle. So never keep the dough in open air for long time.

4. if you think you will need more than 5 mins to prepare the yellow dough, cover the chocolate ‘diyas’ with cling film (make sure they don’t touch each other); otherwise chocolate ‘diyas’ will harden before you can arrange the filling.

5. You can also use a smaller size tear-drop cookie cutter.