Quick Diwali Sweets and Snacks in 20 Minutes
Six Diwali sweets and snacks that take 20 minutes or less, with quick swaps for the classics and a one-hour weeknight plan.
By Cuisine
Indian
Indian recipes for home cooks everywhere: restaurant favourites like butter chicken, biryani, tikka masala and samosas, everyday dals and curries, festival sweets and the chutneys that go with them. Every recipe lists swaps for ingredients outside India.
10-Minute Masala Makhana
Masala makhana is a light, crunchy snack made by roasting fox nuts (lotus seeds) and tossing them with ghee and spices. It replaces deep-fried snacks on the Diwali…
10-Minute Cornflakes Chivda
Cornflakes chivda gives you the crunch of a Diwali snack tin without roasting poha: plain cornflakes are already crisp, so they only need a quick toss with peanuts,…
No-Cook Date and Nut Ladoo
These date and nut ladoo need no stove and no added sugar: soft dates and toasted nuts are blitzed together and rolled. They take about 10 minutes, keep for two weeks in…
20-Minute Rava Coconut Ladoo
Rava coconut ladoo are a quick stand-in for besan ladoo: semolina takes about 6 minutes to roast instead of 25, and coconut keeps them soft and fragrant. From pan to…
Quick Paneer Kalakand
Kalakand is a soft, grainy milk cake that traditionally takes hours of simmering milk. This quick version uses…
15-Minute Milk Powder Barfi
Milk powder barfi tastes like a classic khoya barfi but skips the hours of reducing milk. Milk powder, ghee, milk and sugar come together in one pan in about 10 minutes,…
Diwali Faral List and Make-Ahead Guide (2026)
Five traditional Diwali sweets and snacks, a day-by-day make-ahead plan for Diwali 2026, shelf-life tables and easy swaps for busy weeks.
Roasted Poha Chivda
Poha chivda is the savoury half of the Diwali snack tin: thin flattened rice roasted until crisp, then tossed with peanuts, curry leaves, coconut and a little sugar.…
Shakarpara (Fried or Air Fryer)
Shakarpara are small, crisp diamonds of lightly sweet dough, a tea-time staple of the Diwali snack tin. The sugar goes into the dough, so they need no syrup. This recipe…