Landi Govender of

When she was growing up in Durban, Landi would often help her mom, Yvonne, prep in the kitchen up to a week before Diwali, making family favourites including cheesy jalapeño half-moons with mint chutney, mini pizzas topped with sweet peppers in a home-made tikka sauce with paneer, and biryani – always paired with tall glasses of lassi blitzed using seasonal fruit and pistachios. “On the day, we got dressed up and visited family, sharing everything we had made,” she says. Now that Landi has her own family, there will be sweet treats aplenty for her husband Uveshan, kids Osten and Satara and, most importantly, herself. “I could – and probably have – eaten my body weight in chana magaj, a delicious Indian fudge made with chickpea flour and ghee!” Landi’s pro tip: “The trick to perfectly shaped jalebis (sweet treats made by deep-frying fermented batter in spirals before soaking in a spiced syrup) is pouring your batter into a squeeze bottle before frying. You’ll get perfectly crispy and even jalebis every time.” chickpea flour icing sugar roasted, unsalted pistachios full-cream milk powder freshly ground cardamom pistachios

1 Line a 23 cm square cake tin with baking paper and set aside. 2 Place the ghee and