Tips for an epic Diwali feast

tabloid! gets all the tips from top chefs on how to have an epic Diwali feast, without the stress

Who doesn’t love the festivities, the feasts and those intimate moments with family that form the essence of Diwali?

Yet, behind that Insta-ready table of treats during the Indian festival lies a culinary undertaking that requires days of prep and military precision. Planning a Diwali menu is often a test in patience, deft workmanship and a little bit of magic, some would say.

tabloid! decided to lend a little hand with at least the first two in the criteria with help from some of the top chefs in the business — celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, the genius behind the Tresind and Carnival brands, chef Himanshu Saini, and chef Ashish Kumar, the man behind the funky homegrown Moombai & Co restaurant.

PREP, PREP, PREP

Kapoor says that while food is an integral part of Diwali celebrations, “spending quality time with your loved ones is more important.”

“Don’t try to overdo things, keep your menu simple and prep in advance so you can enjoy these precious, celebratory moments with family,” he says.

Kumar agrees. “When hosting family and friends for Diwali one must start to prepare at least a week in advance,” he suggests, adding that at least a few desserts and snacks should be prepared two or three days before the gathering to keep things on track for the main day.

However, there’s only so much you can prep in advance, so do clear out those diaries for a morning of furious cooking. “The cooking should only happen on the same day,” stresses Saini. “The preparations can happen a day in advance but cooking should be on same day as one should keep everything fresh.”

WHAT’S COOKING?

Don’t leave it until the last minute to plan what your Diwali feast needs to incorporate.

“[The menu] would depend upon what the occasion is and who the guests are, but contemporary Indian food always works at a dinner party. Just make sure you keep the menu fresh, easy to eat, pleasing to the eye and of course flavoursome,” suggests Kapoor.

“The most fool proof way is to pick dishes that you are familiar with and comfortable cooking. Since you are catering to a large

party, it also makes sense to pick dishes which can be prepped in advance and just heated through or presented in time when your guests arrive. I also suggest focusing more on serving up a variety of starters and limiting the number of main course dishes,” he added.

To keep the menu varied and not have you sprinting into the kitchen every few minutes, Moombai & Co’s chef Kumar suggests adding a lot of light snacks to the menu.

“Add on more savouries like bhel mix, chivda mix, dry gujjias, namak paare, besan sev, mathri etc,” he advises.

Those looking for weighty starters to add to their list of dishes, Saini has his menu ready at hand. “First, you have to have samosas and kachoris for snacks/starters as well as dahi bhalla, to have a range of temperatures before digging into the main courses,” he suggests. “For the main course, it would have to be aloo puri and pulao with raita. And to finish the feast off, desserts like gulab jamun and jalebi would be perfect.”

If time is a constraint then stick to desserts that can be easily made such as kheer, halwa and some ice cream.

IS THERE TIME FOR PRESENTATION?

“When hosting for dinner for 15 or more... presentation might take a backseat, especially when [cooking] at home because of the timing insufficiency,” says Kumar. “However, I feel if every dish and dessert is made with all the flavours intact, laced with all proper spices, cooked well to perfection even this simplicity can win a lot of awe and appreciation.”

Saini adds that people should go all out only if there is time. “The presentation should be secondary, one should concentrate on the taste of the dish,” he says.

COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID

Both Saini and Kumar advise going easy on the stomach lining.

“I would say that often people use way too much fried and oily dishes, which eventually will become too much. We are human after all,” says Saini.

“I feel the most common mistakes one makes while planning a Diwali menu is adding lots of heavy dishes to it especially in the main section,” adds Kumar. “What I feel is Diwali is much of a festival where people would snack more than stuffing heavily post just one dish. Stuffing just one heavy dish and sloshing on the couch is not one would like to do on Diwali.”