Edible Diyas for Deepaavali

Got tired of the regular deepaavali sweets??. We get chcocolate bunnies during easter, make pumpkin cookies, worms in mud during halloween, ginger bread and christmas tree cookies during x'mas and when it comes to deepaavali tend to stick with traditional sweets / savories as we know them (yes the color and the shape has to be exact same as mom used to make them).

So while doing the traditional badam barfi to put in my sweet boxes to be distributed among friends, while kneeding the second half into the plate to be cut as diamonds, had a sudden flash of inspiration and added some food coloring and shaped them into diyas, our trademarks of deepaavali.

prepare the almond dough as for barfi. I usually follow:

Ingredients

200 gms. almonds, soaked, peeled
120 gms. sugar powdered

Method

Grind almonds to a very fine paste.
Mix sugar and almond paste, in a heavy pan.
Put to heat, cook, while stirring continuously.
Take care not to let it stick to bottom and burn.
Cook till a soft lump forms, and begins to leave sides of pan.
Take off fire, allow to cool till mixture is handlable.

here for barfi, i press the dough into a oiled (with butter) shallow tray and press some silver foil onto it. After letting it cool further, cut into diamond shapes.

To make diyas i used

few drops yellow food color

few drops red food color

divide the almond dough into 2 halves. Mix and knead yellow color into one half and red color into another half.

divide yellow almond dough into 4 parts. Use 3 parts to make yellow diyas and one part to make pea size balls to be flattened into red diyas. Do the same with red almond dough. Either use the back of the water melon scoop (small one) as a mold to make diya or make one free hand. Insert the contrast color and flatten. With thumb and fore finger make a slender noodle for the wick and press in the middle. Can use silver foil to give the additional sparkle for the festival.

Attaching some pictures taken by my son while i was making the edible diyas

some more pics

Dear Pushpa,

Wow a real visual treat indeed. Great idea. All those diyas look so good, i don't think i would have the heart to eat them.

Lot of effort on your part.

happy deepavali in advance.

vandhana

Dear Pushpa,

Wow!!! What a treat to the eyes. Loved them. So colorful, looks too good to eat them.
Happy Deepavali to you!!!

Pushpa,

wowwwww!!! loved ur diyas as its a real big treat watching them.

chusthu untenee kadupu nindi pothundhi.

Deepavali subhakankshalu.

Thanks for the nice sweets :)

Hi
wow really wonderful diyas.Eye catching too.very nice
vanisri

Very nice idea, Blondie!
Am going to try for our other festival called 'Kaarthigai Deepam" which falls on the Kartigai month of tamil calendar and on a full moon day. on that day we light the lamps and keep them in a row just like the way you showed.
I am going to do that then!
Thanks Blondie for the idea!

sriniketan

Hi blondie,


Cool one..idea is great...........

So thoughtful Blondie....The diyas look too good to eat! And I also like the way you have alternated the colors..very innovative..Yummy diyas indeed!

Have a lovely Deepawali!

L, Kamla

Wow! Wow! Wow!

What a visual delight those diyas were You certainly are an artist Blondie!