Happy Diwali!!

Wishing Everyone A Very Happy Diwali! 

Diwali is the Indian festival of lights, when people decorate their porches with colorful rangolis (colored chalk designs) and tons of little dias (petal-shaped oil lamps). Friends and family celebrate by lighting firecrackers and exchanging sweets. 

I am not biggest fan of Indian sweets, but I remember my mom making us Indian almond butter cookies (Nankhatai) when I was little. I decided to make them in the shape of dias with little almond flames. I asked my mom for the recipe, but had to modify since I didn't have all of the ingredients. 

Ingredients (makes ~18 small cookies):

1 cup white flour

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour (or chickpea flour)

2 tbsp cream of wheat

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter--melted (or ghee)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cardamom powder (I used clove powder as I didn't have cardamom)

3 tbsp milk

a handful of whole almonds

Whip together the butter and sugar using an electric beater until creamy. Add the flour, cream of wheat, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and milk and knead into a soft dough. Roll into even balls, flatten, and pinch into teardrop shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet (cookies will expand so leave space between them). Refrigerate for a few minutes so cookies keep their shape while baking. Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 15min. Take the cookies out, insert the almonds, and gently reshape any misshapen cookies. Bake for another 5-10 minutes until slightly browned. Enjoy!

And in the spirit of Diwali, I thought I would do a throwback to my favorite rangoli. Can you believe it has already been an year and a half?!