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Festival foods
Every festival has its dishes, and in most families the cooking is the observance — days of it, done together, with the eating almost an afterthought.
| Festival | What's made |
|---|---|
| Diwali | Boxes of mithai — ladoo, barfi, kaju katli — plus savoury namkeen: chakli, sev, mathri. Made at home over several days and given away in quantity. See sweets explained |
| Holi | Gujiya — sweet stuffed pastry — and thandai, a spiced cold milk drink |
| Onam | The sadya: two dozen or more vegetarian dishes served on a banana leaf in a fixed order, ending with payasam |
| Pongal / Sankranti | Sweet pongal — rice and jaggery cooked until it boils over, which is the point: overflowing means abundance |
| Eid | Sheer khurma — vermicelli in milk with dates and nuts — plus biryani and haleem |
| Ganesh Chaturthi | Modak — steamed dumplings of rice flour filled with coconut and jaggery; Ganesha's favourite |
| Janmashtami | Milk sweets and butter, for Krishna |
| Navratri | Fasting food — see vrat |
If you're invited
Take sweets, eat more than you want, and say which dish you liked by name. And if someone offers to teach you to fold modak or shape ladoos, say yes — that's the actual invitation.
See the festival year for what falls when.
Last updated: 2026-08-11
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