As is fairly typical with me, I've kept all my Deepavali preparation to the last minute 😛 Somehow this always happens unlike with Christmas where I plan, prep and execute tasks/activities days or sometimes even weeks in advance. 

We just got back from a fantastic family holiday less than a week ago (more on that in my next blog post). Immediately after getting back I was swamped with work along with assisting to complete a mountain of the kids pending school work. It is only yesterday that I finished the last batch of the laundry (a beach holiday means there is sand just about everywhere!). The suitcases went into the attic yesterday as well so I only started feeling a sense of normalcy from this morning.

I had not really thought about what I'm going to cook for Deepavali. We love celebrating this sparkling festival of lights and the childhood nostalgia around Deepavali cements a special place in my heart so I wasn't looking to make excuses to slack off. I quickly picked two traditional sweets to cook and for the savoury, I decided to stick with my favourite Masala Vada. The lunch and dinner menu is going to be quite simple this year as we don't have many guests visiting during the long weekend. 

The first traditional sweet dish I made was these Coconut and Dry Fruit and Nut Ladoos and they turned out much better than I expected. I made them with grated fresh coconut, organic jaggery, ghee, mixed nuts, raisins, poppy seeds and cardamom. With no milk, cream or refined sugar, this ladoo is lighter than your typically rich and often cloyingly sweet Indian dessert. 

For me, one of the advantages of living in Singapore is the easy availability of grated fresh coconut. I can get coconut grated on the spot every morning and all it takes is a 3-minute walk to the vegetable market opposite my condo. It is fresh and moist and can be directly used in savoury and sweet dishes. Let me tell you that not having to grate the coconut from scratch means this sweet dish comes together really quickly. You can make these ladoos with dessicated coconut but it just isn't the same. 

The ladoos held their shape beautifully, had a mellow sweetness from the jaggery and great texture from the coconut and nuts. The kids gave their stamp of approval as well so I was very pleased with the outcome. 

This recipe is a keeper and I'll be definitely making these ladoos many more times in the future. I hope you try these ladoos folks. I can guarantee that you will love them.