9 Sweet Recipes for Tihar That You Can Make at Home

Tihar is an important festival in Nepal and just like any important festival in Nepal, it has its own special set of Dishes. Not so strangely, these recipes also contain a lot of sweets. Although some are a bit less sweet than others, they are considered sweets and are consumed like sweets. While that is being said there are quite a few sweets which although eaten generally, get a special place in Tihar and here we are going to give you the recipe of a few of them. 

1. Sel Roti

We all know what a Sel Roti is. It is not a rare sweet nor does it have any special value in our daily life. But when it comes to Tihar, this sweet dish gets a special place as it is taken as one of the main dishes during Tihar. 

Ingredients 

• 2 cup uncooked rice
• 3 tablespoon sugar
• 3 tablespoon Ghee
• Half a cup of milk
• 2 tablespoon of rice flour to thicken batter

Method

• The first thing that you have to do is to soak the rice for 10-12 hours. 
• Drain the water from the rice and rinse it once. 
• Grind the rice along with 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of Ghee. It is best to use a mixer grinder for this but if you do not have it the traditional mechanical grinder will also do the job.
• Grind till the mixture becomes a thick paste. 
• In this process, the batter will be too thin and liquidy to make anything so in order to make it workable, add the 2 tablespoons of rice flour. 
• Grab a plastic or a paper bag and make a cone. 
• Cut the tip of the cone and till in the bag with the batter. 
• Heat the pan and pour vegetable oil till it is around an inch deep. 
• After the oil is heated turn the batter into a ring shape while piping it through the cone. 
• Fry till golden brown. 

2. Lakhamari

This sweet is somewhat of an infamous dish among the Newari community and also an important one as well. It is infamous as it is very hard to bite but once you are able to bite this dish, it tastes sugary and savory at the same time. This is also one of the most important sweets for a lot of communities in Tihar as well. 

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Ingredients 

•  1 kilogram of Taichin Rice Flour
• 400 grams of Ghee
• Half Kilogram of Black Lentil
• Chasni/Liquid Sugar as required
• Oil
• Water

Method

• Soak the rice grains in the water for 24 hours and let them dry for 12 hours. Grind the rice grains which have been dried overnight. 
• For the black lentil, you follow the same process which is soaking them for a day and drying them before grinding them.
• Remove the covers before grinding but that will be easy after you have dried. 
• Grab a bucket and make a paste out of the lentil by mixing water as required. After you have formed the paste, add in the rice flour and Ghee as well. 
• Stir them well for a while to make the batter. 
• Cover this batter with a cloth but leave some holes for the air to pass. 
• Heat some oil and put the paste in the hot pool and form patterns. Usually, the patterns are similar to the Mandalas but there is no rule so you can make them as you wish. 
• After the batter has been half-cooked, transfer it to another pan and deep fry it until golden brown. 
• Brush the Chasni on the fried Dish. Let it cool down for the Chasni to harden and then your Lakhamari will be ready. 

3. Rasbari

Rasbari is a dish that most of you may be familiar with. This is one of the most popular sweets in Nepal. This is especially popular during the time of Tihar. It is also fairly easy to recognize this sweet dish as it is simple yet delicious. It looks like a juicy and sweet ball of milk which is true to some extent. 

Ingredients 

• 2 liter of whole milk
• 4 to 5 teaspoon of lemon/lime juice or vinegar
• 500gram of sugar
• 500 milliliter of Water

Method 

The Rasbari syrup

• Boil 500grams of sugar in 500 milliliters of water
• You can add sugar to your liking

The Rasbari balls

• Boil the milk and stir continuously in order to avoid lumps
• Once the milk starts boiling turn off the heat and adds lemon/lime juice or vinegar to curdle 
• Use a clean cloth to sieve the water from the curdled milk
• Squeeze out the remaining water and let it cool down
• Once it has cooled down kneed the curdled milk to turn it into a dough
• Turn the dough into Rasbari balls of your liking
• Put the balls in the syrup till they double in size
• Let them cool down and refrigerate them,

4. Lalmohan

This also known as the Black Rasbari or the fried Rasbari as both of these look similar. They are different although both of them look similar in both taste and texture and Lalmohan is is usually sweeter than Rasbari and has a more smooth texture as well

Ingredients

• Carnation Milk Powder – 1 cup
• All-purpose flour/maida – half cup
• Baking soda – half tablespoon
• Ghee-half tablespoon
• Whole Milk- 2 liter
• Sugar – 2 cups
• Saffron- a few Pisces
• Cardamom-4-5 pods
• Water

The syrup

• Add 2 cups of sugar to a cup of water 
• Add the cardamom
• Crush the few strands of Saffron and mix it into the water 
• Stir and boil in medium heat
• Keep the syrup warm 

The Lalmohan Balls

• Mix milk, all-purpose flour, and ghee and make a dough. (note the dough will be slightly hard)
• Roll the dough into balls
• Put the balls into a plate and put a wet towel to preserve the moisture
• Heat the oil slowly
• Gently place the balls into the oil and slowly fry them while rolling them slowly for even browning
• Let them slowly rise to the surface
• Out them in the syrup and let them cool
• Refrigerate them if needed

5. Phini

One of the delicacies in Tihar this sweet is something that a lot of you may only see in Tihar. This is somewhat of a rare dish in Nepal and although you can buy ii on regular days, it can be only found in dedicated sweet shops. One of the main reasons why this is a delicacy is because of its unusual dry and flaky texture which is not a common thing for sweets in Nepal but regardless of the dry texture it tastes really good and it is one of the major sweets that you will find in Nepal. 

Ingredients

• 1kilogram of Maida
• 50 grams of Ghee
• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• Oil 

For the flaky layers (Satho)

• 200gram Ghee
• Half cup of fine rice flour

Method for Satho

• Mix the rice flour and Ghee until smooth texture

Method for Dough

• Mix Ghee and Maida slowly and add water as required till the dough does not stick into your hands
• Divide the dough into four equal parts
• Flatten a part till it is half an inch thick
• Spread a thick layer of Satho evenly
• Roll the dough tightly
• Cut the dough into 2 inch thick sizes
• Flatten the dough and make three equally sized slits in each piece
• Deep fry the pieces until crispy in medium heat
• Soak extra oil and sprinkle powdered sugar
• Let it cool

6. Anarasa

This is another sweet dish which mostly comes out during Tihar. Although you will find this on the regular days, just like Sel Roti the true value is only enjoyed during Tihar. At the first glance, this sweet dish looks like dried Malpa and it can be deceiving but while Malpa is soft and spongy this is hard and crunchy

Ingredients

• 1 cup of rice flour
• Half cup of ghee
• 1 tablespoon of lemon/lime juice
• 50 gram of sesame seeds
• 50 gram of poppy seeds
• Half cup of powdered sugar

Method

• Mix the rice flour, powdered sugar, and lemon juice 
• Cover the dough with a plate and leave it upside down for 5 hours
• Take it out and make a dough with the help of some water
• Sprinkle some poppy seeds and sesame seeds
• Roll the dough into round shapes
• Heat some ghee in a pan
• Deep fry until golden brown
• Remove the excess ghee with the help of a wet towel

7. Fried Purukiya 

If you see this in the open you may think that this is a fried MoMo. While this looks the same it is not. The main difference is the taste but along with that there is a difference in the recipe as well so this is not just a sweet version of a fried MoMo

Ingredients 

• Half Kilogram of All-purpose flour (Maida)
• 1 kilogram of Semolina flour (high gluten-free flour)
• 2 cups of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of Ghee
• 3 pods of Cardamom
• 3 cups of sunflower oil
• 2-4 pieces of Cashews and Pistachios

Method

The fillings

• Heat a pan and add Ghee
• Add Semolina Flour and stir 
• Add sugar and mix well
• Chop Cashews and Pistachios and mix them as well
• Crush Cardamoms and add them to the mixture
• Stir till golden Brown

The dumplings

• Make a Dough thin by mixing all-purpose flour and water 
• Roll the dough into the circle shape
• Take the fillings and put it on one half of the cut dough
• Pinch one side and roll the edges to make the curved seal
• The sealed dumplings are to be in a semi-circle shape or half-moon shape
• Heat the oil and dry till golden grown

Note: You can also add Khuwa with the fillings as well if you have a sweet tooth but it is an optional

8. Kheer (Rice Pudding)

We all know what a Kheer is and we all have eaten it at some point in our lives. Now it depends on how you like it but it is a nutritious food and we can see this more often during certain festivals. Tihar is one of such festivals and although it is not consumed every day, During Bhai-Tika and Govardhan Puja it is taken as a compulsory sweet or food in a lot of cultures. 

Ingredients

• 10 cups of full cream milk
• Half cup of rice
• 1 cup of sugar
• 10 pieces Raisins
• 4 pieces of green cardamoms 
• 10 pieces of almond

Method

• Wash the rice thoroughly
• Boil the rice and milk and let it simmer
• Once it is thickened add sugar 
• Chop the raisins and cardamoms into small pieces and add them to the mixture
• Stir till the sugar is dissolved
• Add the almonds as a garnish
• Serve fresh or chilled

9. Gajar ko Halwa (Carrot Halwa)

This is another common sweet dish that we see often but similar to Kheer, it is taken as a specialty dish during Bhai-tika and Govardhan Puja. Just like Kheer, it is rather simple to make this and cheap as well. This can be a subtle change for those who are bored of eating meat and fruits during Tihar.

Ingredients 

• 5-10 pieces of Carrot
• 2 cups of milk
• A quarter cup of sugar (approximately 4 tablespoons)
• Half a teaspoon of Cardamom powder 
• 6 cashew nuts
• Half a tablespoon of Ghee

Method 

• Grate the carrot
• Boil the milk
• Heat the pan and melt the ghee
• Fry the grated carrots for 10 minutes on medium heat till light brown
• Add the boiled milk to the carrots
• Cook till the milk is dried
• Add sugar and cardamom powder and stir well
• Keep it on medium heat for 5 minutes
• Garnish with cashew Nuts

You can also check out our article on “Tips To Make This Deepawali Pollution Free” or if you want to learn about the history and have information about Tihar you can also follow this up with “Interesting Myths You Need to Know About Tihar|5 Days Festival|“