Meal Steals – sponsored stories
Don’t Miss a New York Experience – the Diwali Pop Up!
This Diwali are you longing for the special holiday vibes experienced only in Indian cities and towns? Do you hanker for the mithais made by the women of the house, the unique taste of home and the touch of the individual hand?
Do you also miss the hustle and bustle of the mithai shops, the crowds waiting to buy the ready-made sweets made by the halwais?
Well this Diwali, you may be able to eat your cake – er, mithai – and have it too! Both of these memories meet up in a purely New York experience – the Diwali Pop Up!
Chef Surbhi Sahni, New York’s only Indian female pastry chef, has created the desserts at noted restaurants including the Michelin starred Devi and Tulsi and is the founder of Bittersweet NYC, a Queens-based artisan sweets company. Remember the mithai-wallas of Delhi?
Well, she is a proud mithai-walli who could beat them at their own game and is now turning her talents to creating Diwali sweets with a difference.
And this Diwali season you can have the experience of selecting your mithai in the hustle and bustle of Little India in Manhattan at Haldi Restaurant, where Chef Hemant Mathur is cooking up a special Diwali meal for you.
You can actually see Surbhi the Mithai-walli in action, and select the mithais you will take home! Each of these sweets is crafted by hand with fine ingredients.
Here are the delicious details for starting a new Diwali tradition in your family
Just like the sweets made by mothers and grandmothers had a special twist and special ingredients, Surbhi’s Diwali sweets have a unique flavor that you’ll hanker for long after the sweet has melted in your mouth. Her burfi (fudge) comes in flavors of Chocolate, Caramel, Carrot and Dal Halwa which is a concoction of lentils, fennel and toasted nuts.
Her laddoos will change the way you think about those common, over-sweet sweets – these come loaded with unique ingredients in three flavors: Besan (chickpea flour, roasted cashews, green cardamom), Chocolate Besan, and Kesar Malai (saffron, paneer, reduced milk, almonds)
Another new New York Diwali tradition is truffles with an Indian flavor: Pecan Cognac (Callibaut chocolate ganache, toasted pecans, dark chocolate), Ginger (Candied ginger, Ginger ganache, Callibaut dark chocolate), Coconut (Coconut, reduced milk, green cardamom) and Chili Chocolate (Indian red chilies, reduced milk, dark chocolate, Valrhrona cocoa powder).
Who doesn’t love chocolate, especially at Diwali? Earlier, chocolate lovers had only the chocolate burfi to fall back on so these truffles open up a whole new world for chocolate-addicts.
Diwali Deals, Meals & Steals!
A Diwali meal at Haldi can also become a holiday tradition. Chef Hemant Mathur will be serving a special Gatta Curry (poached chickpea dumplings in a yogurt curry) for $16. Growing up in Rajasthan, this regional dish was one of his mother’s specialties, and this Diwali you can taste this family favorite.
Also on the menu is Chef Surbhi’s four-piece mithai collection for $ 6. If you’d rather take home gift packages, that’s a sweet alternative too.
Haldi Diwali Menu: Monday, November 9 – Sunday, November 15 for lunch and dinner
Bittersweet Pop-up: Tues, November 10 through Sat, Nov. 14 from 12 Noon to 7:00 p.m.
For reservations, call 212.213.9615. Or, just stop by the restaurant to see Chef Surbhi with these special holiday treats, and purchase them for the holidays. Gift boxes with six pieces for $15; 12 for $26; and 24 for $48:
Haldi Restaurant at 102 Lexington Avenue, NYC.
Bittersweet NYC is a Queens-based artisan sweets company helmed by Chef Surbhi Sahni, offering Indian truffles, candies, cookies, cakes and nut gift packages – all created with pure ingredients and seasonal produce. www.bittersweetnyc.com
