Happy Diwali! Celebrate the Festival of Lights with 5 easy snack recipes for the occasion. Start sweet with creamy rice pudding, or rice kheer made light with floral rosewater. For something savoury, pass around irresistible spinach dahl vadai. That’s curry-cumin flavoured vadai with an extra-healthy crunch of spinach. For a punch of colour and texture, make shredded coconut and pistachio barfi in brilliant pink and white squares. They’re easy to make and eat. Pick one for each day of celebrations.

1. Rice Pudding with Rosewater and Pistachio / Rice Kheer

A cosy pudding of rice, milk and the soothing scent of cardamom. Rice Kheer, or Indian Rice Pudding is considered a classic -the dessert that every Indian grows up eating. That’s partly because it’s made with inexpensive and readily available ingredients. It's a gooey bowl of creamy comfort, and dressed in rose petals, looks good too. Some even say this palm-sized milk pudding is the most fitting way to end a meal.

And at the start of Diwali, milk features heavily in festivities. The day marks the festival of Dhanteras or Day of Fortune where milk is being used to “purify” money and use it to benefit family and the greater good. Here, devotees worship Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune.

2. Coconut and Pistachio Barfi

A sweet indulgence made mostly of fresh coconut shreds. A bit of ghee is the glue keeping its shape. And have fun with them –they can be shaped into neat cubes, triangles or diamonds. You can also make an assortment of flavours and colours. We recommend pandan, chocolate and saffron. Here rose-colouring is used to paint it pink.

Saffron, with its bright orange-yellow shade is another eye-catching option.

Consider this treat to celebrate the colourful festival of Naraka Chaturdasi, or the Day of Knowledge. The second day of festivities is probably the most well-known of all Hindu religious stories where Lord Krishna slays the demon Narakasura, saving 16,000 captive princesses. As part of celebrations, vibrant Rangoli (Indian art) patterns are made on the ground using rice, flour and flower petals.

3. Spinach Dahl Vadai

Big flavours for a big day. The third day is the climax of Diwali, with fireworks livening the skies. At home, you too can fill the air with ginger, chillies, curry leaves and cumin –deeply aromatic spices. Dahl, the common lentil, is the main ingredient that soaks in all the flavours. Now, an extra sparkle of spinach is added and thepattyis deep-fried to a golden crisp in this irresistibly tasty South Indian recipe.

Lay out a plate of this and make sure the atmosphere is well-lit. On this day, light is a powerful symbol of the triumph of good over evil. It's where Lord Rama rescues his wife from the demon Ravana after an epic battle. Today, light also signals homecoming and the ushering of Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune.

4. Rava Ladoo

This traditional sweet wheat dessert has fans beyond its origin state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is the capital. It’s a quick poppable bite of chewy coconut, rich roasted rava, or wheat, and the grainy crunch of nuts.

Pile the sweet wheat balls high on the fourth day of festivities. On this day, food is piled into mountains at Hindu temples as an offering to Lord Krishna in the festival of Govardhan Puja. Piling food is a symbol of the hill Krishna lifted as shelter for villagers from a flood.

5. Goan Mushroom and Cheese Croquettes

The final fifth day marks the end of Diwali celebrations. And in the south-west coast of Goa, the croquette is a snack present in all celebrations. This traditional Goan croquette with potato and breadcrumbs is now made even tastier with mushrooms and cheese. Accompanying spices of garam-masala, cumin and black pepper infuses it with a satisfying kick.

What’s your favourite Diwali snack?