Invited for Diwali, what to bring?

meritaten

Angelicdevil wrote: »

Because Indian sweets are different to English sweets and for certain festivals carry significance. I'm guessing you've never had/seen Indian "sweets".......

So no, they're not the same.

you misunderstand - I meant that an Indian family inviting a Brit may welcome a traditional British 'sweet'! I would be dead scared of making an Indian sweet to take! lol

reehsetin

meritaten wrote: »

you misunderstand - I meant that an Indian family inviting a Brit may welcome a traditional British 'sweet'! I would be dead scared of making an Indian sweet to take! lol

I think most would welcome an English sweet too, most families i know pass around a tin of chocolates at Diwali.

That said it's likely they may be cautious about sweets, no animal gelatin and some won't eat egg. Check whatever you have is safe for veggies

Yolina

I don't really know them that well and have no idea if they drink or not, so not going in with any alcohol. And I guess they'll be sorted for food really. Maybe I'll just stick with a great big bunch of flowers and some sparklers

I've been to numerous Eid celebrations, so that's wouldn't be a problem (and my friends know I bake a mean baklawa so they absolutely expect me to bring one :rotfl: ) but it's my first Diwali

Yolina

meritaten wrote: »

you misunderstand - I meant that an Indian family inviting a Brit may welcome a traditional British 'sweet'! I would be dead scared of making an Indian sweet to take! lol

*cough* I'm French so what I've baked them so far has been French stuff...

reehsetin

Yolina wrote: »

I've been to numerous Eid celebrations, so that's wouldn't be a problem (and my friends know I bake a mean baklawa so they absolutely expect me to bring one :rotfl: ) but it's my first Diwali

Baklava could be perfect too, it's also sold in indian sweet shops
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duchy

I was watching the Great British Bakers making filo pastry last night.....looks really hard.

I'd probably wuss out and take flowers

Yolina

It's not hard, just fairly time-consuming really - and there's 14 layers of pastry in a baklawa :rotfl:

Edit: and when I really can't face making that amount of pastry, I cheat because one of the corner shops is run by Turkish people and they have large sheets of proper filo conveniently packaged in rolls of 14. (and they also have the shredded pastry to make Kadayif, which I absolutely love)

Make-it-3

If they are strict Hindus then I would avoid alcohol and any cakes with egg in them.

Its traditional to give Indian sweets at this time of year - or take some fireworks as they are a big part of Diwali - especially for the kids.

If however you are coming to our Diwali party then alcohol is very much welcomed!!!

jackyann

I think that when people invite someone from a different culture / tradition, they are usually delighted to get something from the guest's tradition.
It's good for conversation. so having checked any dietary restriction, I'd go with something like parkin / gingerbread / toffee / toffee apples from the British tradition - or Yolina - isn't there some tradition associated with St. Martin's Day in France?
I love the "fire festivals" that go all around the Northern hemisphere at this time of year.

I also think that baklava (and I *always* use bought filo) is very popular, easy to make (and no eggs)

Toto

jackyann wrote: »

I think that when people invite someone from a different culture / tradition, they are usually delighted to get something from the guest's tradition.
It's good for conversation. so having checked any dietary restriction, I'd go with something like parkin / gingerbread / toffee / toffee apples from the British tradition - or Yolina - isn't there some tradition associated with St. Martin's Day in France?
I love the "fire festivals" that go all around the Northern hemisphere at this time of year.

I also think that baklava (and I *always* use bought filo) is very popular, easy to make (and no eggs)

I agree with this. I have a whole bunch of friends and family from different countries/cultures. When we have gatherings I love it when they bring things relating to their own traditions. It's great to try new foods and to learn a bit about how others celebrate. I know the folks in my little circle feel the same. So in this case I'd take something very French