Diwali Mithai

Beyond Milk With 7 Regional Sweets For A Dairy-Free Festive Box

Quick Summary

Not every festive sweet depends on milk, khoya or ghee. Across India, traditional preparations use coconut, jaggery, rice flour, sesame and nuts to create distinctive textures and flavours. From Bengali narkel naru to Goan nevri, these seven regional Diwali sweets offer dairy-free possibilities when prepared with suitable ingredients.

Deep Dive

Regional festive cooking offers alternatives to milk-based mithai without requiring modern substitutes. Some sweets are naturally dairy-free in their traditional ingredient combinations, while others have recipes that use ghee or milk in certain households. For Diwali 2026, the key is understanding each preparation, choosing a genuinely dairy-free version and checking ingredients carefully when buying sweets.

1. Maharashtra: Anarsa

Anarsa is a traditional Indian Diwali sweet of Maharashtra, made from rice and jaggery, usually topped with poppy seeds. It is crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, with the taste of sweets made from jaggery instead of anything creamy.

What goes into it?

• Rice flour prepared from soaked rice

• Jaggery

• Poppy seeds

• Oil for frying

How is it prepared? The dough of rice and jaggery is first combined and then kept for some time before it takes the shape of discs. Poppy seeds are put on one side of the discs before they fry the ones on the other side. Some family recipes involve adding ghee into the dough; thus, a vegan version of preparing it requires a recipe with oil as the only fat to be used. This is one of the sweets considered traditional for Diwali in India, where a slight difference in an ingredient makes a great impact.

2. West Bengal: Narkel Naru

Narkel naru is an auspicious Bengali sweet that is made from coconut. Coconut is grated and cooked with jaggery or sugar until the mix turns sticky and can be rolled into small balls. The highlight of this preparation is its coconut flavour along with jaggery. 

What goes into it?

• Freshly grated coconut

• Jaggery or sugar

• Cardamom, if desired

How is it prepared? The coconut and sweetener are combined and cooked together while stirring until finally thickened and shaped into small balls when it is still warm. While some modern recipes use certain ingredients like milk or ghee, it is not a must when it comes to making this recipe.

3. Assam: Til Pitha

Til pitha is a sweet dish from Assam made with rice and a filling of sesame seeds and jaggery. The dish is mainly linked to Bihu festivals rather than being a simple part of Diwali celebrations. Despite the basic, simple ingredients, it is a wonderful addition to the array of festival sweets.

What goes into it?

• Rice flour or ground sticky rice

• Sesame seeds

• Jaggery

• A little oil for the cooking surface

How is it prepared? You need to take a thin coating of rice mixture on a hot pan, fill it with roasted sesame and jaggery, and roll it into shape. You will have the texture of a crispy outer coating with a nutty interior. Unlike other desserts which are usually creamy, this sweet is known for toasted sesame and jaggery flavour.

4. Tamil Nadu: Adhirasam

Adhirasam is a traditional South Indian dessert that is mainly loved by people during the festival of Diwali. This delicacy is made from rice flour and jaggery to make a round disc that is soft from the inside but has a lightly crunchy coating outside. One of the specialities of this product is the ingredient combination that allows it to be made in a dairy-free manner in case oil is used instead of ghee while preparing it.

What goes into it?

• Rice flour

• Jaggery

• Cardamom

• Oil for frying

How is it prepared? Jaggery is heated and dissolved into syrup form before it is mixed with rice flour and other flavour ingredients. After that, the dough needs to be rested and formed into round discs before frying them. The most important part is to use just the right amount of syrup, as the syrup consistency is needed to define the consistency of the finished product.

5. Andhra Pradesh: Ariselu

Ariselu is a sweet made from rice and jaggery eaten on certain occasions in Andhra Pradesh and other Telugu-speaking areas. It has the same ingredients as that of adhirasam but may involve different methods as well as presentation depending on the region. Also, some recipes may include sesame seeds to make the sweet crispier and nuttier.

What goes into it?

• Rice flour

• Jaggery

• Sesame seeds

• Water and oil

How is it prepared? The dough consists of jaggery and rice flour to form a soft mixture. The dough is cut into small portions, pressed flat, optionally covered with sesame seeds and deep-fried. Some family recipes use ghee; therefore, choose a recipe that uses oil instead and does not add any dairy products.

6. Goa: Nevri

Nevri, known alternatively as neureos, is a crescent-shaped festive pastry from Goa, generally made during festivals such as Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Christmas. Its distinctive feature is the filling made of coconut and jaggery, unlike similar pastries with khoya stuffing. Also, the dough can be made using oil rather than ghee.

What goes into it?

• Flour

• Fresh coconut

• Jaggery

• Cardamom and dry fruits, if desired

• Oil for the dough and frying

How is it prepared? When cooking the coconut and jaggery mixture, you must first cook them into a semi-wet filling. You then take a small amount of this mixture, wrap it in the rolled dough, seal the edges and deep-fry the pastry until it gets crispy. Note that some recipes may mention the use of ghee and consequently, vegan variations have to indicate that oil should be used in the making of the dough and the filling.

7. Across India: Sesame-Jaggery Chikki

Sesame-jaggery chikki is a crispy sweet that can be found in many regional variants across India. It is usually made for winter festivities and harvest celebrations, but its uncomplicated ingredients make it a good fit for a Diwali sweet box. Sesame brings in the roasted smell, while the jaggery sticks the brittle together.

What goes into it?

• Sesame seeds

• Jaggery

• A little water

How is it prepared? In the preparation of jaggery syrup, jaggery is heated, sesame seeds are added, and the hot mixture is prepared and cooled down before making the pieces. The traditional versions of the sweet do not include the use of ghee or milk; however, both these recipes and the commercial products may differ in certain ways.

At A Glance: Which Sweets Are Dairy-Free?

Conclusion

A dairy-free Diwali feast does not need to use modern substitutes or compromise on the rich tradition of sweets from this part of the world. With ingredients such as coconut-infused narkel naru and tilgud chikki used in Indian sweets packing dexterous preparation techniques, there is no reason to not enjoy a variety of traditional desserts this Diwali.