Where to Order a Diwali Feast in Boston

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is a widely celebrated religious and cultural holiday that honors the triumph of light over darkness, or good over evil. Traditions for the annual festival include lighting diyas (oil lamps) and engaging in special feasts that often include an eye-catching array of mithai, or sweet treats. The main day of Diwali celebrations falls on Thursday, October 31 this year, although the full festivities span five days. Here is a sampling of Boston-area restaurants and bakeries offering special meals and to-go packages to celebrate the holiday.

The Whisk

Talented baker Niketa Shroff is whipping up a gorgeous lineup of sweets for Diwali, including luxurious gulab jamun cheesecakes, kulfi tres leches cakes, and almond teacakes that showcase the flavors of the nutty Indian badam (almond) burfi in a soft, snackable teacake form. Call Schroff at 734-355-9003 to place pre-orders by October 18.

Bombay Brunch

This takeout-only shop in Woburn, Massachusetts specializes in vegetarian fare from India’s third-largest state, Maharashtra. The shop stocks lots of Chitale Bandhu goodies (an Indian snack company based in Maharashtra) for Diwali, including packages of besan ladoo, shankarpali, and deep-fried coconut karanji. The shop is running special delivery times for Diwali orders (with an order minimum of $30) from October 23 to 30. Check it out here.

Shanti

Crowd-favorite Indian restaurant Shanti has assembled a Diwali catering menu to feed your whole crew for the holiday. The menu includes panipuri, veggie and chicken tikka puffs, five different styles of biryani, and a whole lot more. On the sweet side, the restaurant is also selling 12 to 14-piece mithai boxes, individual bites of gulab jamun, five-piece sets of ladoo, and more. Online ordering is available here.