Happy Diwali! This Festival of Lights is India’s biggest and brightest celebration. We invited our parents over for a spectacular Diwali party with a three course Indian dinner. Diwali means “rows of lighted lamps” in Sanskrit. Diwali represents good over evil, knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair. If you live in NYC and want to attend a Diwali party instead of hosting your own, we recommend The Pierre this Thursday. We are excited to share our Diwali party ideas with you.
What is Diwali?
Diwali falls between October and November based on the Hindu lunar calendar. This year, Diwali took place on October 24th. Diwali parties last five days, with major celebrations taking place on the third day. Diwali celebrates the return of the Hindu God, Rama with his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshman, to their kingdom following 14 years of exile after defeating Ravana, the demon king. During Diwali, Hindus light diya lamps to keep darkness out of their hearts and to embrace goodness and knowledge. Houses are decorated with colorful rangoli using colored rice, powder or flowers.
Diwali Party Ideas: How to Create a Beautiful Tablescape
We selected a vibrant color palette of red, white and gold for our Diwali party. We dressed the table with gold linens, a red tablerunner and red napkins. Since Diwali is the festival of lights, we incorporated several diya lamps and gold lanterns into our table decor. Each place setting featured a Gold Charger Plate, the Mikasa Swirl White Coupe set, Mikasa Lilah gold, a Mikasa Cheers Wine Glass and a Mikasa Cheers Old Fashioned Glass. We also tucked a red napkin under the dinner plate. Try to recreate this tablescape for Diwali and use the code TWINSPIRATIONAL for 20% off the Mikasa Swirl, Flatware or Cheers collections. You can also find additional Diwali party ideas here.
We placed a vibrant bouquet of red, orange, yellow and purple flowers in the center of the table. When it comes to a Diwali party, the bigger and brighter the flowers, the better.
Diwali Party Ideas: The Food
Have you heard of the butter board trend? Well then say hello to the Desi version: a paneer board. We went to Kalustyan’s, a specialty Indian grocery store, that has everything you need to host your own Diwali party at home. We got the paneer, Naan, tamarind date sauce and spices from Kalustyan’s. This paneer board is so easy to make. Grab your blender, the paneer and heavy cream and serve this appetizer at your Diwali party or Indian dinner party. Our toppings were onion, tomato, pomegranate, dried cranberries, Serrano peppers, chaat masala and chili oil. You can make it your own by adding your own favorite toppings.
I’ve got fillings for you. We also served cheese and chicken samosas. Don’t for the date sauce. These samosas were also from Kalustyan’s. They were as good as restaurant quality too!
Dad made his infamous Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani for the main course. We published his recipe in the Pinterest / Food 52 competition and won. Keep this recipe handy for your next Diwali party or Indian dinner party.
This biriyani is so good that you don’t need separate curries to pair with it. We’ve also added grilled onions and hard boiled eggs in the past. We recommend homemade raita.
Love you to ja-mun and back. For dessert, we made a gulab jamun parfait with saffron sauce.
We served the dessert in a martini glass. It was beautiful.
Diwali Party Ideas: The Wine
Everything happens for a Riesling. You can’t go wrong with pairing Indian food with a Riesling. We served the Tesch Riesling, which paired nicely with all of the food at our Diwali party. Alternative wines include: rosé and pinot noir.
This year, fill your home with light and host your own Diwali party. If you are in NYC, come join us at the The Pierre Diwali party this Thursday too. They host the best Diwali party in the city.
Let us light up lives with hopes and dreams. Happy Diwali.
Anonymous
Paneer Board
Ingredients
- 4 oz Paneer Cubed
- ¼ cup Heavy Cream
- ¼ cup Onion
- ¼ cup Tomato
- ¼ cup Pomegranate
- ¼ cup Dried Cranberries
- 1 Serrano Pepper
- 1 tsp Chaat Masala
- 2 tsp Chili Oil
Instructions
- Blend the heavy cream and paneer in a blender and whip until you get a creamy mixture
- Season the paneer and heavy cream mixture with salt and pepper and mix.
- Use a spoon to spread the paneer mixture on the board.
- Slice onions and finely chop tomatoes and Serrano pepper.
- Sprinkle the onions, tomatoes and Serrano pepper.
- Also chili oil over the paneer board.
- Add the pomegranates, dried cranberries and chaat masala.
- Serve with warm Naan.
Such color and cultural beauty in this article. You have inspired me to present my guests with beautiful surroundings.
I love your table decorations and the food looks absolutely delicious! I hope you have a wonderful celebration with your family.
I really love your decorations. The colors are beautiful, too. Diwali seems like a very joyous holiday.
I love seeing all of the beautiful photos & posts of Diwali. This would be amazing to be able to partake in, in person!
That tablescape is so sharp and colorful. The food is making me hungry as well, kinda of wish I had some friends to invite me over for the celebration.
My favorite part here is the food. I would love to host a Diwali party with your ideas.
Amazing post! I love learning about other cultures and it wasn’t until about six years ago that I learned about Diwali. What a beautiful celebration! Your party ideas are sure to elevate any Diwali party!
Well, it’s the first time to know about something like this. It’s good to know about other cultures. These are great ideas for people celebrating it.
The colors… the food! This looks aamazing! I want to attend this party!
Great ideas to celebrate Diwali. I would love to incorporate these during Diwali. I love the color combination.
I haven’t join a Diwali party before, but surely it’s a great event for celebration.
Love your simple yet effective Diwali party ideas. I am drooling on the gulab jamun parfait. Hope you had a wonderful Diwali.
Diwali parties that I’ve seen are always wonderful and colorful. Those are some great ideas and will keep them all in mind.