How To Make Chocolate Part Of Every Indian Festival Menu
Written by jheelum basu | October 17, 2025
Despite being a foreign indulgence, over the decades, chocolate has carved its own niche in the Indian culinary landscape. Merging culinary traditions comes with its fair share of risks. However, chocolate, with its diverse flavors and textures, has effortlessly blended with the opulence of Indian festive desserts.
With its evolving presence in the realm of Indian confectionery, chocolate has now become the most-loved fusion element, which infuses the taste and flavor of unmatched comfort on every bite. And, with the festive season around the corner, it finds more use in elevating the texture and flavor of Indian desserts.
In India, festivals are marked by their grandeur and religious fervor, and sweets, since time immemorial, have been an indispensable attribute of these celebrations. While we bring out the best ethnic wears, deck up our houses with lights and flowers and make elaborate plans with our loved ones, sweets remain that one feel-good element that brings all of us closer. And now, with Cadbury Dairy Milk, isn’t it even more exciting to give the traditional Indian recipes a modern chocolatey twist?
Let’s delve into some of the chocolate-twisted Indian festive desserts.
Chocolate Barfi
Chocolate Barfi is a classic Indian fusion dessert that combines the milky goodness with the comfort of chocolate. Whether it's the grand celebrations of Navaratri or Diwali, the chocolatey makeover of the traditional recipe has become everyone’s favorite. Every bite of a chocolate barfi ensures a burst of rich and creamy flavor with a decadent, milky, chocolaty texture.
While there are several methods to make this with different kinds of ingredients, usually chocolate barfi is made with all-purpose flour, milk powder, nut flour and mawa and of course, Cadbury Dairy Milk, which elevates the taste like nothing else.
In order to attain a grainy texture, it is recommended to add cold milk to hot ghee before blending in the milk powder, while for a smoother version, it is better to combine cold milk, cold ghee, and milk powder and heat them together to form the mawa dough.
Chocolate Sandesh
Be it Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year) or Durga Pujo, the classic Bengali Sandesh (Shondesh) epitomises the opulence of the Bengali dessert palette. And, giving the authentic and indigenous dessert recipe a chocolatey twist with Cadbury Dairy Milk indeed puts it on the map of Indian fusion desserts. The rich, creamy bite of Sandesh paired with the goodness of chocolate makes this dessert a must-try.
Chocolate Sandesh is an exquisite combination of the melting-in-mouth cottage cheese and the rich indulgence of chocolate. The rich, creamy texture with a hint of sweetness makes it perfect for chocolate lovers who want to taste something traditional with a modern twist.
The sandesh is ideally shaped into small discs, squares, or balls and is garnished with nuts or chocolate shavings.
Chocolate Kheer
Be it a wedding or any other occasion, Kheer is an integral part of any auspicious ceremony for most Indian households. The quintessential rich and creamy Indian dessert is typically made from rice, thickened milk and spices. But if we have Cadbury Dairy Milk, why not give it a chocolatey spin?
Kheer has several regional versions, which also incorporate ingredients such as vermicelli, semolina, and several other things. However, across all varieties, the primary ingredients are combined with boiled milk and blended with either sugar or jaggery and cooked well to form the creamy and enriching kheer dessert. The thickened milk is often flavored with spices and garnished with crushed dry fruits like pistachios and almonds, which further elevate its texture.
What chocolate kheer adds is that luscious chocolatey comfort with the rich-tasting basmati rice. Alternatively, cocoa powder can be used as well by diluting it in warm milk and adding it along with the condensed milk.
Chocolate Halwa
Chocolate halwa is the much-desired result of innovation within the realm of Indian culinary tradition. This dish includes semolina for traditional flavors with a chocolatey makeover. Moreover, Cadbury Dairy Milk’s sustainably sourced cocoa and the gooey, creamy consistency make it even exquisite in taste and texture.
Basically, a chocolate semolina (sooji) halwa resembles pudding in texture and is prepared using semolina (sooji), clarified butter (ghee), sugar, water and chocolate. The rest of the ingredients, such as cardamom, saffron, nuts etc. are optional. For garnishing, you can use the nuts of your choice to provide a delightful crunch.