Craft the Perfect Onam Sweet Gift Box with These Delicious Recipes

Written by Jheelum Basu | September 14, 2024

DIY your own Onam festive dessert gift box if you love the magic of festivals and bringing joy to your loved ones. Most of the Onam special sweets are a little wet. However, a handful are dry and quite snacky, coming in little balls or parcels of fun. We picked some of the best Onam sweets from Kerala that don’t need liquids and are mostly dry. These Onam sweet gift boxes are perfect for gifting to guests.

Introduction to Onam Sweets

Cultural Significance

Onam is an occasion to celebrate the annual harvest. This festival celebrates the prosperity, abundance, and well-being of your loved ones. And one such special occasion always demands some special sweet treats. However, besides adding sweetness to the celebrations, Onam sweets also carry a deep cultural significance in Kerala. Made with natural ingredients like coconut, jaggery, milk, and more, the sweets like Unniyappam, Rava Laddoo, and Kozhukatta represent health, wealth, and prosperity.

Rava Ladoo (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 625 gm semolina
• 170 gm desiccated coconut
• 340 gm ghee
• 800 gm sugar
• 115 ml milk
• 30 cashews, halved
• 30 raisins
• 8 cardamom, powdered
• 8 cloves, powdered

Instructions:

1. Heat ghee in a nonstick pan, around 80 grams of it, and let it melt. Then add the rava or semolina into it. Roast until it turns light brown. Put it into a mixer grinder and let it cool.

2. In the same pan, add a little more ghee and fry the cashews and raisins separately, and set them aside.

3. Check if the rava has cooled down, and add the desiccated coconut, cardamom, and cloves, then grind to a fine powder.

4. Add this fine powder to the milk. Then pour ghee into it and mix to get a semi-solid mixture.

5. Once it reaches a consistency where it can hold form, make ladoos from it.

6. Press a cashew and a raisin into each ladoo and arrange on a tray.

7. Let them sit for 15-20 minutes to firm up.

Unni Appam (Makes 30 Unni Appams)

Ingredients:

• 200 gm raw rice
• 2 tsp urad dal
• 4 cardamom pods
• 20 gm fresh shredded coconut
• 100 gm jaggery
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• A pinch of salt
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 tsp ghee
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Instructions:

1. Wash and soak the raw rice and urad dal first. Then soak both with the smashed cardamom pods in water for a few hours.

2. Drain the rice-dal mix and transfer to a blender; add the shredded coconut, jaggery, ginger powder, and a pinch of salt. Add the bananas, followed by 1 cup of water, and grind until smooth.

3. To the paste-like mixture, add ghee, black sesame seeds, and baking soda. Mix to form a smooth and uniform batter.

4. You’ll need a Paniyaram pan for this recipe. Heat it until hot and grease each cavity with ghee.

5. Use a ladle to pour the batter into each hole, cover, and cook on low heat.

6. Let the batter cook, and once it seems like the bottom is golden brown, turn using a thin stick until the other side is golden brown too.

Kozhukatta (Makes 8 pieces)

Ingredients:

For the Filling:

• 85 gm coconut, grated
• 100 gm jaggery, grated
• 1 tsp ghee
• 2 cardamom pods

For the Dough:

• 120 gm rice flour, roasted
• 400 ml water
• 1/2 tsp ghee
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat jaggery with enough water in a saucepan to form a liquid. Strain to remove solid bits and then add grated coconut and ghee and cook until the water evaporates. Add the crushed cardamom pod, and remove from the heat. Set aside.

2. Let’s start the dough. Take a small pot, boil water with salt and ghee, lower the flame, and add the rice flour. Stir to remove any lumps, then remove from heat to cool down.

3. Knead the warm mixture to form a soft and elastic dough. Pull out small balls to make eight balls. Then fashion them into basic cups, add the filling, and roll them back into a ball.

4. Ready a steamer and, once heated, place the Kozhukattas in the steamer plate for 15-20 minutes. Keep on medium flame.

5. The Kozhukattas will have a sheen to them. Once done, serve them warm.

Ney Appam (Makes 24 Appams)

Ingredients:

• 315 gm raw rice
• 300 gm jaggery
• 30 gm rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• A pinch of cardamom powder
• 2 tbsp coconut, grated

Instructions:

1. Start by preparing the jaggery syrup by heating jaggery with water in a saucepan for a few minutes until the jaggery dissolves. Strain the syrup to remove any impurities and return the strained syrup to heat and cook for a few more minutes until it thickens.

2. While the syrup cools, soak the rice in water for at least three hours. After soaking, drain the water and grind the rice with a little water to make a paste.

3. Combine the jaggery syrup with the rice paste to create a flowy and slightly runny batter. Add cardamom powder, grated coconut, and cooking soda and mix well.

4. When ready to cook, heat a paniyaram pan and grease each cavity with ghee.

5. Pour a ladleful of batter into each hole of the heated pan. Cover and cook for about a minute. When the bottom side is cooked, carefully flip each appam to cook the other side. Add more ghee or oil if needed. Cook until both sides are golden brown.

6. Remove the nei appams from the pan and serve them hot.

Tips for Creating a Perfect Onam Sweet Gift Box

Packaging Ideas

While the Onam sweets are simply delicious, when they are sent to your loved ones in pretty packages, it always carries a personal touch. Be it the modern handcrafted gift boxes, wooden hampers, or eco-friendly paper box packages, the ideas are plenty for these Onam sweet gift boxes. One may also opt for jute or fabric potlis.

Presentation Tips

While the classic Onam sweets are the center of the attraction, present them creatively in traditional bamboo, cane, or jute basket. For a classic traditional touch, one may line the basket or hamper with a piece of Kerala Kasavu fabric and decorate the gift box with marigold flowers and a brass lamp.