GROWING UP, Maneet Chauhan’s favorite Diwali tradition was undoubtedly the abundance of sweets. If you ask her today, that fondness hasn’t exactly changed; however, now, more than 7,000 miles away from her childhood home of India, the renowned chef, restaurant owner, and judge on Food Network’s Chopped is cooking up new memories and traditions with her own family in their Nashville, Tennessee, abode.
Each year during the autumn month of Kartika on the Hindu calendar, Diwali is celebrated across India with extravagance. “It is absolutely insane,” says Maneet, who compares the holiday to Christmas in the United States. Homes are cleaned pristinely in anticipation of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, who is said to visit homes on the eve of Diwali, and fine, new, colorful clothing is worn to celebrate.…
