A lot of preparation goes into celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, which begins on Monday.

There’s cleaning and decorating the house, buying new clothes, visiting friends and family – and of course, preparing and sharing meals. And while the foods associated with Diwali vary by culture, one central theme is snacks and sweets.

The holiday honors Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity. It celebrates light over darkness, new beginnings and the victory of good over evil.

Ronnie Mazumdar is the founder and CEO of Unapologetic Foods, a restaurant group that includes Dhamaka and Semma in New York. He moved to the US from Calcutta when he was 12 and misses the Diwali celebrations of his youth.

“In India, every relative would be there, and that made Diwa for me,” he says.

The sweet that embodies the joy of the holiday for him is fresh rasgula, a Bengali candy made from jaggery, a type of brown cane sugar.

“Imagine these little cheese dumplings dipped in a sweet jaggery syrup that you can just pop into your mouth all day long. It’s like a divine intervention of humanity,” he says.

The rasgulla he most associates with Diwali is made from nolenguru, a jaggery syrup made from the sap of the date palm, which is harvested as Diwali approaches when the weather turns cooler.

Milk is also a big part of sweets from Calcutta and eastern India, he says. He likes kacha gulla, made with milk that has been curdled and has a loose texture “like ricotta cheese.” It is used in many types of sweets.

James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Raghavan Iyer has fond memories of celebrating Diwali in Mumbai, where he lived until he was 21.

“The food itself is important, but it’s also the sharing of food with family and friends that’s the most fun,” he says. “When we grew up, we always knew which neighbors to go to – houses where deliciousness would be really great.”

He fondly remembers dumplings made of rice and flour called kozhukata. His family made two versions: a sweet one made with fresh coconut and jade, and a savory one filled with lentils and chilies.

Iyer says Diwali always had kaaju barfi, bars made with pureed cashews, ghee (clarified butter) and sugar. (His sister’s tip: He’s hoping you’ll send him one this year!)

And many desserts, he says, are finished by drenching them in sweet syrup. One of his favorites is jalebi, which contains chickpea flour. It is dipped in sugar syrup with cardamom, saffron and lime.

Kathy Workman via AP

Leela Mahase, from Queens, New York, grew up in a Hindu family in Trinidad. Her Diwali sweets include ladas, which she makes from a paste of crushed peas and turmeric. It is fried in oil, then ground again and combined with a syrup made of brown sugar, various spices and condensed milk. It is made into balls for food.

Mahase also makes prasad made by toasting flour in ghee and adding cream of wheat. In a separate pot, she simmers condensed milk with water, raisins, cinnamon and cardamom. This milk-based syrup is added to the cream of wheat mixture and cooked until the liquid evaporates. It has a texture she likens to mashed potatoes and is eaten with the fingers.

Manisha Sharma, a lawyer and mother of three from New York, celebrates Diwali according to the traditions of northern India, where her family is from.

“Diwali is celebrated with grandeur. You decorate your front door with lights, display your clothes and eat delicacies that you wouldn’t eat on a daily basis,” she says.

In India, she said, it’s common to give others boxes and bowls of food and gold coins with pictures of gods like Ganesh and Lakshmi.

Sharma says that “as part of the prayer, when you light the flame, you make an offering of food – always sweet – to the gods.”

Incorporating chopped nuts into desserts is a traditional way to both display wealth and show respect, she says. Pistachios and almonds are popular.

She also says that milk is featured in many desserts here, including firni, a custard baked in a pan, sprinkled with pistachios and served cold. There are also burfis, cut into small fudge-like squares.