The mithai mela – or sweets market – wasn’t the original destination for Balwinder Sandhu and her 20-year-old daughter, Saaj. The two had stopped by the Indian restaurant Punjabi by Nature for pakoras but couldn’t resist exploring the colourful tent in the middle of a Brampton parking lot.
A soaring cherry blossom tree anchored the arches under swathes of bright fabrics and fairy lights. Punjabi music drowned out all else.
Inside, gloves on and boxes in hand, shoppers made their way down rows of yellow ladoos and perfectly squared milk cakes. Some carefully picked their favourite mithai.
Others piled boxes high. Brampton resident Ms. Sandhu, who has lived in Canada for 33 years, says celebrating traditions remains important to her, as is bringing all three of her adult children to the gurdwara and cultural events such as this.
This mela, which sits on Gore Road near several places of worship including the Hindu Sabha Mandir and a gurdwara, is expected to have around 150,000 visitors during the week-long festival going until Nov. 8.
Many shoppers stop in to buy mithai before heading to prayers, then return for more sweets and gift boxes to share with family and friends, says Nisarg Barot, marketing manager at Punjabi by Nature.
The Brampton location is one of 10 melas hosted by Punjabi by Nature this year for Diwali, up from eight last year.
The setup is just one part of a bigger Diwali operation spanning 10 locations across the GTA and Kitchener, Ont., up from eight last year. But it all began as a small tent outside the restaurant nearly 15 years ago.
To prepare for the Diwali rush, Punjabi by Nature has stocked over a million empty boxes across its locations. At this time of year, more than 200 varieties of sweets are on offer compared to the roughly 120 throughout the year.
And milk cakes – a dense, fudge-like mithai with a grainy texture – take the cake as the best seller. Mr. Barot estimates the company makes 10 to 15 times as much of it as any other sweet, with trays sometimes emptying within 15 minutes.
Keeping them full is a job in itself. More than 100 workers are involved in making mithai during the festive season. Production runs in shifts and refrigerated trucks deliver fresh stock from their local factory several times a day.
Outside, oil sizzles as chefs squeeze ribbons of batter made from flour, water and baking powder onto a giant pan, twisting them into bright spirals. A quick dip in sugar syrup and the jalebis are ready.
“It’s such a famous dish, kids like it, adults like it, everyone likes it,” said Charanjit Singh, one of the two chefs making the popular sweet here. He’s been doing it for five years and by the end of his 9-to-9 shift, his wrists often ache.
This weekend, he expects to go through about 200 kilograms of batter as lines stretch around the plaza.
For Shristi Sharma, the mela is a reminder of Diwali celebrations back home in India. She drove in from North York with her husband Himanshu and their nine-year-old son Yuvaan after spotting the event on social media.
The family moved to Canada about four years ago and spent their first few years focused on work and settling in, leaving little time to celebrate festivals. Now, she wants Yuvan, who was four and a half when they arrived, to experience more of the traditions she grew up with.
“Here, you have all those vibes that you miss,” she said.