The kolam is drawn, the oil lamps are lit and Aunty Saraswathy's dining table is covered in tins of murukku, trays of laddu and a pot of payasam still warm from the stove. Every visitor gets a plate, and saying no feels rude. If you live with diabetes, those Deepavali sweets can feel like a test you are set up to fail.
They don't have to be. Deepavali sweets are not all the same: some carry far more sugar and starch per piece than others, and a few of the biggest blood sugar hits at an open house are not sweets at all. Knowing which foods push your glucose up the most, and why, lets you enjoy the celebration with your eyes open instead of guessing.
This matters in Malaysia more than most places. The Ministry of Health's National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 found that close to 1 in 5 Malaysian adults has diabetes (about 3.9 million people), and nearly half of them had not been diagnosed. So at almost any Deepavali open house, someone at the table is managing blood sugar, whether they know it or not.
Below, we go through the classic Malaysian Indian festive foods one by one, using figures from the Ministry of Health's own food database wherever they exist.
Why Deepavali sweets hit blood sugar so hard
Most traditional Deepavali sweets are built on the same three things: refined flour or rice flour, sugar or jaggery, and ghee or oil. Flour and sugar are both carbohydrate, and your body turns carbohydrate into glucose. The more carbohydrate in a piece, the bigger the rise, whether it tastes very sweet or not.
The ghee adds a twist. Fat slows down how quickly the stomach empties. A small study in people with type 2 diabetes found that taking fat just before a starchy meal slowed the stomach down and pushed the glucose peak later. In real life, a reading taken half an hour after rich, ghee-heavy Deepavali sweets may look reassuring, while the peak may simply arrive later, often just as the next plate is being passed round.
There is also the question of how your own body handles sugar. In a small study comparing adults in Chennai and Oxford, the Indian participants had a noticeably higher blood glucose response to the same glucose drink. Researchers suggest this may be one reason South Asians are more prone to diabetes. It is one study, but it is a good reason to treat the festive tray with respect.
Finally, there is the open house itself. You are not eating one piece of one sweet. You are eating a little of everything, at house after house, often from late morning until night, with sweet drinks in between. That stacking is what really drives the numbers up.
Deepavali sweets and festive dishes, from heaviest to lightest
The Malaysian Food Composition Database (MyFCD), run by the Institute for Medical Research under the Ministry of Health, lists several of our Deepavali sweets with a standard piece size. Here is what a typical piece contains, compared with a cup of plain white rice:
| Food (MyFCD serving) | Carbohydrate per serving |
|---|---|
| Chicken briyani, 1 set (about 405 g) | about 99 g |
| Mysore pak, 1 piece (90 g) | about 74 g |
| Laddu, 1 piece (70 g) | about 39 g |
| Plain white rice, 1 cup (128 g) | about 38 g |
| Halwa, 1 piece (50 g) | about 25 g |
| Kesari, 1 piece (60 g) | about 23 g |
Figures are worked out from MyFCD's per-100 g values and its listed serving weights. Home-made pieces are often smaller or bigger, so treat these as a guide, not an exact count.
Mysore pak: the heaviest piece on the tray
Made from gram flour, ghee and a lot of sugar, mysore pak is dense and rich. MyFCD lists it at 82 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, which puts a single 90 g piece close to two cups of rice. Of all the Deepavali sweets with a published figure, this is the one to cut small and share.
Laddu: one ball, one cup of rice
Whether it is boondi or besan, one standard laddu carries about the same carbohydrate as a cup of white rice. MyFCD's newer sugar data puts a typical piece at roughly 12–13 g of sugar, or about three teaspoons. The rest is flour. Of all the Deepavali sweets, laddu is the one people pick up without thinking, and half a laddu with your tea is a very different day from three laddus across three houses.
Gulab jamun and jalebi: sugar syrup on top of frying
MyFCD does not publish figures for these two, so we will not guess a number. What we do know is how they are made: gulab jamun is fried milk-solid dough soaked in syrup, and jalebi is fried batter dunked in syrup. Both soak up sugar right through, and the syrup is absorbed fast. These are the Deepavali sweets most likely to give you a sharp, early spike, so one small piece is plenty.
Adhirasam: jaggery is still sugar
This rice-flour and jaggery disc is a traditional favourite among Deepavali sweets in many Tamil homes, deep-fried and very filling. Jaggery sounds more natural than white sugar, but your blood sugar treats it the same way. Singapore's health ministry portal makes this point well: its Deepavali eating guide reminds readers that natural sweeteners like honey are still sugar.
Payasam and kesari: soft, sweet and easy to over-scoop
Payasam (vermicelli or sago cooked in milk with sugar or jaggery) goes down easily, which is exactly the problem: it is easy to go back for a second bowl. Kesari, the semolina sweet, sits at about 23 g of carbohydrate per 60 g piece in MyFCD. Like most Deepavali sweets, payasam is easier to enjoy in a small cup than a full bowl.
Murukku: savoury, but not free
Murukku does not taste sweet, so it feels safe. It is still made mostly from rice flour and urad dal flour and is deep-fried, so it is starchy and oily. The danger is the tin: a few handfuls while chatting can add up to more than one plate of rice before you notice. Count your murukku the way you count your Deepavali sweets.
Biryani: the biggest number of the day
The surprise for most people is the main dish. MyFCD's chicken briyani set comes to about 99 g of carbohydrate, far more than any single sweet on the list. Eat a full plate at three houses and the rice alone outweighs anything on the dessert table. A half portion of rice, with extra dhal, chicken and vegetables, keeps the plate generous without the overload.
Teh tarik and festive drinks: the sugar you drink
MyFCD does not list teh tarik on its own, but it does list the main ingredient. One tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk carries about 5.7 g of sugar, and a mamak-style kopi with milk and sugar comes to roughly 26 g per cup in the same database. Add rose syrup drinks and fizzy drinks at every stop, and the glasses can end up carrying more sugar than the Deepavali sweets. Ask for kurang manis or teh-o kosong, or simply drink plain water between houses.
Signs you have overdone the Deepavali sweets
A high reading after a day of Deepavali sweets is common. Watch for these signs that your blood sugar has been running high for a while:
- Feeling very thirsty and drinking glass after glass of water
- Needing to pee more often, including at night
- Feeling heavy, sleepy or "food coma" tired long after the meal
- Blurry vision or a dry mouth
- A reading that stays high the next morning, not just after meals
One or two high readings during the festival are not a disaster. What matters is that your numbers come back down once the open houses are over. If they don't, or you feel unwell, speak to your doctor.
Malaysian dietitians have been saying the same thing for years. In a Deepavali report in The Star, a dietitian and a nutritionist urged families to cut the sugar in laddu, payasam, palkova and nei urundai when they make them at home. A sweet with less sugar is still a sweet, and still part of the celebration. For more on how local food fits into a diabetes-friendly day, see our guide to eating Malaysian food with diabetes.
The bottom line
Not all Deepavali sweets are equal. Mysore pak and laddu carry a cup of rice or more in a single piece, syrup-soaked gulab jamun and jalebi spike fast, and the biggest carbohydrate load of the day often comes from the biryani and the sweet drinks, not the dessert tray. You do not need to refuse every plate. Pick the one or two Deepavali sweets you love most, have a small piece, go easy on the rice and drinks, and keep your eye on your readings.
Now that you know which foods push blood sugar up the most, the next step is a plan for the day itself. Read our festive season open house survival guide for diabetes for plate order, drinks, walking and testing tips. Happy Deepavali!
Sources
- How many Malaysians have diabetes (close to 1 in 5 adults) — National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019, Ministry of Health Malaysia
- Small study in type 2 diabetes: fat eaten with a starchy meal delays the blood sugar peak — Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2006
- Small study: adults in India had a higher blood glucose response than UK adults to the same glucose drink — British Journal of Nutrition, 2008
- Carbohydrate and sugar per serving of mysore pak, laddu, halwa, kesari, briyani, rice, condensed milk and mamak kopi — Malaysian Food Composition Database (MyFCD), Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia
- Eating healthy during Deepavali: natural sweeteners are still sugar — HealthHub, Health Promotion Board Singapore, 2023
- Malaysian dietitian and nutritionist: cut the sugar in laddu, payasam and other Deepavali sweets — The Star, 2019
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Please consult your doctor before changing your diet or medication.