Friday is the start of Diwali, the four-day Hindu festival of lights. Celebrations include candles, firecrackers and a serious binge of sweets. These five shops carry the best in Indian indulgences.
Mistann, 478 McNicoll Ave. This North York spot, tucked away toward the end of a parking lot, is one of the best places to get Bengali sweets such as the cottage-cheese-based rasgullas and rasmali, which are dipped in either syrup or sweetened milk.
Annapurna's, 1544 Warden Ave. This 14-year-old Scarborough shop is just a hop, skip and a jump off the 401. The unbeatable freshness -- they manufacture their delicacies on site -- is matched only by the dizzying selection. There are more than 55 types of desserts, including 14 kinds of fudge-like barfi.
Surati Sweet Mart, 1407 Gerrard St. E. While this shop in the heart of Little India carries many of the old standbys, this time of year they offer Diwali specialties such as moon-shaped ghughra, made of semolina flour, cardamom, sugar and pistachio.
Brar Sweets, 2646 Islington, Etobicoke; 755 Dundas St. W., Mississauga; 199 Advance Rd., Brampton. Stop by any of the three locations in the west end to stock up on the sugary goodness of deep-fried jalebis or the Timbit-like gulab jamun.
A1 Sweets, 3300 McNicoll Ave. Located near the Scarborough Sikh temple, this shop is famed for its soft, cakey kalakand. Mountains of sweets wrapped in sliver-thin paper can be bought by the pound.