The chicken main dishes were a standout at the SASA Diwali celebration, alongside the sweet gulab jamun and the naan.

This past Saturday, Creighton’s South Asian Student Association (SASA) put on an amazing Diwali celebration, filled with dancing, music, performances and delicious food catered by the Omaha restaurant Desi Bites. Every once in a while, you come across a meal where one dish surprises you, another comforts you and a third becomes the instant favorite — the kind you already know you are counting down the days until you have it again. That’s exactly how this tasting experience happened for me at Diwali. 

Let’s start with the sweet sticky ball, gulab jamun, because I haven’t seen or eaten anything like it before. Imagine a perfectly round donut hole, warm and lightly crisp on the outside, soft and cloud-like on the inside. Now drench it in simple syrup. That’s gulab jamun. It has this combination of being super comforting but super indulgent. The syrup amplifies the sweetness without being overpowering. If you’re a fan of desserts that are simple but deeply satisfying, this was very, very good.  

But as great as it was, it played an entirely different role in the meal compared to the savory dishes. The galub jamun is a treat meant to end things on a high note. The tandoori chicken, on the other hand, is the star that I kept thinking about long after the meal was over. The chicken was hands-down the standout of everything I tried, juicy, tender and seasoned with the perfect balance of flavor. Where the gulab jamun leaned into sugary richness, the chicken leaned into a savory depth. The seasoning worked its way all the way through the meat, not just sitting on the surface. Out of everything on the table, the chicken was the one dish I kept returning to, the one I mentally ranked first without hesitation.  

The naan played a huge supporting role, soft and warm with just enough browning to give it flavor. It worked with every dish — scooping butter chicken, sandwiching tandoori chicken or absorbing the extra sauce from the paneer. The green chutney added a fresh, bright pop that cut through all the richness on the plate. The chana masala and paneer butter masala rounded out the meal with hearty textures and deep spices, but they weren’t as memorable as the chicken dishes. The gulab jamun ended everything on a perfect sweet note: simple, soft, syrupy and comforting. 

Tasting everything side by side helped me appreciate how distinct each dish is, even when they share similar spices. It was a great reminder of how food can be both familiar and completely new at the same time.