Ontario Home Cooks Share Cherished Diwali Recipes in the First Edition of Food Basics’ More Flavours of Home

The free, community-sourced cookbook features Vibha Ajwani of Scarborough and Harinder Dhaliwal of Kitchener-Waterloo, and the family dishes at the heart of their Diwali celebrations

TORONTO, Nov. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This Diwali, Food Basics is sharing some of Ontario’s most cherished family recipes with the first edition of More Flavours of Home, a free, community-sourced cookbook series that celebrates the residents and families who keep cultural traditions alive through food. 

For many communities across Ontario, Diwali is a cherished annual celebration, with food and family recipes often at the heart of the festivities. For many, preserving these recipes is an important way of passing culture between generations. In a 2024 survey by the Canadian Health Food Association, 78 per cent of BIPOC Canadians said they want to learn traditional cooking techniques to pass them on to future generations. 

Following nominations from across the province, Vibha Ajwani of Scarborough and Harinder Dhaliwal of Kitchener-Waterloo were selected to share their recipes, traditions and stories in the cookbook, told in their own words and photos.

In Vibha’s kitchen, there’s always a festival on the horizon. A home cook who blends traditional and modern Indian cooking, she sees every recipe as a way to keep her family’s traditions alive and pass them from one generation to the next. For this edition, she's contributing her Kesar Shrikhand, a saffron and cardamom yogurt dessert that has a special place at her family’s Diwali celebrations.

“Each of our festivals, from Holi to Ganesh Chaturthi to Diwali, has its own special traditions and dishes,” said Vibha. “I love preparing these foods for my family because they connect me to the generations before me and allow me to keep our culture and traditions alive for generations to come. Having one of my recipes featured in a cookbook makes me incredibly proud of my cooking and my heritage.”

Harinder is a familiar face in Kitchener-Waterloo’s South Asian community, and her volunteer work with House of Friendship have earned community recognition. Her contribution to More Flavours of Home is her Aloo Parantha, a flatbread stuffed with spiced potatoes that brings her family together at Diwali and all year round.

“This recipe is one my family has been enjoying for generations and it’s so important to me to continue passing these dishes and flavours on,” said Harinder. “Being part of this cookbook means sharing some of our joy with all of Ontario and maybe starting a new tradition in someone else’s kitchen celebrating beautiful moments with their families for all holiday gatherings.”

“Many of the recipes that live in kitchens like Vibha’s and Harinder’s aren’t written down. Instead, they are learned at a family member’s side and measured by a handful of this and a pinch of that, they’ve been carried across oceans and kept alive in Ontario kitchens for generations,” said Hardeep Kharaud, SVP, Food Basics. “More Flavours of Home is our way of honouring the people who keep these traditions alive and helping more Ontarians bring them to their own tables this Diwali.”

More Flavours of Home builds on More Flavours of the World, the platform Food Basics launched earlier this year to spotlight the thousands of international products on its shelves. The Diwali edition is available free at foodbasics.ca/more-flavours, and every ingredient needed to recreate Vibha’s and Harinder’s dishes can be found in-store and online through Food Basics across Ontario. New editions celebrating Lunar New Year and Ramadan will follow in early 2027.

About Food Basics
Since 1995, Food Basics has been helping customers save money on their grocery needs by providing Always More for Less. Food Basics operates on three guiding principles: Always Fresh, Always in Stock and Always at Great Prices. Food Basics is the discount banner of Metro Ontario Inc. and currently operates 160 stores across Ontario.

About METRO Inc.
With annual sales of more than $22 billion, METRO Inc. is a food and pharmacy leader in Québec and Ontario, providing employment to more than 97,000 people. Its purpose is to Nourish the health and well-being of our communities. As a retailer, franchisor, distributor, manufacturer, and provider of eCommerce services, the company operates or services a network of some 1,000 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, Food Basics, Adonis and Première Moisson, and some 640 pharmacies primarily under the Jean Coutu, Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Food Basics Pharmacy banners. For more details, visit corpo.metro.ca and follow the latest news on LinkedIn.

Attachments

• Vibha
• Harinder

Lara Cruz
Metro Inc.
647-804-2056
lcruz@thinkagnostic.com