Festive feast

Pushpesh Pant

The festive spirit that is ushered in by Christmas continues well beyond the New Year. Food is what contributes significantly to good cheer. This is the time for sharing delicacies with relatives and friends. Santa Claus or Christmas Father is eagerly awaited by children who keep awake late in the night for him to bring them gifts from an impossibly long wish list. As far as we are concerned we look forward to the gift hampers with traditional goodies, rich plum pudding, assortment of roasts, cheeses, chutneys and preserves. Maybe a bottle of wine. But all that comes later. The appetite is whetted by the festive meals with family at home.

Christmas dinner is enjoyed on the Christmas Eve with carols and songs specially evoking the Yuletide spirit. In Europe, it is the season of snow. Roast turkey or honey-glazed ham is the centrepiece on the laden table. Steaming soups and cold cuts provide variety. In Germany, it is cake-like breads that are indispensable while in the US ‘Mom’s apple pie’ is the shining star. In Scandinavian countries, piled fish and salads of different kinds delight the diners.

Indian Christians have adapted the traditional menu to suit the local palate. Except in Goa and states in the North-East, ham and beef dishes are not usually encountered. Turkey is substituted with roast chicken and the whole leg of lamb is the preferred roast.

Remarkable are ways in which the regional cuisines of India have moulded the Christmas meals in their own image. In Bengal, the ‘Bodo Diner Khana’ has some gems from the Anglo-Indian repertoire like duck roast or leg of lamb. The must-have list includes Kolkata biryani, bhanja masala, alu dom, mocha cutlet. Rich plum pudding and cake try to divert the attention of addicts of nolen gurher sondesh and palash — the seasonal delights.

The same scenes are enacted in Kerala. As soon the roast leg of lamb or roast of chicken is displayed and ritually carved and served with mint sauce or thick sauce-like gravy, the diners move on to richer spicier and more aromatic Indian repast. Fish biryani and meen veruval, pollichathu exude an irresistible attraction. The special cakes decorated with cherries and enriched with dried fruit are not the only dessert. The muttamala, a filigree-like spiral necklace crafted out of egg yokes moulded in syrup redolent of saffron, is stunningly beautiful and delicately delicious.

In Goa, the perennial favourites for ceremonial feasts, vindaloo and sarpotel, are the main draw but masala-stuffed whole pomfret in fish rechedo avatar too exerts a powerful seduction.

It is the multi-layered bebinca that plays a subtle sweet symphony with the ensemble of coconut, vanilla and egg while Kerala muttamala (literally garland of eggs) dazzles with delicate strands of golden yolk redolent of saffron. In Delhi, good friend Satish Jacob has an open house for Christmas lunch and treats his guests to a mind-boggling range of kebabs and qorma, assortment of rich Indian breads and desserts — shahi tukaram and more. Needless to add that the traditional roasts and cakes aren’t forgotten.

We share with our dear readers some of our favourite, easy-to-make at home recipes, for Xmas.

Seasons Greetings!

Chicken roast

Ingredients

• Whole chicken (with skin, washed and pat-dried) 2 kg
• Tomatoes (medium-sized quartered) 3
• Onions (medium-sized quartered) 2
• Lemons (juice squeezed) 4
• A piece of ginger 3 inch
• Garlic (peeled & separated) 3 bulbs
• Whole dried red chillies 4-5
• Kashmiri red chilli powder 1 tsp
• Black pepper powder 1 tsp
• Oil to baste 1/2 cup
• Salt to taste

For accompaniment and garnish

• Potatoes (quartered, roasted along with chicken) 2 large
• Eggs (hard-boiled, halved lengthwise) 4
• Carrots cubed roasted in the pan with the chicken) 2 large

For the glaze (optional)

• Honey 1 tsp
• Apple cider vinegar 1 tsp

Method

• Preheat the oven to 150º F.
• Grind the garlic cloves, diced ginger and chillies to a paste, adding a little water.
• Add Kashmiri red chilli powder and blend well.
• Add lemon juice and salt.
• Using a sharp knife, carefully loosen the skin. Inserting your hand, enlarge the cavity without breaking the skin.
• Make sharp gashes on the chicken so that the spices reach deep inside the bird.
• Place quartet tomatoes and onions inside the stomach.
• Apply the ground spices generously inside the stomach cavity, between the skin and the flesh.
• Secure the legs with a string and the loose skin with toothpicks.
• Heat about 3 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the chicken on high flame for about 5-6 minutes on each side to brown well.
• Cover a baking tray with a sheet of foil, place the chicken in it on a bed of vegetables arranged on side, pour the remains marinade over it.
• Cover with another sheet of foil and place in oven. Raise heat to 200º and cook on toast mode for an hour.
• Turn baste with a little oil and cook for another 30 minutes at 250º or less.
• Check once or twice to ensure that it is not charred too much. Baste lightly with honey vinegar, if using.
• Take out from oven, remove the foil, carve and serve with vegetables and eggs.

Vegetable cutlets

Ingredients

• Vegetables (boiled but not mushy, cauliflower florets, carrots, peas, beans. Mash lightly) 2 cups
• Potato (boiled, mashed) one
• Garam masala powder 1 tsp
• Green chilli chopped fine one
• Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Bread crumbs 1/2 cup
• Bread soaked in water for very short while to soften-then squeezed immediately 2 slices

Method

Blend the mashed potatoes with boiled vegetables and soaked bread slices Mis powdered spices, salt and garlic ginger paste. Stir-fry on a non stick pan glazed with thin film of oil for a couple of minutes. Divide in equal portions, shape in round balls and flatten into patties of desired shape. You may use a cutter to create hearts! Coat with bread crumbs and shallow fry on medium low heat till golden brown with crisp exterior.

Caramel custard pudding

Ingredients

• Eggs three
• Milk 2-1/2 cup
• Sugar 3/4 cup
• Vanilla essence 1 tsp
• Nutmeg (grated) 1/4

Method

• Beat eggs, add 2/3 cup sugar and boiled milk when still quite hot. Stir well.
• Heat a thick-bottomed pan and melt 1/3 cup sugar in it stirring constantly till it is rich brown in colour. Pour in six small cups, bowls or moulds. Tilt to spread caramelised sugar all over the bottom.
• Pour milk and eggs mixture into the cups. Place cups in a flat-bottomed large pan. Fill it with water till the neck of the cups. Cover and steam the pudding for about 45 minutes till it’s set. When done to perfection the pudding trembles like jelly.
• Test by piercing with a fork or skewer. It should come out clean. Loosen with a sharp knife or spatula and turn upside down on serving dish. Enjoy!