Get a whiff of Christmas!

For most chefs in the city, Christmas is a busy time. There are special menus to be planned, delicacies to prepare and diners to serve. But there was a time when the festival meant preparing sweets with the family at night, attending midnight mass with their siblings, opening gifts, and elaborate and lazy lunches. They share some of these fond memories with After Hrs:

Executive Chef Thomas Zacharias, The Bombay Canteen

Growing up in Kochi (Kerala), food was an integral part of my upbringing and my best memories included time spent in my grandmother Ammini’s kitchen learning how to cook and appreciate food with her. Christmas would be the one time when our entire family would come together regardless of which part of the world they were living in at the time. On the morning of December 25, my late grandfather would get all the kids around the Christmas tree, and start distributing dozens of gifts that were very aesthetically placed under the tree the previous night. This was followed by a very elaborate lunch that included roast chicken, fatty pork curry, potato wedges fried in chicken fat, a rum soaked Christmas cake and of course, my all time favourite, my grandmom’s duck curry (which is served on The Bombay Canteen’s Ulta Pulta Christmas menu along with other Indian Christmas dishes all the way till end of December). A long nap after was also part of the tradition!

Duck Curry

Ingredients
1 no duck (approx. 1.5 kg), cut into smaller pieces
2 tbsp coconut oil
½ cup shallots, thinly sliced
1.5 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chill powder
2 cups thickly sliced onions
2-3 nos green chillies, slit
1 tbsp    ginger, thinly sliced
2 cups coconut milk
2-3 nos potato, cut into large dice sized quarters, boiled
to taste vinegar
Salt to taste

Method
In a large pot, heat coconut oil, add the thinly sliced shallots and fry till brown. Add the ground masala and sauté on low heat till masala is cooked. Add the thickly-sliced onions, ginger and green chilies and sauté till translucent. Add the coconut milk, duck pieces, vinegar and salt and cook. When almost done add the potatoes and adjust seasoning with salt.

Chef Paul Kinny,
Director Culinary Bellona Hospitality

Being an East Indian, I grew up in an east Indian village with lots of relatives and friends around us. Most people lived in joint families and the whole family would come together to make Christmas sweets. Now we don’t see people gifting so much, but earlier, everyone used to give everyone sweets, so they were needed in huge quantities. We would all gather in the kitchen and make them together. The kids would bake cakes, shape the marzipans and other fun stuff. We would also get to stay up till much later in the nights. The next morning we would be all dressed up for Church service. Mom would send Kuswar — a platter of Christmas sweets including kulkuls, marzipans, milk cream, guava cheese and the works — to the neighbours. Each one of us would go to different houses and distribute sweets. Then once we grew up and went to colleges, it was the Christmas dances to look forward to with all the pretty girls all dressed up! (laughs)

Marzipan

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups powdered cashew nuts
3 ½ cups icing sugar
1 egg white
½ tsp rose water
Food colour as required

Method
In a thick bottom pan mix the powdered cashew nuts, icing sugar, egg white and rose water. Cook on a slow flame and keep stirring till the mixture is thick and leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from the flame, let the mixture cool down and add food colour as desired or keep it natural. While still warm place the mixture in the moulds and make desired shapes. Demould and keep aside till they’re solid.

Chef Rohan D’Souza — Head Chef, Silver Beach Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt Ltd

Christmas was always a family affair, when I was growing up in North Goa. We would attend midnight mass on Christmas eve and stay up late at night. The festive lunches are pretty elaborate but on 25th morning, even the breakfast would be huge! There would be hash browns, sausages, bacon, mince pies, Christmas cakes and the works! After such a heavy breakfast, the lunch would always start really late and go on till high-tea. Personally, I’m not a big fan of turkey, but give me a nice homemade chicken roast and I’m happy. Pork and seafood would also be on the menu. For dessert, we would make coconut barfis and other Goan delicacies. In the evenings, we would go out and meet friends or dine out. The recipe I’m sharing is a personal favourite, one that I make for special people when I invite them home.

Celebratory Christmas Paris Brest

Ingredients
Choux paste
125 ml milk
100g unsalted butter
150 gms flour
1 tsp caster sugar
3 eggs
1 cup hazelnuts havled
icing sugar to dust

Method
To make choux paste, place the milk, butter and½ cup water in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Add the flour, sugar and ½ tsp salt, and stir with a wooden spoon for two to three minutes until mixture is smooth and comes away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a bowl and whisk for one minute, then slowly add eggs whisking well until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe 8 cm rings into a baking tray. Then place hazelnuts on top of rings. Bake for 18 min at 200c until golden and puffed. Leave the oven door open and let it rest in the oven for 10 minutes to dry out. Set aside till completely cool.

For the Mousseline filling

Ingredients
 3 egg yolks
 75 gms caster sugar
 75 gms cornflour
 120 gms hazelnut paste
 500 ml milk
 125 ml double cream

Method
For crème pattiserrie
Whisk egg yolk, cornflour and sugar in a heat proof bowl until smooth. Place the hazelnut paste and milk in a saucepan and whisk to combine. Place over medium heat and bring to boil, then immedietly remove from heat and pour the egg mixture whisking slowly until combined. Return the mixture to a saucepan and place over medium heat. cook whisking constantly for six minutes or until thick.
Set aside to cool and chill. Cut the choux bun into half like a doughnut and pipe the hazelnut mousseline. Dust with icing sugar. Garnish with strawberries or raspberry as an option.

Rachel Goenka
Founder and Chef, The Sassy Spoon and Sassy Teaspoon

I don’t think much has changed since I was a child, only the people cooking the food perhaps. Our Christmas lunches are always the biggest meals. As usual the spread would have sorpotel, sweet rice, beef rolls stuffed with bacon and ginger, pork vindaloo, green pork (that’s what we call it), mashed sweet potato casserole (this is my addition), roast chicken with stuffing and loads more! What I love most are the late nights spent in the kitchen with our house help, my mum and my sister making sweets. Every year we make marzipan, kul kuls, neuris, rose cookies, ginger snaps, coconut ice and perad (guava cheese) together. It’s a lovely way for everyone to spend time together. Even my dad will come and chat with us while all the girls are busy making sweets. We have Christmas carols in the background, some 12 dogs around us and it’s become one of my favourite family traditions. Christmas morning is usually a nightmare since I always wake up late and the chicken and stuffing is my job at home, but I still manage to get it done in time for lunch!

Neuris
​​Pastry

 1/4 kg sieved Maida
1 table spoon Melted Ghee
1/2 tea spoon Salt
 A little warm water for kneading

​​Filling
 100 gms Rawa
 2 table spoons Roasted Sesame Seeds
 200 gms dessicated Coconut
 Powdered Sugar as per taste
 2 – 3 Table spoons broken Cashewnuts
 2 – 3 Table spoons raisins
 8 – 10 Cardamoms

Heat the ghee so it’s easy to mix with the maida. While the ghee is getting hot, roast the rawa on low flame until it turns light brown. As the rawa is getting roasted add the heated ghee to the maida. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and knead the dough. Continue to knead until the dough becomes soft and keep it aside. Once the rawa is roasted, add sesame seeds and stir it well. Pound the cardamom until it’s powdered. Add some ghee in the center of the rawa mix. Fry the cashew nuts in the ghee. Add raisins and desiccated coconut and the balance ingredients.

Stir for a few mins and set aside.
​​
To make the neuris
Roll a small ball of dough into a circle. Add a spoonful of mixture and with your finger tip, lightly dab water on the corners of the pastry and fold in half to form a crescent shape. Use the back of a fork to seal around. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, fry the neuris until golden brown.