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HomeOpinionPoVBake the best of India’s Christmas delicacies—Konkan kuswar to Allahabadi cake &...

Bake the best of India’s Christmas delicacies—Konkan kuswar to Allahabadi cake & rose cookies

Fruit cakes from Kolkata’s Nahoum and Sons have been a favourite among celebs like Sourav Ganguly and Suchitra Sen.

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Blood-red cherries, candied fruit, and golden sultanas soaked in rum. Nutmeg, star anise, and cashews whisked with a stick of butter, eggs, vanilla, and love are my earliest memories of plum cake—a generous, spongy treat with flavours so intense that I couldn’t wrap my head around it at first. An English import adapted to the Indian palate in 1883, it is no hidden fact that this classic, indulgent dessert is India’s official Christmas mascot: A spicy, boozy delicacy for some, an ‘acquired’ taste for others and a symbol of warmth, cheer, and holiday spirit for all. But as rich as it is—in taste, texture, and history—I couldn’t help but wonder if this rustic cake is all India enjoys for Christmas.

“We make deep-fried rose cookies, rum punch and ginger wine in the weeks leading up to Christmas, enjoy Appams [fermented rice pancakes] with Mutton stew and sides of pork as breakfast, and have indulgent chicken and fish feasts for lunch and dinner,” 26-year-old marketing executive Anjana George told ThePrint while recalling festivities in her Syrian Christian home.


Western traditions, Indian twist

Moving westward to the Konkan coast, you see residents greet each other with Kuswar or festive sweetmeats and snacks for Christmas. A Portuguese tradition in Indian garb, Kuswar is loaded with caloric goodness. It features Perada or guava cheese; Bebinca, a soft, layered cake made with flour, thick coconut milk and Ghee (clarified butter); Dose De Grao, a sticky fudge made with jaggery, coconut flakes and split Bengal gram; Goan Baath, a moist, buttery coconut-semolina tart; Date rolls; Kalkal or Goan fried pastry; Marzipan, and gummy candies called Jujubes.

“A particularly special one – the Goan black cake – uses slightly burnt caramel that gives it a hint of bitterness and a gorgeous dark colour,” food blogger Hilda Mascarenhas told Scroll in a 2017 interview, capturing the essence of India’s uniquely diverse Christmas baking traditions. Goan Christmas feasts don’t begin and end with dessert, though. They cut the sugar rush with Sorpotel, a spicy stew made with pork offal and eaten with Sanna, a chewy dumpling made with red rice, coconut and black lentil. “The only memory I have of Sorpotel and Sanna is that I used to love Sorpotel till I found what goes into it,” quips 26-year-old Goan restauranteur Mitch Marshall. “I haven’t eaten it once after that,” he laughs. “But it is really quite delicious.”


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Pork is the meat of choice

The North East is as big on pork, if not more. In Nagaland, whole pigs are butchered to create local delicacies like roast pig with fermented bamboo shoots, pork stew, pork curry and smoked pork with ‘Axone’ (fermented soya bean)—preparations enjoyed for a whole season. Naga Christmas is also incomplete without doughnuts, a particular favourite among the Ao community. “It is dark brown in colour, with a sweet powdery bite, unlike the pillowy-soft doughnuts most of us are used to,” writes Rituparna Roy in an article for Mint Lounge.

Sizou Changal (sizou leaf beef), Sana Thongba (light paneer curry with peas and milk), and Mepoh (smoked beef) are some Christmas savouries enjoyed in Manipur. Saking (a simple rice cake sprinkled with black sesame seeds) and Chhangban (glutinous rice cake with jaggery) are Christmas snacks of choice in neighbouring Meghalaya and Mizoram, almost always accompanied by rounds of hot, sweet tea.

Even the Hindu-dominated belt of Uttar Pradesh in North India boasts of a Christmas special—the Alllahabadi cake. Endemic to Prayagraj, this cake is quintessentially Indian thanks to the addition of petha (candied ash gourd), mawa (evaporated milk solids), ghee and spices.


Also read: Christmas gifts come by boat to isolated Romanian Danube Delta villages


Rich history

In West Bengal, rum balls and fruit cake reign supreme. Fruit cakes from Nahoum and Sons, a 120-year-old Jewish bakery in Kolkata’s New Market area, are a particular hit among residents, including former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and actor Suchitra Sen. “I used to get fruit cake from both my grandfathers for Christmas,” a friend from Kolkata recalls fondly, adding that trips to Nahoum’s were almost a ritual. Others head to Flury’s in Park Street for a divine English breakfast, digging into generous servings of sunny-side-up eggs, sausages, ham, hash brown potatoes, baked beans, and crispy bacon.

Neighbouring Odisha replaces the carbohydrates with Chenna Poda, a sweet, baked dessert much like the classic Spanish Basque cheesecake. Made with fresh cheese, sugar and coconut, it takes hours to prepare the caramelised treat, which also features regularly on Durga Puja.

Well, it looks like I’m hungry already.

(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)

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