HYDERABAD: Christmas delights, or rather delicacies, are crafted with love and care by each one of us. Be it the rich plum cakes or the roast that we all love to savour, there is no compromise when it comes to food choices for Christmas. While festive food can be a topic of endless discussions, the Anglo-Indian community adds an extra layer of fascination with their unique culinary traditions.
Known for giving Christmas food a royal and sumptuous touch, they always create some of the most memorable and exquisite dishes. CE reached out to a few members of this community in Hyderabad to learn about their festive specialties and the stories behind them.
Denise Hookens, Executive Assistant - Founder’s Office, Darwinbox, shares her joy in preparing and savouring these seasonal delights. “Christmas for us Anglo-Indians is all about food, family, and tradition.
Post-midnight mass, the family gathers for cake and wine along with Christmas specials such as guava cheese, coconut sweets, khul khula, rose cookies, and the iconic plum cake. Breakfast is a hearty English spread with bacon, ham, salami, sausages — the works (laughs).
Then comes the lunch feast, where the flavours of our heritage truly shine. It’s usually biryani or bagara rice paired with chicken curry and the ever-popular pork vindaloo. Every household has that one iconic dish everyone associates with it — a special recipe or flavour that stands out. For me, it’s my mum’s bagara rice (shaadi vala), chicken curry and pork curry.”
Commenting on the rich dishes that Anglo-Indians serve during Christmas, Chamaine Trevor, retired teacher, elaborates, “Anglo-Indians in India have a rich culinary tradition during Christmas, blending Western and Indian influences. Here are some key highlights of their Christmas menu, particularly the sweets and traditional dishes they make.
Plum cake — a quintessential part of Christmas, prepared with dried fruits soaked in rum or brandy, spices and nuts. Rose cookies — deep fried, sweet, crispy cookies shaped like roses or shells. Bebinca — a layered Goan dessert made with coconut milk, eggs, sugar and ghee popular among Anglo-Indians especially in coastal areas.
Christmas Pudding — a steamed dessert made with fruits, nuts and species often served with custard or brandy sauce. Jujubes and Marzipan — colourful jelly candies and almond based sweets, shaped into decorative forms. Coconut fudge (barfi) — made with condensed milk, sugar and grated coconut offering a rich chewy texture.”
“Moving on to the snacks we have Bola de Carne — a savoury bread stuffed with spiced meat, often served during Christmas breakfast. Chicken or Mutton Patties — flaky pastries filled with seasonal chicken or mutton mince. Spiced nuts — roasted cashews or peanuts with a mix of salt, pepper and spices served as nibbles. For the main course we have Roast meat — roast chicken, duck or pork with a stuffing made of bread, raisins and spices often served with gravy.
Ball Curry with Yellow Rice — a signature Anglo-Indian dish made with meatballs in a spiced curry, paired with fragrant rice. Vindaloo — spicy pork or mutton vindaloo, which has Portuguese roots is a festive favourite. And coming to the drinks we have wine — homemade wines, such as garpe, ginger or rose are a part of Christmas traditions.
Eggnog — a creamy, spiced drink made with eggs, milk and sometimes a dash of rum. One of the unique traditions of the food is that the preparations often begin weeks in advance, particularly for marinating meats and soaking fruits for plum cake. Many recipes are family heirlooms passed down through generations,” Chamaine adds.
Some of the traditional Anglo-Indian food comes from Goa and so taking us through Goan delights Caroline Sequeria, interior designer, says, “There are quite a few traditional Goan sweets at Christmas time beginning with wine or rum fruitcake, Perad (guava cheese), Bebinca (a traditional Indo-Portuguese layered cake), Kormolas, Rose Cookies, Channa Doce.
The traditional Goan lunch begins with exotic wines and entrees like prawn rissois, beef or fish croquettes, pork or beef asado with potato slices and of course the mouthwatering crumb fried kingfish or mackerel rechead (this quintessential masala is traditionally prepared with Goan vinegar. It wouldn’t be a feast if some form of Xacuti (usually chicken) is not being served at Christmas.”
