KOCHI: When Yuletide comes jingling all the way, spreading mirth and radiance in hearts and hearths, there is no escape from the good things that come with it. It is a fact that Christmas is a feast for the senses.
The decked-up homes, illuminated trees, soothing carols, and tempting aromas wafting from the kitchen... the Christmas magic is too strong to resist. Among all its trappings, the lavish spread of gastronomic delights steals the show. But how many of us have paused to think of the origins of this grand feast in Kerala?
One would be pleasantly surprised to know that had it not been for the arrival of the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the English, our Christmas would have been a bland, lacklustre affair, shorn of all its glitz and goodies.
That means no stars, cribs, decorated trees, and most importantly, no cakes, cutlets, stew, and other delicacies. But then, Kerala had Christians even before the advent of Europeans, right?
“There is not even an iota of evidence to prove that Christmas was celebrated by the early Christians of Kerala with the pomp and elegance that we see today before our tryst with the Europeans,” says veteran journalist, historian, and author Ignatius Gonsalves. “It must have been an absolutely low-key, localised affair.”
How It All Began
Ignatius explains that the great travellers, including Marco Polo, who visited Kerala before the Europeans, have not recorded anything about Christmas festivities. Even the songs of the early Christians and literature from the pre-Portuguese period fail to mention anything about celebrations connected to the birth of Christ.
In fact, one should be thankful to the Europeans, especially the Portuguese, for the lip-smacking array of delicacies featuring flesh and fowl that mark the Christmas lunch.
Apart from introducing red chillies, onions, and a whole range of culinary ingredients, the Portuguese taught their descendants (the Anglo-Indians) and those who adopted Latin (Roman) Catholicism the culinary arts.
“The Portuguese chefs tweaked their recipes with local ingredients to create fusion dishes dripping with flavour,” says Ignatius, adding that the Anglo-Indian and Latin Catholic chefs deserve the credit for popularising a vast majority of chicken, beef, and pork-based delicacies in myriad avatars that grace the dining table on December 25. The Brits, meanwhile, deserve the credit for popularising the plum cake and pudding, which add the quintessential sweetness to Christmas.
Dig in the Anglo Way
No Christmas is complete without zooming in on the Anglo-Indians, as this community outsmarts others in radiating the spirit of the season and the bonhomie that comes with it. Their Christmas lunch is the stuff of legends, as it brings together the extended family around a table loaded with dishes. Anglo-Indian culinary expert Matilda Rodriguez says, “The typical Christmas lunch comprises multiple courses. We start with bread and meat stew, followed by beef cutlet and salad.”
She explains that the salad comprises chopped onions, tomatoes, and green chillies in vinegar. “We then serve duck roast, which is a semi-dry dish with the flavour of peppercorns dominating, along with pork roast. The latter comes with big chunks of pork with slivers of lard in a not-too-fiery preparation. Last comes the rice, gravy, and roast beef, which again is all about big chunks of slow-cooked meat that leave one craving for more,” says Matilda.
According to Ignatius, who belongs to the Anglo-Indian community, bebinca (a baked dish made of rice flour, ghee, and eggs) was served as dessert in olden times, adding that some families also dine on roast turkey with stuffing, pointing to the English influence.
“With Anglo and Latin Catholic chefs, these dishes made their way across Kerala over the centuries, giving rise to many different variants across various communities,” he sums up.
In short, the fusion of the Orient and the Occident has created a unique, tasty legacy for Christmas that Kerala can be proud of.
Figdosi
By Linette Luiz
Ingredients
Ripe plantains: 3, chopped into round pieces
Thin coconut milk: One and a half cups
Thick coconut milk: 3/4 cup
Sugar: To taste
Salt: A pinch
Cardamom pods crushed: 2
Method
In a saucepan, cook the chopped plantains, and cardamoms along with the thin coconut milk over medium heat until the pieces become soft. When the consistency thickens, add the thick coconut milk, lower the heat, and mix well. Add sugar and salt and bring it to a light boil and switch off the flame. Serve warm along with rice hoppers or string hoppers for breakfast.
Beef Baffad
By Kein Gonsalves
Ingredients
Sliced beef: 1/2 kg
Turmeric powder: 1 tbsp
Kashmiri chilli powder: 3 tbsp
Garlic: 2 bulbs
Yellow mustard seeds: 2 tbsp
Cloves: 3 nos
Cinnamon: 2 sticks
Peppercorns: 1 tsp
Coriander: 1 tsp
Ginger: 1 big piece
Bark of drumstick tree: 1 piece
Onions: 2 nos
Green chillies: 2 nos
Salt: As required
Vinegar: 3 tbsp
Coconut oil: 2 tbsp
Curry leaves: 3 sprigs
Coconut milk: Add if required after the baffad cools
Method: Wash the sliced beef pieces and keep aside. Add cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander, garlic, yellow mustard seeds, ginger and bark of drumstick tree and make a paste with vinegar. Mix this with the meat and keep aside for one hour. Add a little water to the meat to be cooked in the pressure cooker. Saute the onions, chillies, curry leaves in coconut oil and add to the meat and cook in the cooker until done.
Eranadan prawns curry
By Chef Arun Vijayan
Ingredients
Tiger prawns (without shell): 6
Sliced shallots: 50g
Chopped ginger: 5g
Crushed garlic: 5g
Salt: To taste
Turmeric powder: 2g
Chopped tomatoes: 20g
Kokum water: 10 ml
Curry leaves: 2 sprigs
Whole shallots: 5
Green chilli: 3
Thick coconut milk: 80ml
Chopped coriander: 2g
Coconut oil: 50ml
For garnish:
Micrograms
Red oil
Coconut milk
Fried whole shallots
Method: Crush the whole shallots and green chilli together. Keep it aside. Heat coconut oil in a pan and add the sliced shallots and tomato. Sauté it until grown and add salt and turmeric powder. Add the prawns and curry leaves. Then, add kokum water and cook for 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk and adjust the gravy to a thick consistency. Finish with crushed green chilli, shallots and chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy with Appam
Pentefrite
By Kein Gonsalves
Ingredients
Finely powdered rice flour: 2 cups
Eggs: 2
Salt: One pinch
Milk of one coconut
Coconut oil for frying
Method
Mix the flour, eggs and salt in a bowl. Add the coconut milk and knead well and leave it for two hours. Make small balls of dough, flatten each one with a comb and fold it. Deep fry them until they turn slightly brown. If needed, you can dust powdered sugar over the pentefrite.
Lemon Butter Salmon
Ingredients
By Priya Harikumar
Salmon: 4 (sliced)Black pepper powder: 2 tbsp
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Garlic powder: 1/ 2 tsp ( optional)
Salt: To taste
Butter: 2 tbsp
Method: Clean and pat dry the salmon pieces. Rub the marinade thoroughly on the pieces and keep aside for 10 minutes. Add butter to a grill pan, place the salmon slices. Flip it over, and cook until both sides are done. Serve hot.