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'Tis the weeks before Christmas, and preparations involve using a traditional Christmas cake recipe to bake your own, a tastier proposition that the store bought. Here's a desi twist.
‘Tis the weeks before Christmas, and preparations involve using a traditional Christmas cake recipe to bake your own, a tastier proposition that the store bought. Here’s a desi twist.
As a child, I used to wait for that tasty, moist, and fruity Christmas cake from our ‘Christian Aunty’ in our neighbourhood. She made the yummiest of Christmas cakes, and gifted us kids every year. The way she used to bake them in tins coated with newspaper also astonished me as a child. Sometimes we would also compete to get the bigger piece of the cake.
Such is the joy of so many festivals in India, be it Christmas or Diwali. We celebrate together; we eat together.
Starting from our wardrobe to our festivals, we are undoubtedly a multi-cultural nation. And our cuisine is no exception to that. The culinary traditions of India are extraordinary as far as variation is considered. The reason is quite evident from the influence of various cultures that have inhabited this vast country since ancient times. Be it Portuguese influence in the food of Goa, French influence in Pondicherry, or the Mughal influence in Hyderabadi cuisine; Indian cuisine is truly a fusion cuisine.
Since Indians have a multicultural cuisine, the cakes are baked with some divergence from the convention. Otherwise, who would expect spices, ghee or marmalade in cakes as a major ingredient! Indian Christmas cakes also differ in the way they are prepared. Some bake them in pressure cookers; some in traditional ovens very different from the modern microwave ovens, while some in hearths.
So, here are some of those traditional recipes from across India to try this Christmas. Preparations for Christmas cakes start well in advance; depending upon the recipes traditionally followed, it could be from 6 months to 3 weeks, i.e., in soaking all the fruits in alcohol to enhance the taste.
Nandini, the owner of the blog Goanwiki or Goan Imports is a staunch Goanite. She has brought this mouth-watering moist traditional Christmas cake recipe, with the twist of black syrup that makes this cake stand out from the rest. Caramelized sugar syrup that is black in colour is prepared, and added to the cake batter along with all the soaked dry fruits.
Check out this authentic Christmas cake recipe from Goa.
Nags, the face behind the blog Edible Garden has written of this traditional Christmas cake recipe from Kerala, which is used by the Kerala Christians. Though the name is plum cake, it does not necessarily contain plums, but it’s the prunes and raisins that give this name to it. What gives it a distinctive taste is the spice mix (cinnamon and clove powder) added to the batter.
Have a look at this recipe to prepare your own traditional plum cake.
This classic recipe from Allahabad is the most Indianized version of a Christmas cake recipe. Adity who owns a blog Something Special by Adity has unveiled this traditional recipe. The uniqueness of the recipe lies in its ingredients that includes clarified butter (ghee), marmalade, candied fruit (petha) and the distinctive mix of spices (shah jeera, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and mace).
Check out this Christmas cake recipe here.
So, indulge yourself in some authentic Indian style baking when Christmas arrives. These Christmas cake recipes would definitely pleasantly surprise your near and dear ones when you gift them one!
Image source: pixabay
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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