Imagine a Christmas tree decorated with a saffron colored ribbon, Hanuman-faced Santa, small shoes with BATA prints and India’s favourite totem against the evil eye – lemon and green chilies with a small board that says Buri nazar wale tera muh kaala. Fighting for attention are, Rajasthani-style colourful peacocks, Santa Claus riding a camel, topped with a small Tricolour.
This tree is the creation of Brazilian friend who has been living in India for six years. In her words, “For me, Christmas is a celebration of life and you should celebrate it with things that you see every day, that exist all around you. There’s no point in pretending to be a European and decorating the tree with bells, reindeer and poinsettias. I prefer things that I see on Indian roads.”
Christmas Baba, Christmas Thaatha and Natal Bua are the Indian monikers for Santa Claus. And the festival is known as Bada Din in Hindi.
To take this Indo-Western remix further, we have our very own Christmas pudding recipe inspired by Lagan-Nu-custard.
Ingredients:
(Enough to serve family of 4 for two days)
5 eggs (Grade IV)
1500 ml milk with full cream
120 ml condensed milk
300 gm grained sugar
Pinch of green cardamom powder
Pinch of nutmeg, grated
½ tsp vanilla essence
Handful of almonds (boiled, peeled, sliced)
Method:
1. Bring the milk to boil and simmer.
2. Add sugar and condensed milk and stir till completely dissolved. (Add or reduce sugar if you prefer). Simmer for anothert 15-20 mins till the milk gets thicker and the color changes from white to yellowish. Remove from fire and keep aside.
3. Mix egg, cardamom powder, grated nutmeg and vanilla essence. Add slowly to milk at room temperature and mix well.
4. Pour the mixture in a greased baking pan, bake at 200-220 C for 45 -50 min in a preheated oven. Garnish with sliced almonds and let it chill. (Can also be eaten warm)
5. Don’t get too greedy and gobble up the custard, as it tastes much better on the next day.
Image courtesy: © Thinkstock photos/ Getty images
