Juggling between schedules!

November is over, and finally we feel the chills of the winter (even if it’s only after sunset!). But for us Mumbaiites even this much is more than enough, atleast we get to say that finally, for us also, “the winter has arrived!” Try out some of my winter favourites like Ginger tea,Chettinad fried chicken and Wholesome khichadi.

Besides this, I surely am looking forward to an engaging and exciting schedule which is waiting for me in the weeks to come. Just like this morning, I started pretty early with a 9.00 o’ clock shoot with Bloomberg TV for a programme titled Smart Money on the sets at our in-house studio. Here, I spoke about why people should invest in food and restaurant business.

Immediately after this I had to catch up the promo recording for Canada Radio for the promotion of the food products for which I am supposed to travel to Toronto in the coming days. Unfortunately, the shoot extended and I could not complete it and had to postpone it for the evening.

Next on the schedule was my one-to-one interview with the electronic and print media at Taj Land’s End, Bandra for my upcoming TV channel FOODFOOD. While I rushed for this event, I found out that coincidently today’s HT Café, Mumbai also has a news piece about the upcoming channel.

Starting tomorrow, for the next three days I can already smell the busy air around me. I will be caught up with the shooting of my new show on a new set for the new channel. I hope to do something majorly different this time than the usual Khana Khazana that I have been religiously doing on ZeeTV for the last 17 years.

And amidst all of this, there has been extensive shopping going on for all this. So, everybody else is also enjoying and having a gala time!

As I wind up, happenings at our office include the visit of an expert halwai from a leading brand. He was here last week to demonstrate the art of making mithais to our chefs. I’m sure the Rasgulla, Cham Cham, Rajbhog, Rasmalai and Malai Sandwich which he taught, satisfied the sweet buds of everyone in the office!

Till I write again…

Sanjeev Kapoor

Christmas dinner recipes – a great legacy

Traditional Christmas dinner recipes have some interesting origins. In olden times Egyptians treated goose as their celebratory bird but latter turkey emerged on the English tables. In a matter of time the American cranberries became accessible and cranberry juice is an quintessential Christmas beverage.

The world has been celebrating Christmas since centuries and traditional Christmas dinner recipes vary from country to country. There are some basic ones that have interesting origins.

Christmas ham is believed to have existed much before the advent of Christianity. Even in these times, Christmas ham with scalloped potatoes on the side, aspic salads and Christmas cookies make a wonderful Christmas meal. You could also try a Christmas Sour Cream Potato Salad for a variation.

Humble pie, derived from the term umble pie, has been traditionally made using different body parts of deer mainly heart, liver, brain which were specifically known as “humbles” by the servants of nobility who used to enjoy the more forms of meat. Humble pie became an integral part of Christmas dinners around the 17th century. For those who always look at options, we can offer Mini Soya Cottage Pies and Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie.

Mincemeat pie, originated around the 16th century, and had actual minced meat with added preserved fruits for flavour. As the recipes evolved, the meat and the meat fat was omitted and the pie came out to a completely sweet dessert nicely flavoured with spices and brandy or rum. It is still a custom to top individual mincemeat pies with a star shaped pastry top! Another suggestion could be a Prune Tart that is made with apricot jam, prunes and fresh plump plums.

Interestingly, plum pudding was initially a soup made using meats with dried plums, wine and spices. The plums and meats were later removed, and raisins along with eggs and breadcrumbs were added which also added to thickness of the soup. The word plum was generally used for any dried fruit in 17th century. For an easy recipe click on Christmas pudding.

Christmas dinner recipes: A touch of Goa

India is a land of diversity and various religions and cultures have ruled the heart of Indians since time immemorial. So we get a chance to celebrate a lot of festivals too in our way. Christmas is just one of them. And Goa, amongst all the regions in the country, forms the epicenter of the Christmas celebrations in the country. With Christians forming the majority in Goa, every year Christmas is celebrated with great poise and elegance. And of course with celebrations, comes food. Goa has a distinct way of presenting its Christmas cuisines to the world. It’s rich landscape, beautiful beaches and calm atmosphere just adds a new taste to the flavour. The main items consist of puddings, rich meat and tempting fish dishes.

From the fact that all the local bakeries and hotels are jam packed day in and day out during Christmas season it is not hard to predict that how much the world is in love with Goan food during Christmas. The major dishes include:

• Sorpatel, one of the oldest curry forms prepared in Goa and an integral part of Christmas cuisine. Made from pork meat and liver, its spicy taste just reflects the richness of the Goan food during festivals.

• Pork Vindaloo, a tangy dish which becomes a part of the main course of Christmas cuisine in Goa. The best combination includes this dish with plain, boiled or jeera rice.

• Bebinca, a famous desert prepared in Goa. This dish takes ample of time for preparation, but the outcome of patience is amazingly sweet.

• Besides these dishes, the other Christmas dinner recipes we can suggest are Chocolate Walnut Fudge, Prawn Balchao, Chicken Cafreal, Fish Xacuti.

So, if you are a foodie and you want to celebrate Christmas and New Year, then you know which the best place to be in is!