Christmas 2021: Mumbai's Catholic families share traditional recipes

(From left) Bebinca, coconut ice, walnut fudge, sugar-coated and regular kidiboran, macaroons, rose cookies, jaggery chikki, neuries, green and milk fudge, marzipan, rice chaklis, rice and boondi laddoos, and balushahi by the Pereiras

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A sugar-laced welcome

Prashanth Pereira

For Kandivali-based Prashanth Pereira, it begins to look a lot like Christmas from Advent, when his entire family, including his six-year-old son, gets into a chatty huddle to dish out kuswar. It's a tradition that he grew up with, his earliest memories dating back to when he was six or seven. "Aunties from the neighbourhood would come to our house in the afternoon to help my mother make sweets and savouries, which would then be distributed. It was a wonderful experience, and a noisy one too, with all the women chatting away," he recalls.

The Pereiras dole out kulkuls ahead of Christmas

Pereira's is among the dwindling population of Mangalorean and Goan Catholic families that still whip up kuswar - a collection of Christmas sweets and savouries - at home, as the preparation can be tedious and time-consuming. From rice chaklis to marzipan, and kulkuls to baath, a kuswar platter, much like its Diwali cousin faral, packs in as many as 22 varieties, with different iterations within the two communities. Now, with many opting for store-bought versions, the flavour of community is amiss in the sweets. Pereira and his wife, Anita, tell us that making the sweets with family, friends and neighbours is a way to keep that sense of community alive, and pass on the recipes to the next generation. "We make sweets and savouries to celebrate the coming of Lord Jesus in our hearts and homes. We prepare almost all traditional Mangalorean delicacies such as rice chaklis, kharakadi, shankarpalli, kidiboran or kulkuls, rice laddoos, rava laddoos, boondi laddoos, rose cookies, Christmas rum and fruit cake, and more," points out Pereira who hails from Kurkal village in Udupi, Karnataka.

Rose cookies By Anita Pereira

Ingredients
. 1 cup maida
. 1/2 cup rice flour
. 1/2 cup sugar
. 1 tsp vanilla essence
. 1/2 tsp salt
. 1 egg . 200 ml coconut milk
. 50 gm white or black sesame seeds

Method
Beat the egg and sugar together. In a mixing bowl, add the egg and sugar mixture along with maida, rice flour, salt and vanilla essence. Mix these by pouring in coconut milk; make a thick and smooth batter without lumps. The batter's consistency should be such that a spoon dipped in it is coated well, without any dripping. Sprinkle sesame seeds and mix well. Heat oil in a kadhai. Season the rose cookie mould by washing it, drying it and dipping it in the heated oil for at least five minutes. Take the heated mould; dip it in the batter and then in the oil.

The mould will release the shape of the flower if you gently shake it. Fry it on both sides, and then strain out immediately. Repeat the process. Cool the cookies completely before storing them.

Kulkul chronicles

Three generations of the Fernandes' family prepare kuswar

In her Goan family, a kulkul - crispy worm-shaped pastry - and neurie - a close cousin of karanji - in the shape of a cross are made first, and eaten last, reveals home chef Fiona Fernandes from Orlem. "We do this to remind ourselves of the reason for the season," notes the Goan whose family hails from Candolim, Sangolda and Parra. Fernandes reminisces that she, along with her sister and brother, would be assigned the job of rolling out the dough for neuries, while her father shaped them sitting on his easy chair, and mother fried them - all of them carolling away. "I remember how us kids would stuff our mouths with the filling behind our parents' backs and then avoid talking until one of us burst out laughing. My father taught us to shape kulkuls so that they don't open while frying," she adds. In Mumbai, her family keeps the tradition alive with three generations of relatives, including her 72-year-old mother Delia, coming together annually. On the menu are kulkuls, neuries, doce, coconut sweet, marzipan, milk cream, walnut drops, guava cheese, salt sticks, coconut baath, plum cake, and more.

Kulkuls By Delia Fernandes

Ingredients
. 350 gm maida
. 200 gm rawa
. 250 gm sugar
. 1/4 tsp baking powder
. 4-5 tbsp ghee
. Salt to taste
. 1 egg (optional)

Method
Dissolve salt and sugar in a cup of water. Knead maida, rawa, beaten egg, baking powder, salt and ghee with the water solution to form a soft dough. Set it aside for two to three hours under a damp cloth. Now, take a small piece of the dough and make a ball. Using your thumb, press it down with the back of a fork. Roll one end till the centre, and then roll it over to get a caterpillar-like shape.

Fernandes has curated hampers of kuswar. Call 9833095655 | Candy Dreams is taking orders for kulkul, milk cream, almond marzipan, and more. Call 9820252285