Care for a Gulab Da Pu for Dessert?
At Ellvina Carr’s home in Chennai, Christmas Eve is the time when her mother whips up the star dish of the spread – the Baffad. “It’s a flavourful Goan stew usually made with pork, but at our home, it is cooked with duck and vegetables. We have it with bread after attending the midnight service,” she says. The family has one more recipe which has been a dessert staple of the household for more than 60 years – the gulab da pu. Here is how you do it: Mix maida with butter and water to form a dough, and let it rest for 15 minutes. Scrape the coconut and add the yellow powder. Dry in the sun for 30 minutes. Knead the dough and roll it into large, thin flatbread pieces of three different sizes. Stack the rounds by size, press the centre and twist slightly to form a flower-like shape. Deep-fry the gulabs on low heat until crisp and evenly cooked. Prepare a sugar syrup with water, sugar, rose colour, and essence. Dip each gulab into the syrup, then place on a tray. Garnish the centre with yellow coconut threads and allow to dry before serving.
**Pick Up a Channapatna Bauble This Christmas**
Tacky plastic baubles are passé; how about pretty little fairy lights made of palm leaves, handmade and hand-painted by artisans from rural Madurai? Or red and white stockings embroidered to perfection by Toda women from the Nilgiris? Perhaps some cream and gold Sholapith flowers and little Channapatna wood Santas to deck up the tree? There are a range of Christmas-themed handicraft products being made today from across the country, some of which are exported. “These crafts have been handed down generations and were once part of daily life in India. Now they have come back for health and environmental reasons,” says Jayasri Samyukta Iyer of Craft Council of India, which sources these items from different states. “Many of the artisans come up with the ideas for Christmas, though they are also given training.” The geometric patterns of Toda embroidery, locally known as pukhoor, are made by Toda women based in villages in the reserve forest area around Ooty, trained to design them in traditional Toda patterns,” says Sheela Powell, founder of the organisation Shalom, which employs the women.
**Where Joseph Holds Infant Jesus**
“Why should mothers be the sole caretakers of a baby? The father too should be present and support the mother,” says Sashikala Chandran. It’s to invoke this idea that Sashikala and Dr V D G Chandran decided to have a figurine of Joseph holding baby Jesus in their crib this year. Another new trend this year is immersive crib and gingerbread houses, which you can walk into and explore. “We have set up life-sized cribs at apartments while commercial spaces have cribs as tall as 8 ft to 10 ft with imported figurines, for which people are willing to shell out Rs 80,000 to Rs 2 lakh,” says Sophia Caroline, founder of Santa Stores.
**Gifts That Truly Deliver**
For gifting this holiday season, how about going above and beyond, and away from the tangible? “The season’s gifting trend is about personalisation,” says gifting concierge Vedika Shah. “What’s in are gifts that tell a story, tie into a memory, or satisfy a need.” Gifting trends for Xmas this year include giving experiences, binge-worthy shows, skills, storage, or even a couple of months of peace of mind. Several OTT platforms now allow giftees access to binge-worthy content. For the incessant learner, popular gifts this season include access to expert masterclasses online. For the seeker, there’s an array of mindfulness apps and virtual therapy sessions. Another big hit this season is the idea of gifting cloud storage subscriptions for anyone (read everyone) desperately trying to squeeze photos and documents. Meanwhile, the Chennai Volunteers is playing ‘Secret Santa’, encouraging people to contribute to the gift registry based on what children at govt homes and hospitals wish for. “Be A Santa started in 2021 to dispel the fear of Covid among vulnerable children and has since continued. This year, we are fulfilling the wishes of more than 1,500 children at places such as VHS and CSI School for Hearing Impaired,” says Rinku Mecheri of Chennai Volunteers.
**And a Partridge on a 30-Foot Christmas Tree**
It was the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at St Peter’s Square at the Vatican that inspired Fr Vincent Chinnadurai to think of something similar at the Santhome Cathedral Basilica in Chennai. Standing at 30 feet, the tree is probably the tallest in the state and can be seen next to the church, a spectacular sight when lit up at night. “We lit up the tree on Dec 17, and everyone is welcome to visit. The church is situated close to the beach, so we get a lot of tourists, especially on Christmas Eve, from different parts of the country and abroad. We will be setting up a nativity scene next to the tree as well,” says Fr Vincent, rector and parish priest. This is the first time they have put up such a tall tree, and it is waterproof, says Raj Joseph of Santa Stores, which supplied it.
