Christmas Special: Indian dessert recipes with a twist!

Aditi Bose shares some unique preparations to get you in the mood this festive season.

Each year, I prepare 'food with a twist' for my Christmas party. And this time around, I have decided to incorporate the three main Christmas colours -- red, green and white. Here are some dessert ideas that fit in with this theme.

Strawberry Kheer with Rose Water

• Boil two cups of milk.
• Fry 1/2 cup vermicelli till light gold in a teaspoon of ghee.
• Add milk to it and stir.
• While stirring, add half a cup of fresh cream.
• Make a powder of a few cardamom seeds and add to it.
• Add half a cup of sugar.
• After 10-12 minutes, when the mixture begins to thicken, add a teaspoon of rose water.
• Stir and take it off the heat.
• Puree five to six strawberries and mix it into the kheer once it has cooled down for the red Christmas colour.
• Garnish with slivers of cashew and raisins.

Khoya Pistachio Rolls

• Stir half a cup of khoya with two tablespoons of sugar briskly in a heavy bottomed pan till it begins to leave the sides.
• Mix a few strands of saffron to three to four teaspoons of milk and add to the mixture.
• Add a pinch of cardamom powder and green food colour for the Christmas colour.
• Take it off the flame and add cut pieces of pistachio to it.
• Add a couple of spoons of milk powder and knead well.
• Divide into small chunks.
• Flatten out each piece with your hands and then roll into tubes.
• Decorate with pistachio pieces and serve.

Kiwi Firni

• Boil a litre of milk.
• Add around 50gm of rice flour to it (you can even make a powder of normal rice in the blender if there is no time to go buy rice flour) and stir.
• Add sugar, a pinch of cardamom powder and let it simmer for a few minutes till its thick and creamy.
• Remove from flame and allow it to cool.
• Puree two kiwis with a pinch of nutmeg powder and stir into the firni for the green Christmas colour.
• Pour into earthen bowls and refrigerate.
• Just before serving, add a thin kiwi slice for the garnish.

Betel Leaves Stuffed with White Chocolate and Cherry

• Melt a bar of white chocolate with a little bit of milk.
• While the chocolate is still molten, mix a teaspoon of the following: raisin (soaked overnight), cut pieces of cherry, cashew, date candy.
• Take a betel leaf and fold it into a cone.
• Fill 3/4 of it with the mixture.
• Cover it with the top flap of the leaf and seal it with a toothpick.
• Stick a cherry on top of the toothpick.
• Arrange them on a plate and sprinkle with white chocolate or coconut powder before serving.
• This desert that has all three Christmas colours (red, green and white).

Grape Dumplings in Red Wine Sauce

• Mix flour, sugar and canned grape juice to form the dough.
• Take chunks of it and roll each into thin circles.
• Fill each with three-four pieces of red or green grapes and then fold the dough to form the dumplings.
• Steam it for six or seven minutes.
• To make the wine sauce, mix red wine with two spoons of honey, a cinnamon stick and a small piece of ginger and let it simmer for a few minutes.
• Before serving, pour the warm wine sauce over the dumplings
• The grapes and the wine give the dessert the Christmas colour.

Pistachio Kulfi with Guava Cream

• Boil a litre of milk till it's reduced to half its volume.
• Add a quarter cup sugar and stir so that the milk does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Add a pinch of cardamom powder and half a cup of finely chopped pistachio.
• Stir for a minute and remove from flame.
• Allow it to cool before pouring into kulfi moulds.
• Freeze. It takes eight to 10 hours to be frozen well.
• Mix half a cup of canned red guava juice with fresh cream and pour it over the kulfi before serving.
• The pistachios and guava give the Christmas colour.

Beetroot Halwa with Almonds

• Grate one beetroot.
• Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a frying pan and add the beetroot to it.
• Fry it for a couple of minutes.
• Add a cup of milk and stir.
• Once it starts to bubble, add half a cup of sugar and cashew pieces and keep stirring.
• Remove from flame once the halwa begins to separate from the sides.
• The beetroot gives the red Christmas colour.

Coconut Pomegranate Sheera

• Stir a litre of milk with two cups of coconut cream on low heat.
• Add half a cup of sugar when it's reduced to half its volume.
• Add half a teaspoon of cardamom powder and cut pieces of 10-12 cashews.
• Pour into serving bowl and allow it to cool.
• Stir in the 'red jewels' of half a pomegranate for the red Christmas colour and refrigerate.
• Garnish with pomegranate at the top before serving.

Bhapa (steamed) Sandesh with Strawberry Sauce

• Boil one litre of milk.
• Squeeze the juice of half a lemon and stir a little.
• The milk will begin to curdle to form chana (the Bengali word for paneer or cottage cheese).
• Once the entire chana separates, strain it and press down a little so that the whey is completely removed.
• Put the chana into a plate, add sugar, a little vanilla essence and a pinch of cardamom powder.
• Knead well and then make small balls of the mixture.
• Wrap a banana leaf around each ball and keep it in place with a toothpick.
• Steam for eight-10 minutes.
• In the meantime, puree a handful of strawberries with sugar and a little pineapple or orange juice.
• Once the sandesh has been steamed, just before serving, open the leaf and spread the strawberry puree over it.
• The strawberry and the banana leaf add the Christmas colour.

Aatar Payesh (Custard Apple Kheer) with a Twist

• Scoop out the pulp of two or three custard apples.
• Use your hands to remove all the seeds.
• Boil a litre of milk till it reduces to half.
• Add half a cup of sugar and stir.
• Add the custard apple pulp while stirring.
• Once thick, remove from flame and allow it to cool.
• Pour into small martini glasses and refrigerate.
• Just before serving, decorate with red and green gems for the Christmas colour.

Rose Petal Sandesh

• Boil one litre of milk.
• Squeeze the juice of half a lemon and stir a little.
• The milk will begin to curdle to form the chana (cottage cheese).
• Once the entire chana separates, strain it with a strainer.
• Press it down a little so that the whey is completely removed.
• Put the chana onto a plate and add a few spoons of sugar, half a teaspoon of rose water, a pinch of cardamom powder and a few strands of saffron.
• Knead the mixture well and then roll it into small balls.
• Flatten the balls and place a rose petal on each, for the red Christmas colour.
• Press down the petal so that it sticks to the sandesh.

Apple and Pistachio Rabri

• Cut a green and a red apple each into small pieces and keep aside. Don't remove their skins; that will add the Christmas colour.
• For the rabri, boil half a litre of milk till it reduces to half its volume.
• Add half a cup of sugar and stir.
• Once it's thick, add the slivers of pistachio and remove from flame. Let it cool.
• For serving,use a glass bowl so that the colours show -- make a layer with the cut fruit and pour the rabri over it.
• Add the rest of the fruit over the rabri to form the top layer.
• Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Sweet Rajma with Whipped Cream

• Mix 50gm of flour, 50ml milk, a teaspoon of salt and one egg into a smooth paste.
• Heat oil in a pan and pour some of the batter into it.
• Roll it around so that it forms a circle.
• Flip it when one side is golden.
• Remove from flame for the other side.
• Repeat with the rest of the batter.
• Next, boil the rajma that has been soaking overnight. The rajma's red adds the Christmas colour.
• Once done, blend it with sugar and honey till it's a smooth paste. Strain it if required to remove the skin.
• Spread it on the pancakes.
• Before serving, add a dollop of whipped cream over it and sprinkle some icing sugar.

Green Tea Sabudana (Sago) Kheer

• In a pan, heat a couple of tablespoons of ghee and roast a handful of cashew and raisins.
• Next add the cupful of sabudana that has been soaked overnight (after straining).
• Add four cups of milk and stir briskly so that the sabudana does not form lumps.
• Let it cook on low heat for 10-12 minutes till the sabudana becomes translucent. Keep stirring all the while.
• Add half a cup of sugar and a pinch of cardamom powder when the kheer begins to thicken.
• In the meantime, boil two teaspoons of green tea for a couple of minutes in a little water.
• Once the kheer is done, just before removing it from the flame add the strained green tea water. This will add the Christmas colour.
• Serve warm with a cherry as the garnish.

Jam and Honey Rabri

• Boil one litre of milk in a heavy-bottomed pan.
• Stir it occasionally so that it does not stick to the bottom.
• When it begins to thicken, add a pinch of cardamom powder and stir.
• Once it is of a creamy texture, remove from flame and let it cool.
• Add four or five spoons of honey and stir.
• Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
• Just before serving, add a dollop of strawberry jam or rose marmalade over it for the Christmas colour.

Till next time, here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas!