Photograph: Kind courtesy pixel1/Pixabay.com
Your New Year meal needn't be simple when you can have a full-on feast. Rediff Food's selection of recipes will help you make merry without blowing your budget.
If it's a cosy dinner with family, you can begin with a long drink.
The creamy Eggnog or a glass of Mulled Wine is for boosting festive spirits.
Spiced Apple Toddy is about that dash of spice and everything nice.
What's New Year without the traditional Rich Fruit Cake and Plum Pudding?
Hate to settle for something ordinary? Try a Date and Walnut Loaf Cake, Fruity Cake, Black Forest Cake, Honey Cake or Vanilla Cupcakes.
Sweets like Baath and Bebinca are a must in any Goan family.
Breakfast would be Pork Sorpotel with sanna in a Mangalorean home.
The Malayalee spread is likely to include a meal of appam with Mutton Stew and Duck Moilee.
You can also add Pork Chops with its crisp, delicious crust to your menu.
A Tamil Christian's breakfast would invariably include idli or appam with chicken or Mutton Korma. And lunch is most often biryani.
Who needs non-vegetarian fare, when you can have a spectacular Stew featuring the goodness of vegetables and coconut milk, that pairs well with appam and idiyappam (string hoppers)?
The Raan Roast has its own charm and so does the Roast Turkey, Mince Pie, Smoked Pork in Brandy and Pork with Bamboo Shoot, which is mostly prepared by the Angami Nagas, a major tribe of Nagaland.
It's hard to ignore the good old-fashioned treats like Stollen Bread, Gingerbread Cookies andPanettone Bread.
As the joy of this season fills your hearts, dig into some Turkey Roulade, Pork Roast,Chicken Cafreal, Pork Vindaloo, Beveca and Chicken Roast.
Or dine heartily on the simple yet impressive Cinnamon Roll, Raspberry Tart, Apple Muffin, Yule Log, Marshmallow and Strawberry Yogurt Parfait.
