Vivek Singh’s Indian Festival Feasts

Easter is one of the most significant festivals in the Christian calendar, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ which is at the heart of the religion. Although Christians constitute just 3 per cent of the total population in India, Easter is celebrated with full pomp and show especially in the largest Christian communities such as Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala and Mangalore. Church services and vibrant carnivals are part of the festivities, decorated Easter eggs, flowers and colourful lanterns are exchanged as gifts, and plays, songs and dances are staged.

A traditional Palm Sunday procession, similar to that seen all over the world, is often undertaken by communities the week before the main celebration, and further processions also take place on Good Friday, often with re-enactments of the Bible story taking place in the streets. Midnight vigils are also held to commemorate the death of Christ.

I have many memories of Easter from my time in Asansol where I attended St Patrick’s School, which is an Irish brothers’ Christian school. Asansol was a massive industrial town due to its steel and coal resources – it was probably the biggest industrial town after Calcutta (now Kolkata) in West Bengal – and had a very big Anglo-Indian community, which meant that there were dozens of Christian schools. I suppose as a young boy I didn’t quite understand what Easter was about, or the sombre nature of its origins, but what I do remember is that the boys would go out singing and dancing at night after the Midnight Mass (it was a good excuse to be outdoors late at night!), and we would all end up at a friend’s house.

The kind of food that was served at Easter was very recognisable to us Bengali and Indian boys but often had an Anglo influence. For example, dishes like duck roast would be served – although they’d be called duck roast but were barely a roast, rather duck in a sauce or curry – or things like Lady Kenny’s very dark gulab jamuns were enjoyed, which were like any other gulab jamuns, just much darker and slightly more caramelised. It was and is an incredible example of how these very different influences come together to create something rather wonderful and new.

One of the places where Easter is most celebrated in India is Goa, which was a Portuguese colony pre-independence. In this small western state, Easter celebrations are vibrant and energetic, with plays, music and dances being performed in the street. In Goa traditional Easter recipes reflect the legacies left by the Portuguese in India; sweet treats are baked and Portuguese and Indian ingredients are combined to create a fiery Easter lunch with dishes such as prawn balchao, chicken cafreal and fish peri peri.

In India the food cooked around the time of Easter varies from region to region due to the diversity in the lifestyle and culture. Although Easter is not as popular as Christmas in India, or celebrated as widely, Christians ensure that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated with great enthusiasm. To serve the purpose, many people have adopted the popular tradition of hosting lavish lunch, dinner and Easter parties. Interesting games are arranged to keep up the festive spirits. You can see small children making beautiful crafts for the festival. All in all, Easter is another wonderful festival that embraces fun and feasting.

Decorative Easter eggs are often made during the festival. (Caisli Mao/AFP/Getty)

Catholic nuns during Easter prayers at St Francis Church, Bhopal. (Mujeeb Faruqui/Hindustan Times/Getty)

This is yet another example of playing the hits – a balchao appears at several celebrations, including weddings and at Easter. Although traditionally this is a pickle, meant to be enjoyed for days after it’s been made, it tastes just as delicious fresh and hot! As a celebration dish or even cooked simply on a barbecue, this is and will always be a show-stopper.

You may find the portions slightly small for a main course on its own, but the dish works well served along with a few others and on its own may be a bit too spicy and full-on for a balanced meal. Try to combine this with a mild and saucy curry.

For the spice mix, mix together the roasted cumin seeds, peppercorns and red chilli powder in a food processor until fine.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and curry leaves and stir over a medium heat until golden brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and stir for 1 minute. Add the turmeric, followed by the spice mix and sauté for 3–4 minutes until the spices are cooked. Add the salt, sugar and malt vinegar and continue cooking until the oil separates (less than 5 minutes).

Remove and cool the mixture. If making for later, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate.

If using immediately, smear the cooked paste on to the king prawns on the flesh side and marinate for 20 minutes while you get your grill or barbecue hot. Simply cook for 3–4 minutes on each side, and serve immediately squeezed with lime and sprinkled with coriander.

Top left: Wak Me-A-Mesang Pura
Bottom left: Kabri Fish
Top right: Galinha Cafreal
Bottom right: Caldinho di Peixe

This fresh and lightly spiced fish curry is one of several dishes laid out on a Goan family table during Easter but you can also serve this on its own with rice for a perfectly acceptable midweek dinner. Ask your fishmonger to cut the fish into darnes for you (you can, of course, just use fillets, but the flavour and shapes are much better with the bone left in).

2 whole trout (or pomfret), heads removed and cut into darnes on the bone, approx. 2.5cm thick

Grind the coconut with 200ml of warm water, the turmeric, cumin and coriander seeds, rice, garlic, chopped onion and chopped green chilli in a blender to obtain a thick, spicy coconut extract.

Pass the extract through a sieve, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible (this is the first thick coconut/spice extract). Blend the spices and coconut husk left in the sieve again with 300ml of warm water and pass through the sieve again to obtain a second thin extract. Keep the 2 extracts separate. Discard anything still left in the sieve.

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan wide enough to accommodate the fish and add the sliced onions. Sauté over a medium heat for 3–4 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the thin (second) coconut extract and reduce the heat, add the remaining salt and sugar and simmer for 6–8 minutes until the spices are cooked and don’t taste raw.

Add the fish and the slit green chillies, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 6–8 minutes over a medium heat. Move the pan around to spread the heat evenly but avoid stirring as you don’t want the fish to break up.

Add the vinegar and check the seasoning, adjusting the salt and chilli to your taste and adding more if necessary. Finally, add the thick coconut extract and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes, covered. Do not let the sauce boil vigorously after adding the thick extract as it will lose its shine and richness. Remove from the heat and serve with rice.

This off-beat recipe – a sort of hybrid between European fish and béchamel bake and a mild curry for kids – isn’t an everyday dish. Anglo-Indian families in Asansol (the mining cum railway town that I grew up in) would serve this at Easter.

1kg boneless fillet of large white fish, such as monkfish, or halibut, cut into 4cm cubes

Season the fish with ½ teaspoon of the salt. Heat the oil in a wok and fry the fish in 2 or 3 batches. Set aside.

Heat the remaining milk in a large pan with the pounded cinnamon-cardamom and bay leaves and boil for 2–3 minutes. Remove the skin from the boiled milk, then stir in the cornflour mixture and cook the milk until it has reduced by a third.

Add the ginger paste, green chillies, fried fish and remaining salt to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes until the sauce has thickened considerably, then add the cold butter and stir to mix until the butter just melts. Add the coriander or parsley and serve immediately.

This is the type of dish where anything goes! I’ve seen people make this as a curry, as a grilled chicken on a barbecue, with or without skin, fried and even as a roast in the oven. I prefer a grilled or roasted version, leaving a little gravy to dunk pieces of bread into. Use spring chicken which has been spatchcocked and grill it on a barbecue, or just use chicken legs.

2 free-range poussins, cut into 4 lengthways (ask your butcher to do this if you wish) or spatchcocked

Place the poussins in a baking dish and prick them with the tip of a sharp knife. Mix together the chilli powder, turmeric and salt and rub over the poussins. Set aside for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, make the spice paste. Pound together the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise and peppercorns into a coarse powder, then blend to a fine paste with the ginger, garlic, green chillies and onion. Add the chopped coriander, coconut, salt, sugar, peanut or vegetable oil and Worcestershire sauce and check the seasoning.

Rub the spice paste over the poussins, inside and out, pushing some of the spices between the skin and the flesh, taking care not to rip the skin off. Set aside for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Cook the poussins in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the juices run clear. Remove from the oven and rest for 15–20 minutes. To achieve a golden, crispy skin, finish the poussins under a hot grill or on the barbecue.

Reserve the juices and gravy in a pan. Add 100ml of water, then reduce over a medium heat to make gravy. Adjust the seasoning and finish with lime juice, simmering for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the fresh coriander on top of the poussins, and serve with hunks of baguette or similar bread.

This is yet another of several dishes that would feature on the menu at a Goan family feast. The technique of using a little raw rice while grinding the spice paste slowly brings natural thickening and shine to the sauce as the rice cooks.

Grind together all the spice paste ingredients using as little water as possible to make a smooth paste (about 2 tablespoons of water should suffice).

Heat the oil in a heavy-based casserole, add the onions and sauté over a high heat for 6–8 minutes or until golden. Reduce the heat to medium, add the spice paste and cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring continuously to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Increase the heat to high, add the jointed chicken and fry for 5–6 minutes. Add the chillies, salt and coconut milk, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or so, partially covered.

Transfer the casserole dish to the preheated oven and cook, covered with a lid, for 20–25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through (alternatively, you can continue to cook on the hob). Add the vinegar, check the seasoning and serve.

Pork was not used much in Indian cooking until the late eighteenth century. Although most of the country was Hindu and consumption of pork was not barred in Hinduism, a large proportion of the population was vegetarian and pork did not feature much in cooking, except in Anglo-Indian dishes and the cooking of the hills in the eastern part of the country.

This recipe originates from Assam and was very popular with the British when they lived on the tea plantations. The term bhoona refers to ‘roast’ – this was a dish bearing some resemblance to an English roast but using spices to coat the pork chops when the dish was finished. This now frequently makes an appearance on Easter tables of the Anglo-Indian households as a celebratory dish.

Sprinkle the pork chops on both sides with the salt and red chilli. Heat the oil in a large, heavy ovenproof pan and sear the chops for 2 minutes on each side until they are coloured on the outside. Remove from the pan and set aside.

To make the masala, mix together the chilli powder, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste and finely chopped tomatoes in a bowl and set aside. Heat the oil in the pan used to sear the chops, add the fenugreek seeds and stir for 1 minute. As the seeds begin to brown, add the curry leaves and sliced onions and sauté for 6–8 minutes until the onions begin to turn golden brown in colour. Add the mix of tomatoes and spices to the onions and sauté for another 3–5 minutes until the spices are fragrant. Add 200ml of water and continue cooking until the water has been absorbed.

Return the seared chops to the pan, add the tomato ketchup, salt and sugar and stir until the spices coat the chops evenly. Place the pan in the preheated oven for 8–10 minutes or until the pork juices run clear.

Meanwhile, make the garnish. Boil the potatoes in 500ml of water with the salt and turmeric added to the pan for 6–8 minutes until cooked al dente, then drain. Heat the oil in another pan and colour the potatoes until they are crisp on the outside and golden in colour.

To serve, arrange the pork chops on a platter and pour the thick gravy over the top. Arrange the crisp potatoes on the outside and sprinkle with the freshly chopped coriander.

Vindalho is the Portuguese influence of cooking with garlic and vinegar, although you will come across several mentions of aloo or potatoes in recipes all over the world. This is a dish that has travelled far and wide and is seen on Indian restaurant menus all over the world. In the UK it has transcended into an entire genre of its own, but this is the original recipe as cooked in Goan households at Easter.

Crush the chillies, whole spices and seeds, then blend to a paste with the turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, salt, sugar and vinegar.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and sauté the onions for 12 minutes until golden. Add the marinated pork and cook over a high heat for 7–8 minutes until browned at the edges. Add 750ml of water and simmer, half covered, for 45–75 minutes until the gravy is thick and the pork is tender and cooked through. Add the green chillies, check the seasoning, adjust the vinegar and sugar as required and set aside.

It can be eaten on the same day, but this dish tastes much better reheated the next day. Serve with crusty bread or rice.

Sarapatel, or Sorpotel as it’s often referred to, is a brilliant example of Portuguese influences adapted with Indian spicing and a resulting dish that combines the best of both worlds. Part curry, part pickle and part stew, this is a good example of using more than just the best parts of an animal. If you don’t like liver, simply omit it and replace it with more pork. Much like any other pickle, this dish also tastes better two days after it has been made, when the vinegar has had a chance to work as the flavours improve with maturing. As a part of the Easter spread, it’s handy that this can be prepared a day or two in advance.

Place the pork and liver in a large pan with just enough water to cover, bring to the boil, then simmer for 12–15 minutes. Strain the meat from the cooking liquid, reserving the liquid. Allow the meat to cool.

Meanwhile, blend together the dried chillies, peppercorns, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves and turmeric with half the garlic and half the ginger pastes and approximately 100ml of the vinegar to obtain as fine a paste as possible. Set aside.

In a wide pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil at a time and fry a quarter of the boiled meats to get an even brown colour on all sides (cooking in batches avoids overcrowding the pan, which means the meat will brown rather than steam). Repeat until all the pork and liver is browned. Set all the meat aside once browned.

Next, add the remaining oil to the pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook for 6–8 minutes until the onions are golden brown. Add the remaining ginger and garlic pastes and sauté for another minute or so, stirring continuously to prevent them from sticking and burning. Add the spice paste, and continue to cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes until the spices begin to turn fragrant.

Now add the pork and liver and the salt to the pan and mix well. Add about 475ml of the reserved stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 30–40 minutes until the pork is tender.

Add the remaining vinegar, the sugar and the green chillies to the pan. Add more stock or water if the mixture seems a little dry and simmer for another 5 minutes. Use only as much liquid as you need to keep the curry semi-thick. The longer you wish to keep this, the drier the mixture can be (i.e. more like a pickle), or the more people you’re feeding, the wetter this can be (i.e. more like a stew or curry).

Top left: Sanna
Bottom left: Sarapatel
Middle: Baffado de Galinha
Top right: Kenny Memsaab ke Kaaley Jaam
Bottom right: Mutton Xacuti

Several tribal communities in the north-eastern Indian states have converted to Christianity over the years and now cook this dish at Easter and during other celebrations. Feel free to replace fermented bamboo shoots with regular tinned bamboo shoots if you wish.

Heat the oil in a heavy pan over a low heat, add the pork and cook uncovered for 30–40 minutes without adding any water. Stir occasionally and add the salt after 25 minutes, cooking until all the juices have been absorbed and the meat begins to turn brown.

Add the bamboo shoots to the pan and stir for 5 minutes. Add the green chillies, ginger and turmeric and stir, cook for another 5 minutes, then add 700ml of water and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes until the pork is cooked.

If you wish, you can add the ground rice flour and cook for another 10 minutes until the sauce is thick and glossy. Check the seasoning and serve immediately.

This dish is wheeled out at most celebrations as long as you can fit the beast in your oven! This can be done with smaller cuts of meat – you can use just the loin or neck for example. If you can get your butcher to debone and tie up the entire piglet, go for it. If not, make do with a boned and rolled loin of pork.

To make the paste, dry roast the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds in a medium-hot frying pan for 30–60 seconds until they begin to pop, then blend with the remaining ingredients to make a smooth paste.

Apply the paste all over the pork loin. If you’re rolling the loin yourself, even better – apply the spice paste on all sides, then roll the loin up using butcher’s twine or cooking bands to hold in place. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 3 hours or, better still, overnight.

Pound the peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom coarsely using a mortar and pestle.

Heat a roasting tray and add 80ml of the oil. Wipe away the excess marinade from the outside surface of the loin and reserve. Add the loin to the hot pan and sear for 3–5 minutes, moving the pork around to get an even colouring on all sides. Add the excess marinade to the pan and stir fry for 2–3 minutes, then add 950ml of water and the pounded spices and mix well.

Cover the roasting tray with foil and cook in the preheated oven for 35–40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the loin rest for 15–20 minutes, keeping it warm.

Reserve the juices and drippings from the pan, pass through a strainer and discard the whole spices.

In the meantime, in a separate pan, heat the remaining oil. Add the onions and salt and cook over a medium heat for 12–14 minutes until golden brown. Add the flour and stir well, cooking for a minute or so until the flour is well roasted and then pour in the strained juices from the pork. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 minute. Check the seasoning and correct as required. The sauce should taste hot, sharp and sweet all at the same time. Add more sugar, salt or vinegar to balance as required.

Slice the rested pork loin and serve on a platter with the sauce either simply poured over or on the side.

Bombay’s rise to prominence under British rule in the eighteenth century should have been good news for the local Christians, who were well positioned to work with the British rulers. But they were less than pleased to find that the city’s prosperity started attracting migrants from all over the country, and especially Goa, who were soon competing for the same jobs. To differentiate themselves, the locals decided to adopt a new name and the name they chose was East Indians, to demonstrate a closer relationship with the East India Company. The fact that this made them East Indians in western India didn’t seem to matter much to them. Regardless, our East Indians from Mumbai and the western coast of Maharashtra have been practising Christianity since the mid-sixteenth century and this is one of the dishes they would always make at Easter.

1 medium duck, cut into 8–10 pieces (sauté cut – ask your butcher to do this for you)

Put the duck pieces in a large ovenproof dish with the salt, peppercorns and bay leaves. Add 2–2.5 litres of cold water to cover and bring to the boil. Skim off any scum which appears on the surface, then transfer the dish to the preheated oven. Cook for 1¼ hours or until the duck is tender (the leg pieces will take longer to cook than the breast).

Remove the duck pieces and set aside, then reduce the gravy until around 500ml remains. Strain the gravy and set aside.

Heat the ghee in a separate pan, add the duck pieces and fry until almost browned. Add the sugar and stir, then remove the duck from the pan. The meat will be tender but not falling off the bone.

In the same pan, fry the onions for 12–15 minutes over a gentle heat until golden brown. Add the ginger, garlic, chillies and curry leaves and fry for 2 minutes. Add the botal masala and fry gently for a minute or so. Add 1 or 2 spoons of water if the pan is too dry at this stage – this will prevent the spices from burning. Add the reduced gravy and vinegar, then return the duck to the pan and simmer over a low heat for 4–5 minutes.

Xacuti (pronounced ‘shakuti’) is a classic Goan dish that is not for the faint of heart. Fiery and loaded with flavour, it can be absolutely delicious if one takes the time to roast all the components separately and follow the sequence correctly. As they say, there are no shortcuts to anywhere nice and it’s certainly true for the Goan way of life.

Place the mutton in a bowl with the salt and ginger-garlic paste, stir well to coat the mutton and set aside in the fridge to marinate for an hour.

In the meantime, dry roast the spices in a non-stick pan over a medium heat. Do not let the spices burn or it will make the curry taste bitter. Start with the dried whole spices first, adding the larger spices first and stirring for a few seconds before adding the next spice, until all the spices have been added. Keep stirring constantly until the spices turn toasted and fragrant. Remove the spices from the pan.

Roast the coconut next. Add the coconut oil to the desiccated coconut in the pan and stir. Once the coconut starts to brown, add the turmeric to it. Stir for 10 seconds and remove from the pan. Next add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and shallow fry the whole garlic cloves until golden, then add the chopped onions and salt. Stir continuously until brown, but do not let them burn.

Grind the roasted spices to a thick, smooth paste with the coconut mixture, garlic and onions and 120ml of water. Set aside.

Place the marinated mutton in a pan with 1.4 litres of water, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, skim the scum off the top, cover and simmer for 20–25 minutes until about 80–85 per cent cooked. Remove the meat from the stock and set aside. Do not discard the stock once the meat is cooked as it will be used later.

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the chopped onion in it for 6–8 minutes. Once the onion turns translucent, add the diced potatoes and cook over a high heat for 2–3 minutes until they turn golden. Next add the ground spice paste to the pan. Fry over a medium heat for a few minutes. You will notice the paste darkening as it fries. Once it starts to dry and oil begins to leave the sides of the pan, add 950ml of the stock to the pan. Mix well and let it come to the boil, then cook over a medium heat for about 8 minutes until the potatoes are almost cooked through. Add the cooked mutton to the pan with the tamarind purée and bring the curry back to the boil, adding more stock if necessary. Cook for 15–20 minutes or until the mutton is tender. Taste for salt and add a pinch or two of sugar to the curry before turning off the heat. Keep warm until ready to serve. Garnish with the curry leaves.

This dessert, it is said, was a favourite of Lady Kenny, the lady of the house at a tea plantation in the hills of Assam. She would insist on this being a part of the meal at Easter. The recipe uses khoya – these are milk solids made by cooking and slowly evaporating the moisture from the milk. They are available from specialist Asian shops.

Grate the paneer using the fine side of a grater. Mix together with the khoya, 50g of the semolina, milk and baking powder (it is easiest to rub everything together using the heel of your palm) and knead to a smooth dough. If the dough isn’t coming together, add the remaining semolina to the dough. Divide into 16 balls, push a pistachio into the centre of each ball and roll back into a smooth ball without any cracks.

Place the sugar in a pan with 250ml of water and boil for 5–6 minutes until the mixture reaches 105ºC. Then add the lemon juice and shake the pan gently to mix (do not stir). Skim the impurities off the top as they rise. Stir in the cardamom powder and keep warm.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or a deep fryer to medium-hot (160–170ºC). Add the dough balls and fry for 6–8 minutes or until very dark chocolate brown. Drain them on kitchen paper, then immediately add them to the syrup while they are hot (don’t let the balls go cold before adding into the syrup or they won’t absorb the syrup properly).

Let the fried balls soak in the syrup for 5–6 minutes, but do not stir the jamuns too much when they are in the syrup. Then remove from the syrup and serve warm with custard or ice cream, and chopped nuts if you wish.

These toddy-flavoured rice dumplings are light and soft pillowy delights. A bit like idlis, these have a faint sourness and a depth of flavour that makes them very interesting. They are one of the local delicacies from Goa and makes for an excellent accompaniment to most Goan dishes, but Sarapatel in particular.

Wash the rice and soak it in water for an hour or so, then drain and grind it to a fine paste with the grated coconut and toddy (if you can’t find palm toddy, feel free to replace it with any cheap white wine).

To activate the yeast, mix 1 teaspoon of the sugar with the warm coconut milk in a bowl and sprinkle the yeast over. Leave for 10–15 minutes for the yeast to dissolve and come to life.

Mix the yeast mixture into the rice and coconut paste, add the remaining sugar and the salt and add a little water if required to make a thick but spoonable batter. Stir in the vinegar. Cover and rest in a warm place for 4 hours or until the mixture doubles in volume.

Grease small idli steamers or ramekins with the vegetable oil. Half-fill the moulds with the batter. Place the moulds in a bamboo steamer set over a pan of simmering water with a lid on top and steam for 15 minutes or until cooked but still fluffy. To test if they are done, pierce a dumpling with a wooden skewer – it should come out clean.

In Goa at Easter they make chocolate marzipan sweets coated with coconut and various biscuits, and sometimes fruit custard too, but in Bengal where I grew up, these cookies would form the bulk of snacks prepared for the late-night revelries.

Sift the flour, semolina, nutmeg and baking powder together into a bowl, then stir in the raisins.

Cream together the butter and sugar in another bowl, then add the beaten eggs. Mix in, then add the dry ingredients. Mix together, adding 2 tablespoons of water to help the dough bind together. Rest the dough for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Divide the dough into 10–15 balls. Place on a greased baking tray and press each ball down lightly, until they are about 1cm thick. Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Devotees gather at the Golden Temple to celebrate Vaisakhi. (Sameer Sehgai/Hindustan Times via Getty)