City ready to ring in Christmas with yummy cakes

INDORE: For Kumrawat family of Indore, preparing traditional Christmas plum cake is not a weekly affair, but a year-long exercise.
“I make plum cake adding dry fruits like walnuts, raisins, almonds, cashew nuts, orange peel, ginger juliennes and tooti frooti specially marinated in rum for a year. I even order a special type of brown sugar from Mumbai, which lends a special taste and colour to my cake.The whole batter of the cake then is baked for 45 minutes in a pre-heated oven. Other dishes like doughnuts, rose and chocolate cookies, and ginger wine are also made,” middle-aged Rozina Kumrawat told TOI on Monday.
The Kumrawat family, assistant transport commissioner Nirmal Kumrawat and wife Rozina have made Indore’s Vijay Nagar locality their home for last two decades. Like other Christian families in the city, the family has also started their preparation for Christmas. “We sing Christmas carols with our family and friends. My friends eagerly wait for Christmas to come so that they get to eat special dishes prepared by me for the feast,” said Rozina, who runs an NGO that works for underprivileged women and children. “On Christmas eve on December 24, we attend midnight mass and come back home with our friends and relatives to have a grand dinner,” Rozina maintained.
She misses two sons, who are out of the city for higher studies. She said “My younger son Abhijeet will come for celebration, but only for a day and my elder son Nelson won’t be there with us for this year’s celebration. Yet I have to parcel him some sweets and cookies for his friends,” Rozina said.
Rozina’s husband said, “I have a busy schedule and it is Christmas when I get some quality time with my family and friends. We celebrated the festival and coming of baby Jesus with great enthusiasm.” Another Christian family, Simons from city’s Summer Park Colony in Nipania has great plans for the festival. Husband KP Simon, who is an employee of Bombay Hospital and wife Jolly, who works with Laurels School International, are all set to celebrate the festival in signature Malayali manner.
“Every year we decorate our house with Christmas tree and make a beautiful crib with all lightings in my house. We’ve started preparing for Christmas special cake and wine with other south Indian delicacies like achappam and iddyappam. My son is working in Canada. He won’t be able to join us for the Christmas celebrations this year so I’ve planned to send a surprise gift for him. The other children of the family are also given surprise gifts on the occasion,” Jolly said.