Let’s face it: nothing is more central to a Christmas menu than the meat dish — sure you can have a side of this or that, but really it’s that prime cut of meat (or even the whole thing if you prefer) that really matters. Besides, it’s not just what meat to serve, but how you plan to cook it that becomes a serious debate.
Traditions vary across the world of course, as do preferences and prejudices over what constitutes the meat of choice — so whether it’s turkey trussed and ready for the oven, or a salty leg of ham steaming in its own juices, or pot roast of chicken or duck, even a rack of lamb, browned and ready for carving, there is much to consider!
In the West, tables are stacked with varieties of oven-prepared meats, and in keeping with the colder climes, it makes perfect sense to centre the Christmas table around these. But here, in the middle of our warm tropical winters in South India, Christmas tables tend to assume a rather different look.
Kerala folk are known to have a fondness for more gamey flavours during Christmas, and it isn’t unusual for duck, rabbit or even guinea fowl to be served in roast form.
While a Nasrani or Suriyani Christian household in Kerala may prefer beef in some form (roast or otherwise) to serve with their appams and ishtew, a Goan family will almost certainly have pork as main course, perhaps as sorpotel to go with soft fluffy sannas.
What is retained in both these cuisines is a sturdy mix of spices and a thick gravy base for the meats, which will be eaten not plain or carved into slices like the Europeans do, but rather as accompaniment to a rice-based side.
Now, beef roast in Kerala bears little resemblance to the beef roast in continental recipes.
The meat is usually chopped fine and well-cooked in a spicy broth before being reduced into a semi-dry stir-fry with lots of onions, curry leaves and coconut shavings. The onions help keep the meat moist, while the coconut adds crunch and flavour to the dish.
Similarly, the chorizo in Europe (which is, in fact, cured salami finely sliced), is an entirely different proposition to the pork choriz in Goa, which can barely be called a distant cousin.
The Goan sausage, however (as the choriz of Goa is otherwise called), is in fact just marinated pieces of pork meat tightly packed into little beads (famously called rosary sausages!) which can be cooked with onions, potatoes and tomatoes even, to make a semi-gravy sort of preparation.
These foods represent a fusion of sorts — home-grown favourites with a marginal European heritage, but largely Indian flavouring — and they help serve as inspiration for further re-imaginings of cuisines from abroad.
As we travel outside more frequently in the 21st Century, many Indian communities bring back recipes that appeal; and whether it’s Asian, or West-Asian, Latin American or African, the flavours, if bent a little to suit our tastes and table settings, can make for a wonderful meal at Christmas time.
So perhaps, this is the year you shake up tradition and add a little twist to your Christmas menu.
One very Christmasy tradition is making tamales in Mexico, and with a little twist of taste the Malayalee way, it could end up being the perfect thing to plate up this year — wrapped in thinly-rolled dough (you could use even regular parotta dough) with a filling of meat (usually pulled pork or chicken), salsa and mole sauce, which is easily replaced here with roast beef, Kerala style in a semi-gravy. And if pork isn’t your thing and bovine products seem a little risky in the current climate, there’s always mutton sukka (erachi vattichathu) or chicken thighs to make the roast filling a success.
Either way, the fun with tamales is that it’s nicer when there are more hands and the rolling and filling jobs are done as teamwork.
I’ve always believed that the best festival foods are the ones that require the most hands and have the whole family involved in bringing it together. We grew up making Christmas goodies together, singing carols as we got our hands greasy with cake batter, or marinade juices.
The classic tamale is wrapped in dough and then parcelled into little packets of banana leaves or rolled into corn husks and then steamed — not too dissimilar to some popular South Indian cooking techniques.
So this festive season, when the family is together, bring out those kitchen towels and get everyone involved in adding some Malayalee flavours trussed up into little Mexican-inspired ‘tamale packages’ to your Christmas dinner this year.
Recipe for Tamales - with a twist!
(This is a family size recipe, so adjust for smaller servings)
For the dough:
Traditional Tamale dough requires Masa Harina – a fine white cornflour treated with lime juice; Since this is not easy to find in India, you could substitute this with yellow cornmeal flour (maize flour used to make makki rotis in the north and available in most grocery stores)
6 cups cornmeal flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 ½ tbsp salt
1 cup butter (lard if available)
3 to 4 cups of meat stock (or water)
Note: The idea is to make the dough as light as possible, so combine the first three ingredients and then mix in the butter gently before adding the stock till you have a moist but firm consistency similar to parotta dough.
Alternatively you could just use store bought spring-roll wraps, but this would cut out a lot of the fun!
For the filling:
Tamales in Mexico can vary greatly though most recipes recommend pork or beef cooked slowly and then pulled apart to make an easily spread mixture. Kerala style mutton roast ( erachi ularthiyathu ) or beef if you prefer makes a great substitute in terms of both texture and spiciness; though you can use any meat you prefer and style of
cooking that suits your family.
Making the Tamales:
The real magic is in the wrapping of the tamales, once all the prep work is done! This can be done in either corn husks, as the Mexicans do, or even in banana leaf packets if you want to underline the South Indian twist.
First spread a little of the dough (or the wrapper) evenly inside the corn sheaf, then put a dollop of your filling (generously) in the center and carefully fold the sheaf/leaf so that it makes a nice packet. Once you have enough of these wrapped tamales you can steam them either in the traditional way, or just stack them into your rice cooker or pressure cooker even and let them cook for 15 mins. Serve in the wrappers itself – all the family can pick apart the wrappings for themselves!
