Tropical Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken breast fillet jar of mayonnaise 1 can of sweet corn can peach compote 1 kg chicken breast fillet jar of mayonnaise 1 can of sweet corn can peach compote can pineapple compote 1 tablespoon yoghurt 1 teaspoon mustard Juice of 1 lemon 4 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon garlic powder Dash of pepper 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons of curry teaspoon of turmeric Some oil or butter to fry the chicken

Directions:

1. Wash the fillets and cut them into medium sized cubes. 2. Add garlic powder, 1 tablespoon curry, turmeric and pepper to the chicken. Stir-fry them in oil or butter until done. Set aside to cool off. 3. Meanwhile prepare the dressing by mixing the mayonnaise with yoghurt, mustard, lemon juice, sugar, salt, curry and 2 tablespoons of peach compote juice. 4. Cut the pineapple and the peach into cubes and add them along with the sweet corn to the cooled chicken. 5. Pour the dressing on top and stir until all is mixed well. You can also add cubes of gouda cheese.

********************Christmas Special: Indian dessert recipes with a twist!

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.Christmas Special: Indian dessert recipes with a twist! - Part II

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 thekulfi 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.