Winter Holiday Celebrations — Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year, plus plus

[Saregama]

It’s been the usual winter holidays extended food coma over here.

Christmas Eve big family Chinese lunch with a small change — instead of mostly dim sum, we switched to a mix of everything (driven by a new rebalancing from to mostly omni eaters vegetarians, which has affected all other meals too).

Asparagus and mushroom cheung fun, shrimp har gow, shiu mai, vegetable spring rolls, turnip cake with crispy garlic, spicy wontons, sweet corn soup, young chow fried rice, Hong Kong noodles, spicy crunchy lotus root, beef with black bean sauce, lamb with spring onion and ginger, pork char siu, and if that wasn’t enough, a pile of dessert (including sticky toffee pudding in a delicious burnt sugar cage).

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Christmas Eve dinner was also supposed to be something exotic ordered in, but the kids were in the mood for mac & cheese while the adults were still full from lunch. We had a bunch of butter chicken and paneer makhani left over from the day before, so I threw out the idea of Tikka Mac / Mac Makhani, and it was the overwhelming choice. I also used leftover homemade Kheema from preceding days to make some Kheema Macaroni. So Christmas Eve dinner was creative pasta incorporating leftovers .

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Some of the family went to visit others on Christmas Day, and the rest of us were still reeling from the over feeding of prior days, so when one kid softly asked again for his comfort food of khichdi (a light rice and yellow lentil dish), everyone enthusiastically agreed even though it was decidedly un-Christmassy . Of course my mom then adjusted the menu to add U-5 colossal prawns (3 to 5 in a kg) to festive it up . So we had her comforting khichdi with massive, butterflied, spiced prawns. Very delicious and sufficiently celebratory.

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Christmas Dinner was equally untraditional, with somebody craving pizza, and everybody else perking up at the suggestion. So we ordered a couple of margherita pies and a Calabrese sausage pie and everyone was happy.

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On Boxing Day, we left the house again so as to engage in some activity other than eating — a visit to the main museum, to see a new gallery and a new exhibit. It was good that we went to lunch first, because the purported 1 hour museum capacity was vastly exceeded. We introduced one kid to Parsi food – Mutton Dhansak with brown rice & kababs, Mutton Salli Boti, Chicken Farcha, and Kheema, plus Lagan nu Custard, Caramel Custard, and Lemongrass Tea (also Mutton Sandwiches packed for later).

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For dinner, we were revived by the outing and ready for more… Chinese . But Indian Chinese this time – Chilli Chicken, Chicken Manchurian, Chilli Beef, Hakka Noodles, Teppan Noodles, Burnt Garlic Fried Rice, and Sweet Corn Soup.

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[Nannybakes]

Truly amazing!

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)]

@Saregama

Mutton Dhansak with brown rice

I am a big fan of a properly made mutton dhansak. Too often it appears on curry house menus and it’s just sweet and, otherwise, bland. I first had a “proper” version at a Parsi owned restaurant in London. He was the chef, she ran front of house. She explained it’s an important family dish for their community - similar to how a white British family might regard a Sunday roast as a family occasion. It was lovely.

[Zoeliculious (Zoe)]

It’s become fairly difficult to find Lamb Dhansak or Mutton Dhansak on menus in Canada. Only a few places offer it in Toronto. The question about where to find a good Lamb Dhansak in Toronto comes up on Reddit every so often. Mutton is not found on too many resto menus in Canada.

[Saregama]

My mom makes a fantastic Dhansak, learned from our Parsi neighbors when I was growing up (specifically the grandma, who was an amazing cook, and whose Prawn Patio I have never eaten the like of ever again). So it’s a tough dish for me / us to eat out .

This one was good, but with a thinner dal than we make. The next day, we ordered it again elsewhere, and it was much closer in texture and flavor to my mom’s.

But Dhansak, like most things, varies from home to home. And yes, it’s the regular Sunday menu for Parsis. But apparently never served on happy occasions like Navjotes, because it’s what’s made when someone dies, as was explained to me at the Navjote I attended earlier this year. (For many Hindus, the equivalent dish is khichdi — both comfort food and mourning food.)