How to Make Christmas Palagarams

Christmas is just around the corner and we have Christmas music already playing at our house. The children have started practicing for their Sunday School Christmas programme and have been asking us constantly when we will set up our tree.

Long before I came to know Jesus as my Saviour, and well before I knew the true meaning of Christmas, I loved the season for its unlimited access to good food. We had a wonderful lady called Ramani Amma, who was my mother's prayer partner and used to come home and make Christmas palagarams (Indian sweets and snacks) for us. Although she is quite old now, she still faithfully comes home and makes palagarams at my mother's house during the Christmas season.

We live far away from Ramani Amma now, but would still like to enjoy the Christmas palagarams. So a few years back, I sat with Ramani Amma and wrote down some of her amazing recipes. We have enjoyed some traditional palagarams at home since.

Making palagarams can be slightly stressful and overwhelming, since we make bulk quantities. For this post I've chosen two of the simplest recipes I have. Sometimes it's good to get your children involved -- although mine start with extreme gusto and then are done helping with the work in three seconds. What I have found helpful is to call over a willing friend, and split the booty!

For those of you who have been asking me about some family recipes, well here's a little sneak peak into my treasure trove!

South Indian Donuts

Ingredients

1 kg maida
5 eggs
1/2 kg sugar
100 gm butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla essence
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Method

Grind the sugar and mix it with the maida, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk the eggs and add softened butter. Make a dough by mixing the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Roll out the dough about half an inch thick and cut out circular donut patterns with a cookie cutter, bottle cap, or donut cutter.

Heat the oil in a pan on high flame, then turn down the flame to the lowest setting and deep fry the donuts on either side until they are golden brown. Drain the oil and store the donuts in an airtight container.

Diamond Cuts

Ingredients

1 kg maida
200 gm butter
Salt, to taste
Water to make the dough
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Method

Mix the maida, salt, and butter, and knead into a dough by adding a little water at a time (maybe 3 - 4 tablespoons). The dough should look like chapatti dough. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface (it should be like a really thin chapatti), and cut out small diamond patterns. Deep fry the diamonds in a Kadai or pan of hot oil until golden brown. Drain the oil and store the diamonds an airtight container.