These hard-working mains, sides and sweets, inspired by celebration food from around the world, add a touch of delicious festivity to any holiday meal
BRUSSELS SPROUT PORIYAL
Jazz up your Boxing Day curry with this simple, quick and healthy dish. Rohit Ghai, chef at Kutir restaurant in London, says: ‘Poriyal is a simple stir-fry from southern Indian cuisine and can be made with any vegetable.’
Serves 2-3
250g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
and halved
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal (split black gram)
1 dried red chilli
A pinch of asafoetida
1 sprig of curry leaves
100g onions, sliced
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tbsp chopped green chilli
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
3 tbsp grated fresh coconut
1 Blanch the Brussels sprouts for a few minutes in boiling water. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Set aside to cool.
2 Heat the oil in a pan on a medium heat, and add the mustard seeds, urad dal and dried red chilli. When the dal turns golden, add the asafoetida and curry leaves and fry until the leaves turn crisp. Add the sliced onions and cook until they start to turn golden brown. Add the ginger, green chilli, ground turmeric and red chilli powder and mix well.
3 Add the blanched Brussels sprouts along with a pinch of salt and sauté for 2 minutes. Cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes on a low heat. Sprinkle with 1-2 tbsp water if needed. Cover and cook until the sprouts are soft and tender. Add the chopped coriander and grated coconut, mix well and sauté for a further minute. Turn off the heat.
BEETROOT, ORANGE & PUMPKIN SALAD
Lucy Brazier, writer and cookery tutor at River Cottage, says: ‘This rooty, citrus salad is inspired by the Mexican dish nochebuena (meaning Christmas Eve). The authentic recipe is full of gorgeous exotic fruits which are definitely not a seasonal blessing in the UK, as well as jicama, which is quite like kohlrabi. I’ve changed some of the traditional ingredients but hopefully retained the essence of the dish. It is a delight as part of a cold buffet, or heaped in a pile on your plate and eaten on its own.’
Serves 6-8
A couple of handfuls of pumpkin
seeds
A dash of tamari
2 oranges
2 medium beetroot
1 kohlrabi
2 apples
A few handfuls of winter salad
leaves, such as chicory and
radicchio, torn
A small bunch of coriander or
parsley, roughly chopped
2 tbsp cider or white wine vinegar
A squeeze of lemon juice
Sea salt and black pepper
1 Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add the pumpkin seeds and dry-fry for a few minutes, shaking the p
