Christmas is the much-anticipated holiday celebrated all over the world. The whole month of December gets its charm with the lead-up to Christmas Eve. People celebrate it impressively with their friends and family. Happiness! Happiness! And Happiness, defines the joy of celebrating this special occasion with all of its wondrous traditions. After all the special prayers, sharing gifts, enjoying sweets and cakes and the rest of the activities of the celebration, the best time for the family to get together is the dinner time. So what are you planning to do this year? Are you looking for Christmas dinner ideas? Are you a person with aesthetic sense, admiring and appreciating good things all over the world? Are you interested in delighting your family with an International and Inter-cultural recipe? Then this is the right time to show your family that you are the best Chef in the universe (or at least in your house :-). Come let’s see what to cook for this year’s Christmas dinner?

We are going to try delicious Indian dishes that are lip smacking! Yes! The list follows like this:

1. Hot Shrimp, egg and vegetable fried rice.

2. Sour and spicy Chicken fry.

3. Traditional baby eggplant gravy.

4. Onion yogurt salad.

5. Spicy Indian chai.

6. Hot Shrimp, egg and vegetable fried rice:

Serves 4

Ingredients for preparing Shrimp:

Shelled and de-veined shrimp – 1 pound

Finely chopped white and green spring onions – ¼ cup

Finely chopped tomatoes – 3 medium size

Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp

Chili powder – 1 tsp

Soya sauce – 1 tsp

Salt – To taste

Coriander leaves – to garnish

Cooking oil - 2 tbsp

Preparation method: Take the cleaned shrimp in a bowl and add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, chilly powder, soya sauce, and salt. Marinate it for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a pan and add the white spring onions and sauté it till the onions turn golden brown, add finely chopped tomatoes and allow it till it becomes mushy. Add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and stir till the raw smell goes off. Now add the marinated shrimp to the pan and cook on high flame for 2 minutes, then toss it to the other side and cook for 1 minute. Reduce the flame and cook it for 10 minutes with a lid covered and toss it in-between to avoid over-cooking.

Garnish it with coriander leaves and green spring onions. This is the base for the Shrimp fried rice and you can also have it as an appetizer.

Ingredients for Shrimp and egg fried rice:

Long grain variety cooked rice – 4 cups

Finely chopped vegetables – 1 cup (fresh green peas, beans, carrot, capsicum and sweet red pepper)

Cooked shrimp (as above) – 1 cup

Eggs - 2

Finely chopped spring onions – ¼ cup

Salt and black pepper powder as required

Vinegar – 1 tsp

Cooking oil – 2 tbsp

Preparation method: Heat oil in a large pan. Add the chopped spring onions and fry for 1 minute, then add the finely chopped vegetables and cook them on high flame for 4 minutes by regularly tossing them. Add the cooked shrimp and mix it well with the vegetables. Scramble the eggs separately and add it to the pan. Add salt and pepper for taste. Leave it for a minute on low flame. Now add the cooked rice and mix it well. Cook it on medium flame for 3 minutes and allow it to get set with shrimp, egg and vegetables flavor. Add vinegar and cook it on high flame for 2 minutes. Put off the flame and garnish this flavorsome recipe with green spring onions and enjoy your day!

2. Sour and spicy Chicken fry:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken – 1 pound

Egg - 1

Vinegar – 1 tbsp

Corn Flour – 2 tbsp

Plain yogurt – 1 ½ cups

Chilly powder – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Finely chopped spring onions – ¼ cup

Few Curry leaves

Green chilies - 3 slit across

Cooking oil – For deep-fry

Preparation method: Cut chicken into medium size pieces. Take the chicken pieces in a bowl and add corn flour, egg, ½ cup plain yogurt, chili powder and salt to it. Mix it well and marinate it for 1 hour. Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the marinated chicken. Do away with excess oil by laying the chicken pieces in an oil absorbing sheet. Now take another pan and heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add curry leaves, slit green chilies and spring onions. Sauté it well and add 1 cup of thick plain yogurt to it. Add salt and chili powder to taste. Add the fried chicken pieces to the yogurt mix and cook it in a medium flame, till the chicken pieces take in the yogurt entirely. Now add vinegar and the luscious sour and spicy Chicken fry is ready to taste.

3. Traditional baby eggplant gravy:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Purple baby eggplant - ½ pound

Finely chopped onions – ½ cup

Minced garlic – 1 tsp

Tomatoes – 2

Chili powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 pinch

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – ½ tsp

Coconut milk – ¼ cup

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Cooking oil – 3 tbsp

Preparation method: Slice the eggplants till the middle in the opposite direction and this looks as if it has 4 partitions. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add the eggplants and sauté until it turns golden brown. Keep it aside. Add 2 tbsp oil to the same pan and add onions to it. Toss the onions till they turn golden brown, now add minced garlic and tomatoes and sauté it till it becomes squashy. Add chilly, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder and mix well. Add eggplants and salt to taste. Toss it carefully without flouting the eggplants. Add ¼ cup of coconut milk and ½ cup of water and allow it cook in medium flame for 10 minutes. Switch off flame and garnish it with coriander leaves. Here goes your succulent and delectable baby eggplant gravy.

4. Onion yogurt salad:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Finely chopped onions – 1 cup

Plain thick yogurt – ¾ cup

Tomato – ½

Finely chopped green chilly – ½ tsp

Grated coconut – 1 tbsp

Grated carrot – 1 tsp

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Salt to taste

Preparation method: Take finely chopped onions in a bowl and add yogurt, grated coconut, green chili and salt to taste. Mix it well with your hand. Garnish this tasty and healthy salad with grated carrot, finely chopped tomato and finely chopped coriander leaves. This goes well with rice and you can also take it as a salad.

5. Spicy Indian chai:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Low-fat milk – 5 tea cups

Black tea powder – 2 tsp

Sugar as per your taste

Cardamom – 3 nos

Ginger – 1 inch

Preparation method: Add 5 cups of milk in a pot and allow it to boil. When the milk is about to boil, reduce the flame and add tea powder, split cardamom and sugar as per your taste. Allow it to boil for 5 minutes. Now crush the ginger piece and add it to the boiling tea. Let it boil until the 5 cups of tea simmer to 4 cups. Now remove the pot from flame and strain the tea through a strainer into your tea pot and enjoy this spicy chai after your yummy dinner, as it increases your digestion and helps your heavy meal to digest easily. Cheers.

Happy? Hope you are extremely delighted and eagerly waiting to astonish your family with a delicious dinner on your dearest festival right! Okay, get ready with the grocery list with the necessary ingredients. Enchant your family with traditional and tasty Indian meal this year, and try Chinese or Continental for the years ahead! Wish you a Merry Christmas with mouth-watering dishes.