Of Cakes, Cookies & Jelly: An Xmas in India’s Only ‘Anglo’ Hamlet

For the author, who grew up in McCluskiegunj, Christmas is rich with memories of sports day and grandmother’s cakes.

Christmas season for us was packed with community get-togethers – which also meant scrumptious food.

(Photo Courtesy: Lesley D Biswas)

Christmas in Kolkata is an extravaganza of merrymaking – beginning with the dazzling Park Street decorations and famed midnight mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Christmas Eve, to the Christmas Carnival at Allan Park when bakeries set up stalls on street pavements.

The aroma of freshly baked cakes pervade the cold wintery evenings and take me back to my childhood – to Christmases spent at McCluskiegunj, the tiny Anglo-Indian hamlet where baking was the flavour of the season and get-togethers reflected our community liveliness.

Too caught up to read? Listen to the story:

What December Meant to Families in the Gunj

December was homecoming time for children studying in boarding school and families working in different parts of the country.

For some, it marked the end of a year-long wait when brothers and sisters returned from foreign shores to spend Christmas at their ancestral homes. Naturally, Christmas season for us was packed with community get-togethers – which also meant scrumptious food.

The rustic pea pulao was a lovely accompaniment to the fiery hot chicken curry prepared on picnics and served with a crunchy green salad and crisp poppadoms. For the potpourri, each family brought one dish. I vividly remember how the community’s favourite yellow rice – a variation of the traditional pulao and kofta curry, succulent meatballs in a thick gravy – was always in abundance.

When we were kids, the Christmas hamper (or grand raffle prize) was the highlight of the annual sports day, usually held on Christmas Eve. And why ever not? It included cakes, cookies, jellies and pickles – once even a 5 kg rooster!

An annual sports day in McCluskiegunj in the early eighties.(Photo Courtesy: Lesley D Biswas)

Each family contributed homemade goodies to the Christmas hamper. My father tells me, that those who didn’t have ovens, summoned the local baker to their home, who mixed the ingredients in front of them, put it in cake tins with their name tag and took it to bake at his bakery.

My fondest memory of Christmas is of my grandmother who had an enormous kerosene oven in which she baked more than one cake at a time. I remember watching her put loaf-shaped tins of sloppy cake batter into the oven. Soon, the buttery fumes and sweet aroma of the Christmas fruit cake assailed our senses. An hour later, I would watch in amazement as she popped one cake after another, out of the oven.

Warm slices of chocolate marble cake were our comfort food after evening playtime.(Photo Courtesy: Lesley D Biswas)

Warm slices of chocolate marble cake were our comfort food after evening playtime. I remember once, we six cousins were playing hide-and-seek when my mother set the tray of cakes and cookies out on the verandah table. While we were still hidden, the ‘seeker’ ate up our share of cake!

If cakes made our mouth water, the Christmas gift we would receive had us wondering for days.

One Christmas morning when we gathered to open our gifts, my brother who was around eight then, was particularly excited because the previous night father had told him to hang a huge pillowcase near his bed. Anticipating something large, he poked his head into the pillowcase to find an old boot. While we all hooted with laughter, he insisted it had been Santa’s boot and hid his disappointment until my father gave him his real gift.

These memories and the cakes we still bake ensure that the Christmas flavours of McCluskiegunj never fade away. Therefore, from my Christmas to yours, here are a couple of recipes you might enjoy:

Chocolate Marble Cake With Chocolate Icing

Ingredients:

(Photo Courtesy: Lesley D Biswas/Card by The Quint)

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, add the sugar and butter and mix until white and flurry. Sieve the flour on a paper and divide into two portions. Add the cocoa power to one portion. Take half the sugar and butter batter in a separate bowl. Fold in the plain flour, two eggs, vanilla essence and 1 and ½ spoon of milk and mix until batter is nice and smooth. In the other bowl mix the flour with cocoa power, the remaining two eggs, 1 and ½ spoon milk till smooth.

(Photo Courtesy: Lesley D Biswas)

While you preheat the oven to 180C, grease a cake tin with butter. Alternatively, drop dollops of the chocolate and vanilla cake batter into the tin. Using a skewer, give the cake mix one swirl and bake for about 45-50 minutes.

For the icing, mix butter, icing sugar and cocoa power in a bowl. When smooth, use a spatula to decorate the cake with the chocolate icing.

Vanilla Cookies

Ingredients:

(Photo Courtesy: Lesley D Biswas/Card by The Quint)

Preparation:

Mix butter and sugar for a few minutes. Add egg, vanilla essence and mix. Fold in the flour and continue to mix until they blend. Make marble-sized balls, flatten them a little and place on to a lined cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated over at 180C for 12 to 15 minutes.

Guava Jelly

Ingredients:

(Photo Courtesy: Lesley D Biswas/Card by The Quint)

Preparation:

Wash, dice guavas and place in a pan adding enough water to cover the fruit. When fruit is tender, cool and strain the juice through a muslin cloth. For every cup of juice, add a cup of sugar. Add lime juice and slowly cook until the jelly coats the spoon. When still slightly warm, pour into bottles.

(Lesley D Biswas is a freelance writer who writes articles on parenting, environment, travel and women, besides fiction.)