The Surprising History Behind India’s Traditional Christmas Food

In India, Christmas isn’t just a date on the calendar — it’s a scent, a ritual, a taste shared across generations. Long before decor, lights and carols travel across towns, the festive season begins in kitchens: fruits are soaked in rum weeks ahead, batter and dough come alive under agile hands, and recipes whispered from grandmothers to grandchildren are folded into every batch. 

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Here, food doesn’t just satiate hunger — it carries memories of colonial histories, coastal trade winds, community kitchens, and family gatherings that stretch across towns and states. From the fruitiness of plum cake in Kerala to the coconut layers of Goan bebinca, Indian Christmas food is a living archive of culture and connection. 

These dishes — sweet, savoury, spiced and slow-cooked — reflect more than festive cheer; they tell stories of adaptation, belonging, and the joy of sharing.

1. Plum Cake

From Delhi to Kerala, plum cake is the unofficial signature dish of Christmas. What began as a British colonial import has taken on an unmistakably Indian character: dried fruits and nuts soaked in rum or brandy for weeks, complemented by a warm spice profile of cinnamon and nutmeg. The dense, moist crumbs of every slice feel like a celebration. 

In Goa and Kerala especially, the ritual of fruit mixing becomes a family event weeks before Christmas, bringing generations together in the kitchen.

2. Kuswar

In Mangalorean Catholic homes, Christmas is served in a grand, gift-worthy tin filled with an array of 20-odd homemade treats known as Kuswar. These include rose-scented Bottle Dumplings (steamed in glass bottles), delicate Kulkuls (shell-shaped sweet pastries), dodol (chewy coconut milk sweet), and the legendary layered Bebinca (layered pudding). 

Kuswar reflects India’s Portuguese past, blended with local culinary traditions that feature coconut, rice flour, and jaggery.

The platter, prepared over days by families, is less about a single flavour and more about a community’s identity — shared, preserved, and gifted with immense pride.

3. Rose Cookies (Achappam)

Crisp, flower-shaped, and delicately fried, rose cookies appear across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Karnataka during Christmas.

Made using moulds introduced through European trade routes, they became embedded in South Indian Christian households — especially as treats shared with children and visitors. (Video Credit: YouTube channel, Florency Dias)

4. Sorpotel & Vindaloo

Sorpotel’s complex, spicy-tangy medley of meats and offal, and Vindaloo’s fiery vinegar punch, are backed by a rich history. They arrived with the Portuguese in the 16th century, evolving from dishes like sarrabulho and vinha d’alhos. 

Over centuries, Goan cooks transformed them, swapping Portuguese wine for local palm vinegar and adding a galaxy of Indian spices like cumin, peppercorns, and Kashmiri chillies. 

The result is a beloved, potent centrepiece of the Goan Christmas feast, symbolising a fusion where two culinary worlds met and created something spectacularly new.

5. Nankhatai

The quiet crumble of nankhatai, a shortbread-like biscuit, traces its origins to colonial bakeries in Kolkata and coastal Gujarat.

Historians believe nankhatai evolved from Dutch and Persian baking traditions, and was adapted using ghee instead of butter, and flavoured with cardamom and nutmeg. Over time, it became a staple in Irani cafés, Parsi homes, and old-school bakeries, especially during winter festivities when ovens were busiest.

While not exclusive to Christmas, nankhatai often appears in festive tins alongside plum cake and kulkuls — a reminder that Indian celebrations have always borrowed, blended, and shared.

Feature image:(L) Florency Dias, YouTube, (R) Praerna Kartha, NDTVFood