Has the Christmas menu already been decided?

Christmas is coming soon! I'm really looking forward to it... because even if others always complain about the stress around Christmas, for me personally it's a time to pause and calm down. Time to find joy and be together with the family. Time to enjoy and indulge, to give and receive gifts. A great meal is a must. This year, I have decided on a slightly more exotic Christmas menu: regional organic products paired with tropical fruits and vegetables, which are now in season in India. Papaya meets tobinambur, lamb's lettuce is kissed by pomegranate and eggplant refines beluga lentils - the interplay of local and southern ingredients is simply perfect for creative Ayurvedic cuisine. And to really make everyone happy at dinner, the menu can easily be made vegan, vegetarian or supplemented with fish.

Lemon butternut soup (with prawn in pakora batter)

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 piece of celery
• 1 stalk of lemongrass
• ¼ tsp spice mix Hot India
• 1 heaped MS sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp ghee or sesame oil
• 30 ml lemon juice
• 1 MS thyme
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 MS black pepper
• 700 ml water
• approx. 150 ml coconut milk or soy drink
• 100 ml lemon juice
• 1 slice of fresh ginger
• 1 MS paprika, sweet
• 2 black tiger prawns per person
• 100 g chickpea flour
• 50 g rice flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 175 ml water
• Sesame or rapeseed oil for frying

Preparation

1. Peel the bottle gourd and remove the seeds. Peel 12 to 16 strips with a peeler and place them in a small bowl. Cut the remaining pumpkin into pieces.
2. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Peel and dice the celery.
3. Cover the pumpkin slices set aside with 100 ml lemon juice. Finely grate the fresh ginger and add with the paprika powder, mix well and leave to infuse in the lemon marinade for at least half an hour.
4. Heat the ghee or sesame oil in a pan. Sauté the onions and garlic, stir in the Hot India spice mix, then add the diced pumpkin and celery and stir-fry well. Add the lemongrass and paprika powder.
5. Pour in the water and bring the soup to the boil, simmer over a low heat for 25 minutes until soft. Puree the cooked mixture including the liquid.
6. Add a little coconut milk or soy drink, salt and lime juice and season to taste with thyme and black pepper
7. For the prawns: Mix the chickpea flour and rice flour with the baking powder, salt and water to form a smooth batter. Leave the batter to stand for at least 10 minutes so that it thickens slightly.
8. Remove the shells and guts from the prawns, wash them well and dry them.
9. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan or small pan. Dip the prawns in the batter and fry in the hot oil until golden brown. Remove from the hot oil and place on kitchen plates.
10. Now prepare a long wooden skewer for each plate: Here, skewer the marinated pumpkin slices and (for those who want to) also the fried prawns.
11. Pour the finished soup into bowls. Place the skewer on top and serve immediately.

Jerusalem artichokes with fresh papaya salsa

• 200 g Jerusalem artichoke
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp ajwain, ground (alternatively cumin)
• 1 MS turmeric
• 1 MS cayenne pepper
• 1 MS allspice
• 1 tsp ghee
• 1/4 tsp rock salt
• 1/2 papaya
• Juice of half an Amalfi lemon
• 1 heaped MS black pepper
• 1 MS lemon thyme

Preparation

1. Wash the Jerusalem artichokes thoroughly and cut into thin slices.
2. Mix the sesame oil with the spices and salt as a marinade, pour over the Jerusalem artichokes and spread well. Leave to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
3. Remove the seeds from the papaya, peel and cut into approx. 1 cm cubes and heat once in a small pan. Then mix with the juice of half a lemon, a pinch of black pepper and a pinch of finely grated lemon thyme, season to taste and leave to infuse with the lid on.
4. Heat a large, well-coated pan with 1 teaspoon of ghee, add the seasoned Jerusalem artichokes and fry for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn occasionally. Finally, add a little salt and mix well.
5. Transfer fresh from the pan to the plate, add the papaya salsa and eat straight away.

Lamb's lettuce with roasted pine nuts, pomegranate and fried caper apples

• 160 g lamb's lettuce (approx. 40 g per person), trimmed and washed
• Seeds from half a pomegranate
• 50 g pine nuts
• 12 to 16 caper apples (3 to 4 per person)
• Parma dough and fat, as for the prawns (you can use exactly the same)
• 60 ml olive oil
• 20 ml light balsamic vinegar
• 40 ml apple juice
• 1/2 apple
• 1 spring onion
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation

1. Remove the core from the apple and peel the onions. Cut both into large pieces and steam in a small pan covered with water until soft. Leave to cool, place in a blender and puree. Add all the other ingredients and blend to a creamy salad dressing.
2. Toast the pine nuts in a small pan without oil until lightly browned. Add a little salt.
3. Rinse and drain the caper apples. Heat the frying fat. Dip the caper apples in the pakora batter (see prawn recipe, you can use the same batter) and fry in the fat.
4. Mix the washed lamb's lettuce with the dressing. Arrange on the salad plate. Garnish with the roasted pine nuts, pomegranate seeds and fried caper apples.

Marinated salmon from the oven

Per person 200 g organic salmon with skin

• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp Chili Aphrodite spice mix
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preparation

1. Place the salmon on its skin in an ovenproof dish. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and brush the salmon meat with it
2. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for approx. 20 minutes on the middle shelf.

Vegan almond panne cotta

• 400 ml almond milk
• 120 g white almond paste
• 50 ml soy cream
• 60g powdered sugar
• 2.5 tsp agar agar
• 1 MS nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp tonka bean
• 1 tbsp amaretto

Preparation

1. Mix the almond milk, powdered sugar and almond paste, heat in a pan and bring to the boil while stirring.
2. Mix the soy cream, agar agar, amaretto, tonka bean and nutmeg into a smooth mixture and add to the hot almond and sugar mixture. Bring to the boil once while stirring.

Bon appétit and enjoy cooking and eating! Kerstin Rosenberg