East Indian food is so delicious and tasty, once you’ve tried it, you’ll be craving for more. From appetizers or breads, to main courses or desserts, you’ll be left drooling!
Have you ever been in a situation where you are having guests over for dinner for an occasion and are not sure what to cook? Well, not in our home! If you know there’s an occasion coming up, dinner menus are decided well in advance and even the preparations begin days before the big occasion. Dessert prep might start weeks earlier.
Come Easter or Christmas or just a birthday celebration, there’s never just one of each dish, there’s always a range of options from appetizers, to main dishes and desserts too.
We, the East Indians of Bombay are known for our culture and food. East Indian food is both unique to the community and oh-so-flavourful.
If you’ve lived in or visited Mumbai at some time, you’ve of course tasted at least one East Indian dish, be it stuffed chicken, sorpotel, vindaloo, foogias, orias, or other traditional East Indian dishes.
If you want our traditional East Indian recipes on hand, the Abby's Plate Cookbook Series books are available online or in-store in most countries.
Latest Book:
Christmas with the Rebellos:
East Indian Meals & Desserts from Abby's Plate
See the full list of books here!
Ever wonder what a traditional Christmas Dinner menu for East Indians is made of? Or what we cook and serve for Easter and other festive occasions or celebrations? What does an East Indian festive dinner party menu actually look like?
You don’t have to guess anymore! Here is a quick guide to the dishes we serve and relish for Christmas dinner, Easter lunch, anniversary celebrations, birthday parties, and also other festive occasions. Add them to your dinner party menu this year, and let us know how your guests like them!
Drinks, there’s always drinks first!
1. East Indian Fresh Grape Wine (Black or Green)
The East Indian recipe for grape wine uses fresh either black or green grapes or a mix of the two. Easy to make at home for a cheap table wine.
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2. Homemade Rose Petal Wine (Not Rose)
Homemade rose petal wine is a heady wine drink with the aroma of roses. After some experimentation, we made this earthy wine with dried rose petals, and it's perfect for celebrations or regular days in.
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3. Spicy Homemade Ginger Wine
Homemade ginger wine is a light and refreshing drink for celebrations or regular days in. Using ginger root we make this spicy wine in 2 weeks and add a few optional ingredients for different flavors.
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4. Homemade Currant Wine or Raisin Wine
The East Indians of Mumbai make this traditional currant wine for Christmas, Easter and other festivities. Here's the recipe with a few personal tweaks.
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East Indian Appetizers Are Different!
5. How to boil Ox Tongue? | Beef Tongue | Bovine Tongue
Boiled bovine tongue tastes delicious and is easy-to-cook traditional East Indian snack served as a side, appetizer, or even in sandwiches. You won't even realize it's offal!
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6. East Indian Corned Tongue (Salted Ox Tongue)
The East Indian recipe for corned tongue or salted tongue takes a few days but is delicious and perfect for many dinners and sandwiches.
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7. Potato Chops filled with Minced Meat – East-Indian Style
Ground or minced beef, lamb or chicken meat is seasoned with spices and cooked before being encased in a patty of mashed potato. For appetizers or as side dishes, these East Indian potato chops are just perfect!
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8. Potato Chops filled with Minced Meat – East-Indian Style
Ground or minced beef, lamb or chicken meat is seasoned with spices and cooked before being encased in a patty of mashed potato. For appetizers or as side dishes, these East Indian potato chops are just perfect!
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Breads, Rice and More Breads!
9. East Indian Bread – Orias or Varias
For breakfast, lunch, or dinner, these doughnut-shaped breads are just delicious. They're especially popular at East Indian weddings and special events.
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10. Indian Jeera Rice – Cumin Rice
Jeera rice is popular across India. Made by adding fried jeera or cumin to cooked rice, it's a cooling and tasty way to serve fluffy white rice or basmati rice!
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11. Gluten Free Chitaps or Rice Crepes
East Indian chitaps are a light and fluffy rice crepe that goes well with anything. Abby modified the recipe to make it gluten free for her friends.
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12. Foogias: Soft East Indian Bread
Foogias are one of the many traditional East Indian varieties of bread. Round, soft and fluffy, they disappear almost as soon as they're placed on the table.
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13. How to cook yellow (turmeric) rice perfectly?
Rice is a staple food all over India, and is eaten as a main dish with a variety of dals or curries. But yellow rice is tastier and healthier.
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14. East Indian Chicken Liver Stuffing
The traditional East Indian stuffing for Christmas meals consist of a chicken liver and bread pudding that's stuffed into the chickens' cavity before roasting. Here's how to make this delicious homemade liver stuffing that's sometimes called a giblet stuffing.
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15. Traditional East Indian Wedding Rice
East Indian Wedding rice is a delicious and tasty dish served at most East Indian weddings and speical functions.
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Mains Contain offal Too!
16. East Indian Stuffed Roast Chicken
A traditional roast chicken dinner for Sundays or feast days and family gatherings! This one is stuffed with mom's homemade bread liver stuffing.
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17. East Indian Sorpotel Pav – Dry Version
Some people also make sarapatel. And really our East Indian version tastes ten times better than the Goan version of this age-old traditional Portuguese recipe. Wink wink! You can click here to see the step by step sorpotel recipe with pictures from my Uncle Jude in Perth, Australia.
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18. East Indian Beef Tongue Roast
The East Indian Beef Tongue Roast is a simple and easy-to-cook recipe using a handful of ingredients. All you need is an hour and a half!
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19. Spicy East Indian Pork Vindaloo (Indyal)
The Spicy East Indian Vindaloo Recipe dish created by the East Indians of Mumbai, India has been influenced by the Portuguese Carne de Vinha D'Alhos dish.
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20. East Indian Duck Moile Curry
East Indian Duck Moile is a traditional dish that is full of flavour. Tender and juicy slow-cooked meat is served with rice, foogias, hand breads, or chitaps, and a cooling salad for the perfect meal!
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21. Spicy East Indian Pork Tamriad
Spicy East Indian Pork Tamriad Recipe made by Mumbai's East Indians is a cross between vindaloo and sorpotel.
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22. East Indian Pork Ukra – Yellow Vindaloo Recipe
East Indian Pork Ukra Recipe made by us East Indians of Mumbai is what we call a yellow vindaloo. As tasty as traditional spicy vindaloo but yellow in color!
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Pickles and salads make an appearance too
23. East Indian Wedding Pickle
Sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and tangy at the same time, the traditional East Indian wedding pickle takes a few weeks to prepare. This is our modified modern version of this mouth-watering raw papaya and carrot pickle.
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24. Onion Tomato Cucumber Salad – East Indian Simple Salad
A simple salad, this East Indian onion tomato cucumber salad is ready in minutes. Perfect for hot summer days, you'll always find this simple side salad at every East Indian meal.
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And Who Can Forget The Christmas Dessert Platter! Or the Sweets After a Filling Meal!
25. East Indian Bolings – Christmas Cookies
Bolings are a sweet coconut semolina cookie that is made around Christmas time in most East Indian Catholic households!
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26. Date and Walnut Cake East Indian Style
A delightful cake made of sweet pitted dates and crunchy walnut pieces, the East Indian Date and Walnut Cake is easy to make at home.
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27. Traditional East Indian Vanilla Cream Dessert
Vanilla Cream or Milk Cream is a East Indian dessert made for Christmas every year. It's more lighter than a fudge and melts in your mouth.
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28. East Indian Borose (Semolina Coconut Cookies)
East Indian Borose is a delightfully sweet coconutty cookie made with semolina. This traditional East Indian cookie is perfect for tea or as a Christmas dessert!
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29. Carambolas: An East Indian Christmas Kulkul Sweet
Carambolas are a traditional East Indian dessert made around Christmas time. More commonly known as Kulkuls, this sugary frosted treat made by most East Indian Christian households are called carambolas when they're star fruit-shaped.
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30. Easy East Indian Walnut Fudge Dessert
The traditional recipe for the East Indian walnut fudge dessert made for Christmas using milk, sugar, and walnuts is gluten-free as well as vegetarian.
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31. East Indian Cashewnut Marzipan (Christmas Dessert)
The East Indian Cashewnut Marzipan is an East Indian Christmas dessert that's moulded into the shapes of Christmas ornaments or fruits and flowers.
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32. East Indian Thalie Sweet
Thalie Sweet is a traditional East Indian coconut cake usually baked around Christmas Time or for celebrations. But they're perfect for tea time too!
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33. East Indian Date Rolls (Date filled Cookies)
Traditional East Indian date rolls are delicious bites of dates and walnuts wrapped in buttery shortbread-like cookies.
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34. East Indian Coconut Cake
This traditional East Indian coconut cake is different from other homemade coconut cakes. Dense and moist, and traditionally made with fresh grated coconut, you can also use desiccated coconut. Every coconut cake slice is a delight to eat!
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35. East Indian Guava Cheese
Guava Cheese or Goiabada is a tasty East Indian sweet dish prepared for Christmas time! Both chewy and fudgy, there's a mouthful of Guava in every bite.
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36. Dark Fruit Cake for Christmas and Celebrations
East Indian dark fruit cake is so rich and dense, you'll go back for seconds and thirds. Serve for Christmas lunch or dinner with some great homemade wine. Or serve for celebratoins and dinner parties!
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37. East Indian Bol de Coc | Bolos de Coco | Coconut Cake
Bol De Coc is a traditional East Indian cake with a delicious coconutty taste and a moist crumb, and is the perfect tea time snack!
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38. East Indian Glutenfree Coconut Cordial Dessert
Our granny’s recipe for East Indian Coconut Cordial is one of our favorite easy to make traditional Christmas recipes.
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39. East Indian Light Fruit Cake | Mixed Fruit Cake
Light Fruit Cake or Tooti Frooti Cake is a delicious treat for Christmas or even at tea time. So yum and fruity, you won't be able to stop at just one piece of Mixed Fruit Cake.
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40. East Indian Nankhatai (Eggless Shortbread)
Simple and easy to make, the eggless Indian Nankhatai is a perfect treat for Christmas time or any other time of the year!
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41. East Indian Bol Lucrecia | East Indian Coconut Pie
Bol Lucrecia is a traditional East Indian Coconut Pie dessert that is moist on the inside and crispy outside. You'll love it as much as lyou love coconuts.
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What else does your family have on their East Indian Christmas dinner menu? Comment and let me know! And I’ll try to add it to this list soon!
Other Recipes you might like
- East Indian Ball Curry
- Dry Bombay Duck Pickle
- Mixed onion salad
- Ginger wine and lemon spritzer
- East Indian Mango Chutney
Although Sarah has worked in travel for 15 years and specializes in Africa, she loves music, wine, food, and travel. Armed with her Canon, she’s on a mission to photograph food showcasing her community’s traditional recipes on the blog. And Abby is forever grateful!
If you want to leave Sarah a coffee(tip) for her lovely posts, you can do it here!
