Overview
- Reporting from Bengaluru captures distinct community menus, from Anglo-Indian roasts and puddings to Mangalorean pork bafat, Hyderabadi or donne biryani, Goan sorpotel with bebinca, and Mizo chhangban.
- Historical threads run through today’s menus, with Portuguese-era dishes like sorpotel and vindaloo and British-influenced plum cake adapted using local palm vinegar, spices, and rum‑soaked fruits.
- Many households begin well ahead of the day, with fruit mixing for plum cakes weeks in advance and Mangalorean kuswar preparations starting by mid‑December for tins of sweets shared with neighbours.
- A nationwide recipe roundup underscores the breadth of traditions, spanning Puducherry’s vivikum, Kerala’s vattayappam, Tamil vegetable stew with appam, East Indian thali sweet, Nagaland’s pork with bamboo shoots, and Sikkim’s smoked pork in brandy.
- Diaspora accounts from New Zealand show families recreating Kerala appam with stew, Goan bebinca and dodol, and northeastern community feasts, adapting ingredients while preserving festive rituals.