Tis? the season to be jolly, but not if you?re a turkey! Following Thanksgiving (a celebration, which is strangely gaining currency in India), comes Christmas. Barely a month?s respite and the poor turkey is back on the chopping board. Turkey makes up a traditional Christmas meal. Sure, it?s not a pretty bird, but how did it get on a plate? trussed up and tantalising? History suggests that the turkey owes its pre-eminence at Christmas dinner to its import into England in the 1520s by a certain William Strickland. So inspired was he by its success that he incorporated the turkey into his family crest. The softness of turkey meat made it a popular choice at celebratory dinners, replacing the tougher meats and admittedly prettier birds, like peacocks and swans, soon making it a Christmas special.

I got thinking about the turkey when a friend invited me to Christmas dinner and asked me about my carving-knife-wielding skills. I am no expert and, discouragingly, carving a turkey is as much a Christmas tradition as holly. Plus, there is pressure and it isn?t easy. We practised it in culinary school: should it be cut towards the bone or was it away? More often than not, in the interest of convenience, a deft chef usually sliced up a chunk of the turkey in the kitchen beforehand and fanned it out in front of the dismembered bird. It was the best way to do it in an attempt to bypass that most favourite of holiday movie film scenes, that of the dead turkey taking flight across the dining room. So I didn?t ever really practice or learn how to carve the bird.

Also, I never developed a taste for turkey meat or its stuffing or the sauce that was drizzled over it. Just never did. Personally, I would be quite pleased to have a tandoori chicken all trussed up on the dinner table and I would feel just as Christmassy! Surely, I can?t be the only one?

Celebrated chef Kunal Kapoor came to my rescue and alleviated the anxiety I felt over my north Indian food instincts and told me that this?year, one can go desi and?celebrate with an interesting dish, such as tandoori turkey pate?on crisp khakra with strawberry chutney. It?s his special recipe and a turkey dish with a decidedly Indian twist, which provides a different texture with the khakra and a slightly sweet taste owing to the strawberry chutney.

It sounds delicious and posh in a way that only fusion cuisine can. Is there a do-it-at-home recipe? Yes, there is, chef Kapoor tells me and it?s easier than the traditional Christmas recipe! So here?s your Christmas present:

Tandoori Turkey

Ingredients

750 gm boneless turkey

Salt to taste

10 gm degi mirch

4 gm kasoori methi

100 ml mustard oil

One lemon

100 gm ginger-garlic paste

200 gm hung curd

50 gm coriander, chopped

Khakra (15 in number)

Ingredients for

strawberry chutney

One cup strawberry, chopped

250 gm sugar

Black salt to taste

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp roasted cumin

Method

* Marinate the turkey with salt, half of the ginger-garlic paste, degi mirch and lemon. Keep aside for 20 minutes.

* Make the second marinade by whisking the hung curd. Add the remaining ginger-garlic paste, salt, degi mirch, kasoori methi powder and mustard oil.

* Pour the marinade over the turkey and cook in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

* Remove and place in a grinder with fresh coriander. Grind till it becomes a smooth paste.

* Place a spoonful on the crispy khakra and drizzle with strawberry chutney (to make strawberry chutney, mix all the ingredients together and cook on slow flame till the mixture gets a syrup-like consistency. Cool the chutney and drizzle on the turkey pate).

I think one can do this with the good old kukkad as well, but then, that?s just incorrigible me talking, not the chef!

Advaita Kala is a writer, most recently of the film Kahaani. She is also a former hotelier having worked in restaurants in India and abroad