This Indian life by Shoba Narayan: Baking Christmas cake with Uncle Chandy

It’s the only way to truly feel the spirit of the season

“There is a difference between taste and flavour,” Uncle Chandy said grandly. “One has to do with consistency, the other with individuality.” Stoked on rum-soaked sultanas, I couldn’t tell if he was drunk or philosophical.

Christmas traditions are both universal and individualistic(Photo: Shutterstock)

All great cooks have three qualities: stubbornness, irritability and an instinct for proportion

All great cooks have three qualities: stubbornness, irritability and an instinct for proportion. Uncle Chandy had all three in spades. He was firmly convinced that he was always right and the world only needed to catch up with his matchless genius.