It had been years since I last celebrated Christmas in Saudi Arabia. Christmas was usually spent in Bahrain, feasting on Christmas lunch and beer. This year was different and I was tied down with work to even consider driving over the causeway. 

All that changed when I was invited over for Christmas Dinner at the D’Souza residence by Joystan and Elma. There was no way I was going to say no to an invite from @joys10dz and @elmaaug and If you would like to know why, read on.

Elma D’Souza is a successful cake artist operating @theovenaffairs making some of the most exquisite and elaborate cakes I have ever come across. I have been following her for a few years now and I had been waiting to gorge on her cakes. Yes, there was Dessert that day and yes, that cake deserves it’s own review so watch this space.

Elma had cooked up an absolute storm. ‘Fried Salmon’, ‘Beef Masala’, ‘Mango Salad’ and one of my personal favourites, ‘Malabar Chicken Biriyani’. 

The salmon had been marinated in red chilli powder and shallow fried to a crisp (Just the way I like it). I had never come across a ripe Mango salad but this made for a most interesting combination with the fish. The mango had been diced into tiny cube sized pieces and mixed in well with pestle ground shallots and green chilli. The fried fish and mango salad combo was delicious and I loved the sweet and savoury combo. The beef was super tender and the subtle peppery gravy would have been the perfect add on to a plate of hot steaming ghee rice or kerala porotta. 

I miss the good biriyanis we get in Calicut and thanks to Elma, I was able to enjoy some lip-smacking ‘Malabar Chicken Biriyani’. The subtle masala’s, the tender pieces of chicken and biriyani rice came together really well and I was absolutely stuffed at the end of it. 

Thank you Joystan and Elma for a wonderful evening and making this Christmas worth remembering.