So you want to cook something…

Sara’s great-aunt’s chocolate cake: This chocolate cake is hands down one of my earliest memories in life. It's a family go-to for good times and is also perfect for when you're just feeling low and need some chocolate to set it all right again. Add a little ice cream and then pour warm chocolate icing over the whole thing and thank me later. Check out the recipe here.

Sara’s favourite Beetroot Hummus: This super healthy dip by Footprints in the Flour (Juhi Idnani) has been a pandemic fave–especially since I have been snacking a rather shameful amount ever since the virus ran amok. Not only does it taste great, it also saves me from the guilt of eating it all the damn time.

Vagda’s stuffed chicken breast recipe: This one is my sister’s recipe which I follow to a T. She formulated this excellent recipe with the things she found lying in her fridge—knowing well that it’s hard to go wrong with the mushroom+spinach+garlic combination—which her child won’t otherwise touch. She’s pretty much perfected the art of cooking something healthy that also looks cool enough to overcome a three-year-old’s tantrums. Check out the recipe here.

Prafula’s favourite 48-hour cookies: This is my go-to recipe for chocolate-chip cookies. Former Buzzfeed food editor Alvin Zhou makes these cookies over 48 hours, with calming music and cinematic shots to boot. The cookies taste best when left to rest before baking, but they’re pretty great even if you need to bake them before the 48 hours are up (fellow procrastinators, take note). Zhou’s editing style reminds me of cozy, rainy days spent at home and I highly recommend his channel as a way to unwind—even if you’re not a cook. 

Ankita’s favourite food channel: I love Bong Eats for the way they make every dish look effortlessly easy to make. For example: this caramel custard comes out really well if you can get it to set properly. I also love their playlist dedicated to Anglo-Indian recipes that have been a part of Kolkata’s food culture during the holiday season. Must try item out of this list: the Prawn Cocktail, which is a sold-out dish at the iconic Mocambo in Park Street. Even if you don’t plan to cook, I’d recommend watching their videos just for the ASMR pleasure they offer.

Looking for more? The New York Times rounds up their 20 most popular recipes of the year—which includes a coconut chicken curry and sheet-pan bibimbap. Personally, we can't wait to try the cold noodle salad which seems simple yet promising.

So you want to read something…

Here is our book editor Anushree Kaushal’s mood-themed guide to books you may want to pick up while you wind down:

Love and comfort: At the end of the year, I feel a sense of calm and quiet, a time to rest and leave the less-than-happy things behind me. I first read ‘The Graveyard Book’ by Neil Gaiman at the end of a year many moons ago, and since then it has become something of a ritual to go back to it for its warmth and safety. A boy raised and educated in a graveyard by a coterie of ghosts and other supernatural beings, wary of the real world where a man killed his parents—it’s a coming-of-age tale with important themes of belonging and found-family.

Nature, and your relationship with it: An excellent, thoughtful memoir, ‘A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings’ by Helen Jukes will make you reconnect with the side of yourself that really wants to tend to the environment, big or small. Jukes was feeling trapped in her dead-end job in Oxford, wanting to escape when her friends gifted her a colony of honeybees, and Jukes began her first full year of beekeeping. Along the way, her life transforms, her perspective widens, her relationship to nature by way of caring for these wild creatures opens up in her a sense of something bigger than herself. This is a book whose essence you will take into the new year.

The apocalypse, but make it meaningful: I know this sounds a bit counterintuitive at this point, but The Last Policeman trilogy by Ben H. Winters is more a study of human nature and an unconventional detective story than panic-stricken end-of-the-world survival drama. Contrarian and hopeful, it begins with the eponymous first book and sees detective Hank Palace trying to solve a murder made to look like a suicide. The catch? There’s an asteroid headed towards earth, all life will be wiped out in about six months, and suicides are a dime a dozen. Can you blame people for not caring? All three books are wonderfully atmospheric—bleak, but you can’t help but feel hopeful about life and yourself. The absolute last scene of the series will remain indelible–for likely the rest of my life.  

History that baffles you: While a lot of us want to pick up a cozy read at this time of the year, some of us finally have the time to dive headfirst into something that makes them go down rabbit holes. ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ by David Grann checks all those boxes while also being eminently readable. In the 1920s, The Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma had some of the richest people in the world, owing to the oil discovered beneath their lead. Then, one by one they begin to be killed off. The large number of murders became one of the first major homicide investigations handled by the newly-formed FBI. This is a brilliant account of one of the most sinister conspiracies in American history.

A familiar tale told anew: Modern retellings and adaptations of classics are dime a dozen, but not all of them manage to hit the mark. ‘Ayesha at Last’ by Uzma Jalaluddin certainly accomplishes that task. This retelling of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ brings Ayesha Shamsi—poet at heart, teacher in life because she needs the money—and Khalid—smart, handsome, conservative, judgmental, definitely more than meets the eye—together for a contemporary, heartwarming take on the beloved classic.

Art meets literature: Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is a gritty, hard-boiled graphic crimes series starts with the story of Leo, professional pickpocket, legendary heist-master and thief, and takes us to meet Tracy Lawless, criminal-turned-military man-turned-man out for truth, Jake, a man who grew up in a crime of life but left to lead a normal one, and many more killers and kidnappers, drug lords and small-time thieves, each the hero of their own story but villain in someone else’s.

The splainer team adds: If you’re in the mood for thrillers, be sure to read ‘The Expats’ by Chris Pavon—think ‘The Gone Girl’ meets Tom Clancy with a CIA female spook as the uncertain narrator. Looking for an Indian colonial-era murder mystery that’s a little darker than the usual fare? We highly recommend anything by Abir Mukherjee and MJ Carter’s ‘The Strangler Vine’.

So you want to watch something…

Soon to be released: Here’s what you should look for when you don’t have us around to give you a heads up:

Yearly Departed: The second installment of the comedy special is here to put 2021 to roast rest. This year it’ll be hosted by Yvonne Orji and it’s an all-women lineup—which includes the likes of Jane Fonda, Dulcé Sloan and Chelsea Peretti. There are no reviews yet, but the women will pay tribute to the greatest hits of 2021—including ‘Hot Vaxx Summer’, ‘Hermit Life’, ‘Ignoring the Climate Crisis’, ‘Being an A**hole’, and ‘Zoom’—which we’re totally up for. Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Minnal Murali: A man is hit by lightning and acquires super powers. Starring Tovino Thomas in the lead role, this is not your usual superhero movie with fancy capes and masks. Our homegrown Malayali superhero is very local--one who sometimes wears an ABIBAS t-shirt and the thorthu (a bath towel) as a mask. The trailer is sweet, silly and entertaining. The News Minute found the story stayed true to its small town sensibilities and gave it four stars on five. Dropping on Netflix this Christmas Eve.

83: You know you want to watch this one—just to get a little teary and nostalgic. The long-awaited movie on the historic 1983 World Cup victory has an all-star cast—including Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Pankaj Tripathi. Times of India gave the film four out of five stars and praises “a skillfully written narrative, supported by nuanced and internalised performances” The Indian Express offers high praise for the movie and Singh as Kapil Dev but offers this caveat: “It pads the film with a few (fictional?) elements meant strictly to play to the gallery, and it skates dangerously close to pandering to the overbearing nationalistic sentiments playing out in today’s India.” Releasing in theatres this Christmas Eve.

The Silent Sea: Well, the South Koreans have mastered almost every genre… so why not science fiction? Starring Bae Doo-na and Gong Yoo, this series is set in a dystopian future where Earth has suffered severe desertification. It follows a team of astronauts on a mission to the moon to bring back an important sample from an abandoned lunar base—which instead ends in a battle for survival (no surprises there!). There are no reviews as yet, but we found the trailer gripping enough to be binge-worthy. Drops on Netflix this Christmas Eve.

The Lost Daughter: This psychological drama stars the wonderful Olivia Colman in the lead role in a complex story—based on a novel by Elena Ferrante and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, no less-about motherhood. Do all women want to be mothers—and should they? The Guardian gave it four stars out of five while praising Colman for her “rich, complex and fascinating performance,” and Variety terms it “a remarkable directorial debut” by Gyllenhaal who “challenges conventional thinking about motherhood, delivering her most subversive ideas as subtext.” If you want a break from the selfless mommy stories, this one will offer a refreshing, if uncomfortable, break. Comes to Netflix on New Year’s Eve.

Twenty-something splainer team recommends: the following because they are big fans of brilliant moviemaking.

Pretend It’s a City: This seven part documentary by Martin Scorsese starring veteran humourist Fran Lebowitz is the best thing we’ve watched this year. Lebowitz speaks to Scorsese about New York City and her opinions on subjects including public libraries, transport and health spread over seven episodes. We happened to stumble upon the show and were enthralled by Lebowitz’ wit. Definitely check it out if you’re looking for something sharp and hilarious this holiday. Streaming on Netflix.

Azor: Yvan—a sophisticated private banker from Geneva—lands in Buenos Aires to soothe super-rich clients agitated by the disappearance of his colleague Réné. Set in 1980’s Argentina when the junta ‘disappeared’ thousands of citizens, this is a scathing commentary on the blindness of privilege. The Guardian’s glowing review of the film describes it as a “conspiracy drama-thriller, shot with a kind of desiccated blankness, about the occult world of super-wealth and things not to be talked about.” Streaming on MUBI

The French Dispatch: This Wes Anderson comedy-fantasy film starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton and Timothée Chalamet is an anthology with three stories, each based on features penned by one of a magazine’s star writers. The first is about a master painter who is criminally insane; the second follows a student revolt; while the third revolves around the kidnapping of a cop’s child. Needless to say, the film is visually immaculate and was much loved at film festivals. NPR dubbed the film “a love letter to The New Yorker” as it is inspired by the history of the American magazine—and the New Yorker was no less besotted with what it described as Anderson’s “most free-wheeling film”. Streaming on Apple TV.

Annette: This much-awaited rock-musical tells the story of two star-crossed celebrity lovers and their magically gifted girl Annette—played by a puppet?! Adam Driver is a famed stand-up comedian married to a famous opera singer, Marion Cotillard. This is a horror-infused meditation on celebrity in the modern era. While it is guaranteed to become big during awards season, it may not be to everyone’s taste. Available to stream on Mubi.

Their jaded editor recommends: The following because she can’t deal with any more serious shit than the world already has to offer:

Derry Girls: Who doesn’t love an irreverent, funny coming-of-age movie or series? This one is set in an all-girls Catholic school in Ireland during the peak of IRA violence. The four girls are brilliant—easily recognisable without ever becoming stereotypes—as is the hapless boy stuck amid them. It is super-smart about politics, friendship and sex without ever once preaching or turning schmaltzy. This is for anyone who loves a certain brand of unsentimental yet good-hearted brand of British humour. And just to prove me right, New York Times recommends it as comfort viewing. Streaming on Netflix.

Borgen: If you are tired of real-world politicians, I suggest you follow the rollercoaster career of the fictional Denmark’s female prime minister Birgitte Nyborg Christensen. This series manages to be clear-eyed about politics and gender without ever getting preachy or dreadfully sinister a la ‘House of Cards’—and retains a sense of idealism that is refreshing. In general, this is just a great binge-watch if you miss something like ‘West Wing’ but without the overbearing American self-importance that marred it. Vox has a review if you need it. FYI: You can watch a dubbed version if you are averse to subtitles. Streaming on Netflix.

Club De Cuervos: I was not a big fan of football when I first stumbled upon this hilarious, campy Mexican series about a football team—and the dysfunctional family that owns it. Think ‘Schitt’s Creek’ meets professional sports hi-jinks. The casting is brilliant, as is the madly careening plot—and it is way, way funnier than ‘Ted Lasso’—and its sentimental Hallmark brand of humour. Streaming on Netflix.

If you’re looking for animated classics: to watch with the kids, here’s the best of the holiday fare that is available right now:

• Tim Burton’s The Nightmare before Christmas: streaming on Hotstar.
• The Polar Express: streaming on Prime Video. 
• Arthur Christmas: available on Apple TV and YouTube.
• Klaus: streaming on Netflix. 

Looking for more lists? Check out:

• New Yorker’s best movies of 2021.
• Thrillist’s list of most underrated movies of 2021.
• The Guardian’s roundup of the 50 best TV shows of 2021.
• And Indian Express’ list of best Indian web series.

So you want to play something…

Holiday time is also family time. Here are some of our team members’ favourite kinds:

Phase 10: Prafula says this is a family favourite. Phase 10 is a sort of mash-up of rummy and UNO, where each player has two goals—complete 10 combinations/levels and then discard their cards. It offers the right amount of chaos and confusion that is ideal for a game with a large number of relatives and friends. You can find the rules here.

Codenames: Sara says this is the perfect party-game where teams have to correctly identify the secret agents who are on their team while the spymasters give them one-word clues. It has all the riotous madness of making wild guesses a la Dumb Charades—but a whole lot fresher and fun. You can check out the physical version here or the pandemic-friendly online version here.

Custom rules for MonoDeal and UNO: These are two simple and really popular games. But Sara and her friends got bored and made up their own rules. Rest assured these tiny tweaks will make game night a lot more fun and give you plenty of opportunity for some friendly trash-talking this holiday season.

• UNO: It's called 7s and 0s. Basically each time anyone puts down a 7, the player has to exchange their entire hand with any other player of their choice. And each time a 0 is played, everyone exchanges their entire hand with the person sitting next to them (in the direction of gameplay) 
• MonoDeal: Since money and rent is what makes the game exciting, we ask all players to put their money cards face down. So you never know if your opponent has a stack of ten $1M or whether it's just a single $10M.

STET! Dreyer's English: Full disclosure, we found this one on Twitter but were sufficiently intrigued. It’s perfect for the hidden copy editor in you. There are 100 cards that you either correct or STET, i.e “let it stand”. The New Yorker says: “Stet! is an excellent way to prepare for a copy-editing test and pairs well with a nice gin-and-tonic.”

Scotland Yard: This is a board game Lakshmi discovered thanks to her daughter—and it is just as fun for adults and kids. The game has one thief while the others are cops who are hot on his/her trail. The board is a map of London—where the thief hides while the others hunt him down. She loves it because it offers an innovative twist to what seems like an old-fashioned board game—and ganging up against one family member is always sooo much fun. 

For more: Check out this list of 15 unique card games and puzzles on Mashable.

If you’re in the mood for holiday shopping…

Bric-a-Brac: The homegrown, family-run small business specializes in home décor and homeware items—inspired by the traditional Indian kitchen. Worth checking out: their artisanal Pukur Trays that combine handicraft traditions from rural Bengal and Uttar Pradesh to forge a beautifully delicate item. 

Pure Ghee Designs: Inspired by the textiles of India, this company works with women artisans to craft lovely, unapologetically accessories. Stuff to check out: the colorful and uniquely designed home accents and the delicately handmade jewelry. If you’re interested in knowing more about their journey, check out this beautiful clip from one of the artisans at the studio.  website has more of their story: 

Ruas India: Embroidery has never been this stunning. Producing only in small batches, they offer uniquely handmade bag straps, camera straps and curated items from artisans. We are eyeing their Inaayat Bag Straps crafted in the Chikankari motifs.

The Silk Concept: A gender-neutral and seasonless clothing brand that specialises in exquisite silk weaves from rural Assam. Run by Ishita Das, this is a company driven by the mission to promote the state’s community, culture & craftsmanship. The website isn’t functional as yet, but you can shop via the Insta handle.