Sorpotel: Mumbai’s Father Warner D’souza explains why he celebrates Christmas with the Goan dish

Father Warner D’Souza, a priest in Mumbai, claims to have unique recollections of Christmas and the holiday season, in contrast to most others. They are intimate, modest family gatherings rather than opulent feasts. “We didn’t have privilege as children. He continues, “It was when Crawford Market had Rs 20 disgusting looking stockings with toys in it. We had enough to live but not enough for luxury.” He chuckles. But he claims that getting stockings filled with trinkets as a youngster was a wonderful thing since all kids desire something that intrigues them. He says, “We never got all that.”

Rather, D’Souza’s imaginative mother would adorn a huge tree that someone had given the family free of charge while they were in America. He recalls, “Every year, when a section of the tree went bare, she would make us paint the ornaments and she would make it look absolutely gorgeous.” Not only were the decorations festive, but preparing candies with his mother in the run-up to Christmas was also a fun experience. “I learned how to fry nevris, prepare milk cream, and roll kulkuls on well-washed combs. One day, we left the milk cream too long and it became dark.

Thus, for me, Christmas was about family and gathering, which is the essence of the holiday, and creating them instead of purchasing them from a stand,” he says, transporting us all back to our childhood and the years spent assisting our mothers and relatives in making holiday confections.

His favorite part of the holiday season was Christmas supper, even though he also enjoyed cooking cookies and decorating the tree. “I remember eating pulao, chicken curry—which makes me drool just thinking about it—and pork vindaloo for Christmas lunch,” he says. D’Souza continues, saying that even in modern times, when he may serve a 13-course meal, it is not Christmas if it does not include pulao, hog vindaloo, and chicken coconut curry.

“Even if you have little on Christmas Day today, you have these memories and the identification of what comes on the palate and that is a tremendously strong memory,” he continues. “It is not what you eat but the memory of happy days when you smile through a simple meal.” He has always held the belief that while there may be a variety of meals served at the feast, the main focus of Christmas is always the traditional dishes of vindaloo and sorpotel. “Comfort food is at the core of Christmas.”

What meal does he serve to celebrate? D’Souza is obviously undecided between pork vindaloo and pork sorpotel, but when you ask him again, he answers with pork sorpotel right away. A conversation with the priest connected to Cumbala Hill’s St Stephen’s Church would be completed without a historical overview of the origins of “sarpatel” in Brazil and its eventual voyage to India, which he often publishes on Instagram. “Sorpotel was once a very humble dish, but now it’s at the center of our Christmas celebrations,” adds D’Souza, also known on the photo-sharing app as “Potty Padre.”

Sorpotel recipe by Father Warner D’Souza

Components: Pork 1 kg salt 1 tablespoon powdered turmeric One teaspoon vinegar and one-fourth cup Kashmiri chilies (20–25 pieces)
14 cloves, no.
One stick of cinnamon
One tsp each of peppercorns and jeera
Garlic 1/2 tsp. Turmeric Three nos. of 1/4-inch onions, 1/2 tsp. ginger
Five green chilies, sliced

Method: 1. In a pressure cooker, boil the pork with salt and turmeric powder for four minutes. When the first whistle sounds, turn the cooker off. Give it time to relax and cool fully.
2. Grind 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 pod garlic, 1/4 inch ginger, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, and jeera with the vinegar and leave aside.
3. Dice the meat into tiny pieces.
4. Fry the pork in batches in a vessel, putting each batch aside.
5. Add three onions to the same pot and sauté them until they become transparent using the hog grease.
6. Add one entire pod of finely minced garlic, five split green chilies, and half an inch of finely chopped ginger. Cook this well while stirring.
7. Next, add the chopped pig pieces and the ground masala.
8. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for approximately three minutes, or until the mixture is done, adding warm water as needed. A rich gravy is what you need.