Christmas in Coimbatore: Traditions, food, and festive vibes

The stars of Puliakulam

At Preethi’s Unique Fancy House in Coimbatore
| Photo Credit:
PERIASAMY M

S Vincy is seated within a tiny galaxy of stars in Puliakulam. Her roadside shop at a street corner, some distance from St Antony’s church, is lit up by Christmas stars and lights. “There are stars in paper and plastic, as well as those studded with LED lights. Choose your pick,” she says, emerging from her position on a plastic chair in the middle of Christmas paraphernalia. Vincy sells fairy lights, streamers, Christmas trees, cribs, and Nativity set figurines her husband Antony Raj sources from wholesale shops in Ernakulam.

Season’s greetings from Coimbatore’s Puliakulam
| Photo Credit:
PERIASAMY M

Check SleepLean Official Website

👉 Visit the Official SleepLean Website

Vincy sets up the makeshift shop towards the end of November, but business picks up a week before Christmas. “This year, plastic stars are in trend,” she says, pointing to yellow and blue stars with a row of LED lights framing them. “These are among our new arrivals.”

She sells Nativity set figurines in clay and resin, ranging from five to 12 inches in height. “They consist of 12 pieces, including Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, sheep, and the three kings,” she says. Vincy’s home, located in a by-lane behind the shop, has been done up with lights, stars and a Christmas tree. “My husband, a catechist at St Antony’s church, makes it a point to do this every year,” smiles Vincy. “He chooses the kind of décor and lighting with care.”

Christmas cribs at a shop in Puliakulam
| Photo Credit:
PERIASAMY M

Vincy was born and raised in Puliakulam and says that during her younger years, her family couldn’t afford much in terms of Christmas décor. “My mother would hang a small star in front of our home and nothing more,” she says. When customers trickle down and Vincy is alone in her stall with nothing but her stars for company, she thinks about how her life has changed for the better. “I’m fortunate to be surrounded by stars every Christmas season,” she grins.

Across the road from her stall is Preethi’s Unique Fancy House that boasts cheerful inflatable Santas at the entrance. M Preethi, who owns the store that sells everything from stationery, cosmetics, and toys through the year, explains how she stocks up on Christmas décor in November and December.

On December 1, her store dons a new look: that of stars, Santas and lights. Her shelves are packed with Nativity figurines and colourful baubles. “For three weeks, I focus on all things Christmas,” she says, adding that she sources her ware from Bengaluru. Her shop’s highlight this year are collapsable trees that come affixed with springs. “They open up once pulled and can be easily stored at home after the festive season,” says Preethi. These are available in four ft to eight ft-tall options. “We have churches approaching us for the eight ft-tall trees,” she explains.

Decked up for Christmas in Puliakulam
| Photo Credit:
PERIASAMY M

Her shop also has cane cribs made by an artisan in Pollachi. “While cribs are available in materials such as plastic and cardboard, there’s something special about cane,” she says. “They look like the actual stable Jesus was said to be born in.”

Butter beer on the Christmas menu

The hum of Christmas songs fills the air at Chocko Choza as we step in for a festive meal one afternoon. The resto-café wears a minimalist festive look with miniature reindeer and Santas strung here and there. This year, the newly-launched space in Race Course offers a compact festive menu with drinks and meals inspired by movies and sitcoms. Think Harry Potter, Friends, and The Polar Express.

Butter beer at Chocko Choza
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

Many a Potterhead has fantasised about the butter beer that Harry, Ron, and Hermione have at Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade village. In the books, the drink is described as warm and creamy with a foamy top, perfect for a cold day. Based on popular opinion, butter beer is a fizzy cream soda that tastes of butterscotch and caramel, and is non-alcoholic since students drink a lot of it.

Gingerbread cookies at Chocko Choza
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

Chocko Choza serves butter beer with a twirl of whipped cream on top and the drink consists of caramel and soda, and is served mildly cold. It warms our insides, preparing us for the onslaught of flavours of the dish that is next in line: the Moist Maker sandwich from Friends. The sandwich is Ross’ favourite and consists of an extra slice of gravy-soaked bread in the middle. In the sitcom, it is made with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Chocko Choza’s version is quite an elaborate assembly of bread, gravy, a drizzle of jam, chicken slices, onions, lettuce and baby potatoes.

It takes some time to demolish it, and we order a plate of Dragon Balls, also inspired by Harry Potter, to go with it. While there is no dish of the name in the books, this dish takes its name from the fiery sauce on which the crunchy, golden balls arrive. They are made of potatoes, broccoli and molten cheese in the centre: crispy on the outside with a gooey inside.

The Christmas menu also boasts Polar Express Hot Chocolate, served with whipped cream and Kevin’s ice cream sundae. The dessert from Home Alone 2 has a whooping 16 scoops of ice cream with toppings. Do we order it? No, not all of us are Kevin.

Keeping traditions alive

By the first week of December, the aroma of freshly-baked plum cake wafts through the air at Kovai KRS Bakery in RS Puram, as one of the oldest bakeries in the city gets ready for Christmas. But the work begins six months earlier, when dry fruits are soaked in home-made wine and set aside to mature slowly. “That’s how plum cakes are meant to be made,” says KS Naresh, the fourth generation owner and grandson of Rangaswamy, founder of KRS Bakery. “We have customers who came here as children,” adds Naresh, who has been part of the business since his school days. “Now they come to order cakes for their children. Some even come back for wedding anniversaries.”

Subhashree Naresh
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

Their cake exhibition, an annual ritual, showcases elaborate designs. More than 1000 cake designs in as many as 50 flavours are a highlight at the ongoing one. “In the 1990s, theme cakes were rare. Only a few bakeries attempted shapes, and we were one of the pioneers,” says Naresh. From jungle themes and sports-inspired cakes to handbags, chandeliers and sculpted showpieces, the bakery now handles over 1,000 custom designs. One of their cakes, a 12-foot chandelier cake, made for a wedding, weighed close to 120 kilograms.

Today, the bakery offers more than 50 cake flavours, many fruit-based, using pineapple, strawberry, apple, banana, walnuts and other fresh ingredients. Subhashree Naresh, managing partner, who specialises in cake sculpting says this year, they made cakes themed on actor Ajith and the women’s cricket team. “It was for paying a tribute to the team. They have made us proud,” says Subhashree as a chocolaty Gucci bag catches my attention.

“We take challenging orders. Though the bag cake will look better when made with traditional butter cream, our customers prefer whipped cream, and fresh cream and thin layers. We deliver complex designs within three hours.” Recently, the bakery has begun experimenting with reducing maida, increasing cashew sponge ratios, introducing almond flour, millet-based elements, and sugarless custom cakes.

A themed cake at KRS Bakery
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

Naresh also recalls a stand out moment, where the bakery made birthday cakes for former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the late J Jayalalithaa, crafting cakes that matched her age. “We made 60 kilograms of cake for her 60th birthday, delivered across multiple locations on the same day. One year, when she won the Cauvery water dispute case, a Cauvery-themed cake became a highlight.”

Christmas, however, remains rooted in tradition. “Christmas is cake season,” he says. “Everyone buys plum cake now.” The bakery makes two main varieties, plum and rich plum, soaked in dry fruits, and continuously replenished through the year to ensure consistency. 

The rich plum cake is dense, moist, and aromatic with as many as 12 varieties of dry fruits including dates, figs, cherries, raisins, candied orange rind and ginger rind. What sets this bakery apart, however, is a tradition few still follow. They make plum cake with almond icing, or marzipan. Made exclusively for Christmas, this old-style cake is topped with a sugar-coated almond layer.

Ingredients like fresh cream, premium chocolate, refined flour, and vegetable oil are chosen carefully. “We don’t use anything that will affect people’s health,” he says. “That’s important to us.”