Weekend food plan: Duck Mappas and Bacalao recipes for Easter

While Easter food traditions have evolved over the years in India, nothing quite compares to a traditional feast around the family table featuring unique regional specialities prepared by various communities. Some of India's most popular chefs share their household recipes for Easter Sunday. 

Chef Regi Mathew, Culinary Director & Co-Owner, Kappa Chakka Kandhari, Chennai 

Growing up, Easter was more than just a celebration—it marked the end of Lent and the beginning of joyful gatherings. We used to travel to our ancestral house in Pala, Kerala for the Easter vacation. And no Easter table was complete without Duck Mappas. I still remember how weeks before Easter we would source live ducks from Kuttanad—ensuring we got the best quality at the best price. There was a certain excitement in preparing for the feast—slow-cooking the duck in a clay pot with gently-roasted coriander and fresh coconut milk, as aromas filled the house. It was a dish that brought everyone together—its richness reflecting the joy of resurrection and reunion.  

Also read: Chefs recommend their favourite late-night food places 

Recipe for Duck Mappas

Ingredients

4 tbsp coconut oil 

1 tsp ginger, julienned 

1 tsp garlic, finely chopped

1 sprig curry leaves

2 green chillies, slit

1 cup sliced onions (large)

10-12 pieces duck curry cut (30-40 gms each)

2 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp turmeric powder 

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp pepper powder 

4 cups water

4 cups thick coconut milk 

Salt to taste

For tempering

4 tbsp coconut oil 

10 shallots, sliced

1 sprig curry leaf

For garam masala powder

1 cinnamon, 2 inch stick 

3 cardamom pods

5 cloves 

1 tsp fennel 

For thick coconut milk

3 cups grated coconut

3 cups lukewarm water

Method 

Prepping:

Roast cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and fennel in slow flame and allow to cool. Use a blender and grind it to a fine powder. Keep it aside.

Chop the garlic, ginger into fine juliennes, slit the green chillies, slice the large onions, peel off the curry leaves and keep it aside.

Wash the duck and keep it aside.

Blend the freshly grated coconut with the lukewarm water finely, and transfer it to a muslin cloth. Squeeze out the milk from the blended coconut mixture.

For tempering, peel the curry leaves, and finely slice the shallots.

To make Duck Mappas

Heat coconut oil in a heavy bottom pan, add the chopped garlic, ginger juliennes, slit green chillies, curry leaves and sliced onions. Sauté it nicely until they become translucent for 5 mins. 

Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder, mix well and cook the masalas until the oil oozes out for 5 mins.

Then add the duck curry cut mix well in the masala for 5 mins. Add salt.

Add the water and allow the duck to get cooked in a slow flame. Simmer the duck until it cooks well and tender for 30 mins (depends on tenderness of the duck).

Finally add the coconut milk, garam masala powder, mix well and turn down the flame.

Now take a small fry pan, heat coconut oil, add the curry leaves and sliced shallots, fry it for a couple of minutes and top it over the Duck Mappas.

Best served with steamed vattayappams.

Chef Freny Fernandes, chef & founder, Freny’s All Day Dining & Bar, Mumbai

One of my fondest memories of Easter is the whole family going for midnight mass together, and then coming back home for a huge feast prepared by my mom. It was more exciting because after forty days of fasting, and eating vegetarian food, the whole family came together to eat, drink and dance till early morning. I remember eating chicken moile (or moilee), which is still a staple on our dinner table every Easter. It’s a traditional East Indian recipe, slightly tangy, and different from the other versions as we use our homemade spice blend bottle masala. The best thing are the potatoes on top. 

Recipe for Chicken Moile

1 kg chicken

2 tbsp East Indian bottle masala 

1 tbsp sugarcane vinegar

4 tbsp oil

Half tbsp sugar

6 big onions, finely chopped

6 tomatoes, finely chopped

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1 green chilli, slit 

Fresh coriander leaves

Salt as per taste

Method

Marinate the chicken with salt and turmeric. 

Heat the oil and fry the onions till translucent. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Now add tomatoes. Cook for a few mins. Then add the bottle masala, vinegar and chicken. 

Cover the pot and let it cook for 25-30 mins.

Once done, deep fry thick, round-cut potatoes and lay them on top of the curry while serving. 

Chef Rahul Gomes Pereira, chef-partner, Passcode Hospitality

A beloved Easter dish at my family table is the Goan-style Bacalao. It's a dish steeped in nostalgia. The salted cod was traditionally sourced by a travelling relative from Portugal, and would arrive just in time every year. A soulful, rustic recipe using bacalao (salted cod), cooked with garlic, sweet onions, and just the right hint of heat. We add in chickpeas and eggs to make it hearty and wholesome.

Recipe for Bacalao (Goan style)

Ingredients

1 cup bacalao (salted cod), shredded 

2 medium potatoes, boiled and cubed (optional)

1 cup chickpeas, boiled (optional)

2 eggs, boiled and cubed

1 bulb garlic, sliced or crushed

1 large onions, sliced lengthwise

2-3 green chillies, slit

1 tsp crushed black pepper 

1 tbsp vinegar, white or malt vinegar

Extra virgin olive oil 

Salt, use sparingly due to bacalao

Method

Prep the bacalao: Soak the bacalao overnight in plenty of water to remove excess salt.

Shred the fish: Once softened, shred the bacalao into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Boil (optional): Cook the potatoes and chickpeas until tender. Boil the eggs, peel, and cut them into cubes.

Heat some olive oil, and sauté the garlic until golden. Remove and keep aside.

In the same oil, sauté the onions until soft and lightly caramelised. Toss in the green chillies.

Bring it all together: add the shredded bacalao to the onion-chilli mixture. Return the garlic to the pan. Stir in the crushed pepper and vinegar. Taste and adjust salt. If the mix feels dry, add a little of the reserved salt water. 

Fold in the potatoes, chickpeas, and eggs. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and toss gently to combine.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Pairs beautifully with steamed rice, toasted poee, or just on its own with a glass of chilled white wine.

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