It’s not often that I have genius ideas, but last weekend was one of those rare occasions. I was trying to come up with an easy, somewhat unusual and festive cocktail that would go with the Persia/Middle East-inspired food I was preparing. And then I thought – what about a Mimosa-type drink, but with pomegranate juice instead of orange juice?

This is what you do: squeeze the juice out of some nice, ripe pomegranates (the most tiresome part of the process and you need quite a few pomegranates); add some rose water and pomegranate seeds if you like; fill champagne glasses with one part pomegranate juice, two parts champagne/cava/prosecco and you are done. It tastes wonderful and looks even better – the colour is perfect for Christmas or New Year.

I got so excited about the drink that I immediately thought of a menu to go with it. Central Asian and Middle Eastern food with its spices and sweetness is excellent for Christmas – and also thematic, of course. But I admit that if you have never cooked much from that region, the more impressive dishes might look a little daunting. So I decided to come up with a simplified version of an exotic feast.

The first and crucial step – either skip the starter or find a good place that has appropriate nibbles: spiced nuts, hummus, baba ganoush, grilled aubergines and peppers, whatever you fancy. You can, of course, make all these yourself (and I sometimes do), but we are trying to keep it easy and relaxed.

For the main course, my first thought was the impressive rice dishes like Shirin pilaf/polow or jewelled rice. There are lots of recipes for these around, I usually follow Lucy and Greg Malouf or you can try Victoria’s lovely version. But there is no denying that doing this properly is time-consuming and it can go wrong, especially the part where the rice should be all golden and crispy in the bottom.

So what I recommend is preparing the basmati rice separately in the way you normally would, trying to achieve the lightest and driest result possible. Then take whatever dried fruits and nuts you like best – let’s say apricots, dates and sour cherries, pistachios and almonds. Chop the fruits and heat them on a frying pan with a very generous amount of butter. Add a teaspoon of saffron threads that have soaked in a mixture of water and rose water (a variation of this). Let it bubble very gently for a bit and turn the heat off. Chop the nuts roughly and toast them lightly. Fold all this through the rice, leave some for garnish on top and voila.

Ideally, I would serve that kind of rice with a big chunk of lamb, slow-roasted with spices. But again, if this seems too difficult or exotic (I have found, to my great astonishment, that not everybody likes lamb!), try a roast chicken with saffron and lemon (make two, if there are more people). It’s exactly like an ordinary roast chicken, only with saffron and lemon: the first will give a beautiful, golden colour and the other will add some sourness that’s welcome with the sweet rice. If you are not concerned with having a centre piece, I recommend making joojeh kababs – you’ll keep the flavour combination and beautiful colour and it’s extremely simple and quick.

If you feel like you need some vegetables with you chicken and rice, oven-roasted carrots with cumin are a great, easy option.

One of my favourite desserts is Eton mess, a mess (!) of whipped cream, meringues and strawberries. It tastes lovely, but is also completely foolproof, especially if you use ready-made meringues. I suggest adding pomegranate seeds instead of strawberries and if you feel especially opulent, maybe some rose or mulberry syrup. Laduree does very pretty tiny rose-flavoured meringue flowers that would work perfectly here, if you can get them and are willing to spend 7 billion dollars.

And then maybe have some more cocktails.