Tag: Thanksgiving

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MASHED POTATO FRIED DUMPLINGS WITH A SPICY PESTO SAUCE

One of Thanksgiving’s staple sides is the omnipresent mashed potatoes. We make ours with red potatoes with a healthy dose of roasted garlic and heavy cream. It works well with our main dish, the Cornish Hen Murg Mussallam (recipe on saltasneeded.com), adding a nice backdrop to the spicy Lamb mince stuffing in it.

But one of the side effects of an elaborate holiday dinner are leftovers , and finding different ways to serve them . Today I share with you my recipe of a lunch I served using leftover mashed potatoes over the weekend, to a family that insisted I share it with my readers.

These fried dumplings are a common street food found in the western part of India and are called BATATA VADAS. They are usually served as a sandwich in a soft dinner roll like bread called Pav, with a generous spread of a spicy red garlic chutney.

The Spicy Pesto is very versatile and can be served as a dip or spread and stores well in an air tight container, in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Ingredients

DUMPLINGS

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes ( makes 16-18 Dumplings)

2 Serrano peppers finely chopped

10 Curry leaves

Juice of 1/2 lemon.

Oil for Frying

Salt as needed

FRYING BATTER

1 cup Chickpea flour (Besan)

1/4 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Paprika

Salt as needed

Mix all ingredients for the dumplings . Take small portions and shape them into balls and keep aside.

Add enough water to the Batter ingredients to make a semi-thick paste. It should be thick enough so it coats the potato balls well.

Heat the oil on high till smoking. Dip the potato balls individually in the batter and gently drop them into the oil. Reduce heat to medium and fry stirring gently, till they turn a golden brown color. Drain on paper towel.

PESTO SAUCE

1 cup chopped Cilantro

4 Serrano Peppers

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

4 pods garlic

1/4 cup Extra Virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Blend the first 4 ingredients in a food processor while slowly pouring in the EVOO. Taste before adding salt. Store in an air tight container.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

As an appetizer on its own with a little chili oil drizzle and the pesto as a dipping sauce.

Cut open a dinner roll, spread some of the pesto on both sides and place a dumpling in between and serve as a sandwich.

HAPPY COOKING!

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Thanksgiving with Hen

Every family I know has a Thanksgiving tradition they strictly adhere to and so does mine.  I can say with all certainty that never has a Turkey crossed my kitchen doorstep.  And all because the “Holy Trinity” does not like turkey. Anyways, our family tradition has been to cook a couple of Cornish Hens instead of the traditional turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. We stick with the usual sides like mashed potatoes, potato salad, cranberry chutney (must share this recipe with you soon), brussel sprouts cooked in bacon, corn bread stuffing and pecan and or pumpkin pie.

Of course as with every family, recipes evolve over time making them unique and special.  So over the years what started off as a Stuffed Chicken Tandoori has emerged as a Lamb mince stuffed Cornish Hen.  Its a small bird, definitely more flavorful, can be served as a whole bird (conducive to table top carving)  and most important, we don’t have humongous amounts of left overs.

Here is the recipe; From my kitchen to yours.

 

Lamb Mince Stuffed Cornish Hen

2 Cornish hens

3/4 cup oil (shallow frying)

Marinade: ( overnight)

4 tbs Ginger – garlic paste

1 tbsp red chilli powder

Juice of 1 lemon

salt as needed

Stuffing:

1 lb Lamb or Turkey mince

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 1/2 tsp Garam Masala

15 almonds soaked, peeled and sliced

2 hard boiled eggs minced

2 “piece ginger julienne

salt as needed

Basting:

4 tbsp sour cream or yogurt

3 tbsp heavy cream

1/2 tsp black pepper powder

a couple pinches mace powder

a couple pinches nutmeg powder

10 strands saffron

1/4 tsp green cardamom powder

In a broad bottomed pan heat oil and brown the marinated birds, one at a time, over medium heat,  turning gently with cooking tongs so they are nicely browned on all sides.  Take the birds out of the pan on to a paper towel to drain the excess oil.  To the same oil add onions and saute till transluscent.  Now add the mince and saute till nicely browned. Put in the Garam Masala, ginger and almonds and saute for about 10 minutes.  To finish add the minced eggs and salt and cook for a couple minutes, stirring gently, and take off the flame.

After it cools , stuff the birds with this mince, leaving enough for a side dish.

Pre-heat oven  to 375  degrees.  Place the bird on a roasting pan, baste with the sour cream sauce and  roast for 30 minutes (or till cooked), basting regularly till all the sauce is used.

Garnish with Fresh chopped coriander.

Happy Cooking and a Very Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Wine Suggestions:

Lambrusco or Pinot Noir. If you want to go really bold, a Zin works really well with the strong flavors of the spices.

 

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A Suitable Food

My first blog ever!  Excited … scared. Deal with it, human.

I watched a great film, A Suitable Girl at the recently concluded Chicago South Asian film festival (csaff.org) which traces the lives of 3 girls in India. Coming from varied socioeconomic backgrounds, all well educated and independent and the only thing in common- either desperately or reluctantly looking to get married within the arranged marriage framework. Beautifully nuanced, the makers set out to lay the facts as they are, without taking sides. What shocked me was that things are pretty much the same as they were eons ago for girls  on the ‘marriage market’. Don’t want to give out too much about the movie so will stop here.

That got me thinking about the this past week when married women from India partially fasted for eight days on specially ordained foods during the festival of Navratri ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navaratri)  presumably for the long lives of their  husbands.  One of those foods is the under rated Sweet Potato.   Why not take this versatile  root vegetable that coincidentally is also found on the Thanksgiving table and give it my own special twist. So from the kitchens of India  to my lab (aka kitchen) I go, to perfect a recipe and  bring to the tables here. I am going to try and keep the ingredients simple, healthy and easily available at the local grocery stores.   Below is the fruit of my labor.

SWEET POTATOES WITH A PECAN AND COCONUT CRUMBLE

2 Sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into 1/4 ” roundels)

4-5 twigs of thyme

3  cinnamon sticks

4 tbsp Ghee/clarified butter (no Substitution please)*

CRUMBLE

Large handful of pecans crushed in a mortar and pestle

4 tbsp fresh or dry desiccated or grated coconut*

4 tbsp brown sugar

5 tbsp crushed oats

2 tbsp cold butter diced

2 tbsp flour (optional) *

Salt as Needed

Season the SP with a little salt and keep aside. In a flat bottomed pan put in the ghee, thyme and cinnamon sticks. On a low flame stir for a few minutes so that all the flavors are nicely infused into the ghee.  Now in batches cook the SP on both sides till crisp(careful not to burn them). Transfer directly on to a pie dish(no greasing needed).

To prepare the crumble  put all the ingredients  along with the drippings from the pan (toss the thyme and cinnamon) into a bowl and mix well with a fork. The mixture will have a soft gooey texture which is fine.

Now spread it over the SP and bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve as a side dish or a healthy dessert.

HAPPY COOKING FROM KAVITA ATUL!

SIDEBARS:

  1. Ghee is available in most grocery stores now but if you not want to purchase a whole bottle heat 3 tbsp of butter,  on a low flame stir till it turns a golden brown and gives off a nutty, rich aroma. Now you can add the thyme etc and carry on.
  2. If you cannot find fresh or fresh frozen use dry coconut but soak it in a couple tbsp cold milk for a few mins and then use as directed.
  3. I used whole grain Teff flour, you could use white flour too.