Part of the beauty of making a South Indian Thanksgiving is the sides themselves are easily inspired by the vegetarian cuisine of Southern India. If you have a blended group of carnivores and vegetarians coming to dinner, this menu is sure to please both. The vegetables will be full of flavor without any added meat (it really is possible to make vegetables without bacon fat!), and the tandoori turkey will be a perfect complement to the vegetables that will end up stealing the show.

Mashed potatoes are a must at every Thanksgiving, but these get a spicy makeover with ginger, curry leaves, mustard seeds, and tumeric. The result is a flavorful potato that will have your guests asking for seconds, thirds, and possibly fourths! (more…)

Filed under:
Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Indian, Thanksgiving, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

After many years of thinking about how to bring my husband’s traditional foods and mine together for a meal like Thanksgiving, I finally decided to take the plunge and try out the recipes dancing through my head last year. The centerpiece was a tandoori turkey. While I didn’t build a traditional tandoor oven like I had envisioned, this version turned out quite nicely. It had a mild spice and the spatchcocking of the turkey took the cook time down to about an hour and a half. (more…)

Filed under:
Dinner, Gluten free, Indian, Thanksgiving by Courtney

Today is Diwali, or the festival of lights, which is celebrated in India among many other countries. I’ve been on board with this holiday since my husband (then boyfriend) told me about it. The Indian New Year — it means you get to buy new clothes!

Really, though, can you imagine a guy getting all that excited about clothes? Over the years, as he told me a little more about the holiday (because previously I just heard “new clothes” and didn’t care too much about the actual meaning) he would always talk about the sweets his mom would make, and he’d get that happy look on his face, twinkle in his eye. Ahhh! This is what it’s all about for him — sweet treats! (more…)

Filed under:
Dessert, Gluten free, Indian, Vegetarian, World traveller by Courtney

Eggs are something that have grown on me over the years. I’ve went from not eating them to loving just about every type of egg you can serve up, so long as they’re a bit wet (unless it’s tamago, in which case, dry is fine).

One of my favorite ways to prepare eggs is with Thai chilis. The heat of the eggs, the sweet, savory flavor of good onions, washed down with a bit of tropical juice (mango or guava being my favorites) sets the tone for a great day. And they really don’t take all that long to make. Chop the onions to get everything going, and pull out the rest of the ingredients while they saute, and you’ve added on 5 minutes at the most to your standard, plain scrambled egg. (more…)

Filed under:
Breakfast, Dairy free, Gluten free, Indian, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian by Courtney