Appetizer:
Curried Nuts

Greens:
Gujarat Green Beans

Starch:
Horseradish
Mashed Potatoes

Curried Yams with coconut milk

Turkey:
Cumin and Coriander spice rub

Condiments:
Cranberry Chutney

Cucumber Raita

Stuffing:
With raisins, cinnamon, almonds, celery and of course, bread

Dessert:
Chiffon Pumpkin Pie with crystallized ginger galore

East Indian Recipes for
An East Indian Feast
By Michael Sherwood
Avalon Food & Wine Writer

Curried Mixed Nuts
When I dip into a bowl of nuts at a party and they turn out to be slightly hot; slightly sweet and slightly curried, I’m in heaven. This snack is the perfect way to kick off your East Indian Feast. They also work damn well sprinkled over holiday salads too.

Here’s what you need:

2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil.
Use ‘ghee’ (clarified butter) if you are going totally native.
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon curry powder or garam marsala
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon honey

2 cups nuts that may include:

walnut halves
cashew halves
pistachios
almonds
hazelnuts

salt to taste

Here’s what you do:

1. Line baking sheet with foil. Lightly oil foil. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

2. Add ginger, curry powder, cayenne pepper and whatever spices you are using; sauté until fragrant, about 5 seconds. Stir in sugar and honey. Add nuts. Stir until honey mixture is amber in color and nuts are well coated, about 6 minutes.

3. Transfer nut mixture to prepared baking sheet. Working quickly, separate nuts with spoon so they don’t stick together. Sprinkle with salt. Cool. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

Note: We’ve added amchoor powder before (dried green mango powder), used confectioners sugar, nutmeg, ground cardamom, cinnamon & cloves. Have even added raisins and currents to the mix.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Adapted from: Bon Appétit - November 1998

Indian Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are standard on American tables. We’ve tilted this classic only slightly by adding a touch of horseradish to this side dish to give a nod to India. If you have the time to get fancy as everything is heading towards the table, quickly fry up some black mustard seeds and drizzle them over the mashed potatoes, in what is called a ‘tarka’ or seasoned oil.

Here’s what you need:

4 lb large yellow-fleshed potatoes such as Yukon Gold, peeled and quartered
1 3/4 cups half-and-half (or whole milk if you must)
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup horseradish [i.e. Beaver brand]
1 large garlic clove, pressed
Optional: 6-7 lime wedges [Key lime if possible]
Optional: 1 Tbsp. black mustard seeds, fried

Here’s what you do:

1. Cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches in a 5-quart heavy pot, then simmer, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes.

2. While potatoes are simmering, bring half-and-half, butter, garlic, salt, and pepper just to a simmer, stirring until butter is melted. Keep hot, covered.

3. Drain potatoes in a colander, then immediately force through ricer into a large bowl, or smash them with a hand masher. Stir in hot milk mixture, then horseradish. Dust with paprika if you like.

4. Provide each guest with a wedge of lime, that they can squeeze over their mashed potatoes.

Notes:
• If you have a ricer or food mill – use it. Using a handheld masher is what most of us will use, but the consistency of the potatoes won't be as smooth, but that’s okay. If you use a hand mixer (which I don’t recommend) be careful not to over mix, or the potatoes turn into a gooey paste with too vigorous of a beating.

• Mashed potatoes can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature, then reheat in a microwave or double boiler, stirring occasionally.

Peel and cut potatoes and boil them in water to which a little vinegar is added. They will will retain their texture better this way.
Be careful how much horseradish you add initially. You may not need the entire ½ cup. Taste the dish as you add. Make it only mildly hot to your taste buds. Every dish shouldn’t club you with spices and herbs. It’s okay to be subtle, even with something like horseradish.

• To add even more Indian flair and flavors, In a small frying pan, fry 1 Tbsp. black mustard seeds in vegetable or peanut oil. When they start to spatter, quickly remove from heat and add to the mashed potatoes. It's probably a good idea to keep the frying pan covered until you remove it from the heat, because these babies can fly when they spatter.

This is what is known in Indian cooking as a ‘tarka’ — hot oil seasoned with spices, which are added in sequence to infuse their flavors. The tarka is either incorporated at the beginning of a recipe or poured sizzling over a finished dish, as we do here, to impart another layer of flavor.

Makes 8 servings.
Source: Michael Sherwood – Sub Rosa

Gujerati Green Beans

Each year we switch out the greens we cook up for the Indian Feast. Last year it was Bengali Spinach and curried squash soup. This year it’s simple green beans. To change it from Gujerati to Kerala green beans, just add a half a cup of grated coconut (unsweetened or fresh), when it comes time to simmer the final mix.

Here’s what you need:

1 pound fresh green beans
1 good sized shallot, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. whole black mustard seeds
1 tsp. ground cumin seeds, toasted
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
½ - 1 diced jalapeño pepper
salt
black pepper

Here’s what you do:

1. Lay a row of beans. Trim the ends. Do them all that way.

2. Blanch the beans by dropping them into a pot of boiling water and boiling rapidly for 3 to 4 minutes or until they are just tender. Drain immediately in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Set aside.

3. Heat the oil in a large fry pan over a medium heat. Sautee the shallots - when hot, put in the mustard seeds. As soon as they begin to pop (watch out, those mustard seeds really do jump out), put in the garlic and the jalapeño. Stir the garlic pieces around until they turn light brown. Work fast - you don’t want to burn these ingredients.

4. Put in the green beans, salt and sugar. Stir to mix. Turn the heat to medium-low. Add 2 Tbsp. water. Toss in the ground cumin (and the coconut if you are adding this ingredient) and stir. Cover and cook the beans for 7 to 8 minutes or until they have absorbed the flavor of the spices. Add the black pepper to taste, mix and serve.

Inspired by Madhur Jaffrey (but then, she always inspires me)

Curried Yams in Coconut Milk

We took a standard yams with brown sugar side dish and gussied it up quite a bit. The little bit of coconut milk replaces the sugar or honey traditionally used to sweeten this dish. The spices add a whole new dimension to the traditional side of yams.

Here’s what you need:

1 lb yams
1 Tbsp. salt
2 inch, fresh ginger root
1 Garlic clove
2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2 whole green cardamom pods
1 Bay leaf
4 Peppercorns
1 Inch stick cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. garam marsala (optional)
To taste - salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

Here’s what you do:

1. Peel the yams, cut them into 1 inch cubes, place in a colander and sprinkle liberally with salt. Let stand 10-15 minutes. Steam the potatoes for 10 minutes, until just barely soft.

2. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, ginger and garlic. Heat the cooking pan over a moderate flame, add the cumin seed, and cook until they begin to splutter. Add the chopped onion, ginger, and garlic. Cook until the onion is a rich golden color. Add all the spices and season with salt to taste. Let this cook while you continue as below.

3. Heat the oil and sauté the already steamed yam cubes, until golden brown. Drain on absorbent

4. Add the coconut milk and bring to a healthy simmer. Let it roil for a few minutes, then add the yam cubes and onion spice mixture, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes or until nearly dry, but still moist. Let the coconut milk be the sweet binder, taking the place of both brown sugar for sweetness and yogurt for viscosity.

5. Serve hot, garnished with the chopped coriander sprinkled on top. If you have any lime left over, this dish might benefit from a squeeze of lime as well.

Source: The recipe is derived and adapted from one in ‘The Hamlyn Curry Cookbook’, by Meera Taneja

Cranberry Chutney Recipe

Any good ‘out of the can’ cranberry sauce has the potential to be a killer chutney as this recipe illustrates. Add a few spices, maybe some additional fruit. Cook it in cider until it gets thick again. Lay this chutney beside your bird and your turkey or chicken just arrived in Bombay.

This is fabulous with turkey of course, but also with roast beef, ham, goose… it’s all good with this tricked out cranberry sauce.

Here’s what you need:

1 (1 lb) can jellied cranberry sauce
1 (1 lb) can whole-berry cranberry sauce
(can also use 1 ½ lbs. fresh or frozen whole cranberry instead)
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar (or less)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
salt
1/4 cup toasted and chopped hazelnuts or walnuts
1/2 small orange, peeled,diced
1-2 inch orange rind, finely diced
1/2-1 lemon, juice only
(optional fruit to add are raisins or chopped apples)

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut ginger into paper thin slices, stack, cut into thin slivers.

2. Combine slivers, garlic, vinegar, sugar, pepper, cinnamon and allspice into a heavy pot.

3. Simmer for about 20 minutes (may take longer) until there're about 4 tablespoons liquid left (excluding the solids).

4. Add cranberry sauces (or fresh cranberry) and salt. Mix, bring to a simmer. It will be a bit lumpy. If you like fruit in your chutney, a few raisins or currents or apple chunks adds nice color, flavor and texture to this chutney.

5. Add nuts, orange, peel and lemon juice. Simmer slowly. It may take 2 to 3 hours to thicken.

6. Cool it, put in a jar and refrigerate.

Note: Chutney can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered. It also freezes well.

The Turkey - East Indian Style

The turkey is the centerpiece of the our East Indian Feast. People jockey for the dark meat or the white breasts. We’ve added a spice rub under the skin and a glaze over the outside skin.

You may have your own favorite method that works for you. Congrats. Add the spice rub below to your routine and you are good to go.

We’ve tried brining the bird (which makes it oh so moist), I’ve fried it (too intense for me), slow baked and fast baked. Below is the ‘fast bake’ method. We tend to soak the bird in a cooler filled with water, ice, bay leaves, pepper corns and salt overnight before and prep it Thanksgiving morning. The salt opens up the cell walls so the meat proteins fill with water.

Here’s what you need:

One (14- to 16-lb) turkey, neck and giblets (excluding liver) reserved for turkey giblet stock.

The Rub:
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
3/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (1 1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
3 tablespoons vegetable oil plus
additional for greasing pan
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Here’s what you do:

1. Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Rinse turkey inside and out and pat dry. Mix the rub in a blender. Rub it evenly in turkey cavities. Then under the skin. Take a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it around your index finger. Use the plastic and your finger to separate the skin from the bird. Massage the rub under the skin as well. Fold neck skin under body and, if desired, secure with metal skewer, then tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks together with heavy kitchen string.

3. Put turkey on rack in a large flameproof roasting pan. Roast, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through roasting, until thermometer inserted into fleshy part of each thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 hours.

3. Carefully tilt turkey so juices from inside large cavity run into roasting pan. Transfer turkey to a platter (do not clean roasting pan) and let stand 30 minutes (temperature of thigh meat will rise to 180°F). Cut off and discard string from turkey.

Note: We don’t recommend this high-heat roasting method for turkeys weighing more than 16 pounds. However, for turkeys weighing less than 14 pounds, start checking the temperature earlier. If you only have a dark-colored metal roasting pan or your pan juices start to look very dark, add 1 cup water to the roasting pan.

Adapted from: Gourmet - November 2005

Cucumber Raita

Raitas are used as a cooling condiment between hot side dishes and entrée’s. One thing you have to watch with Indian is to have a range of spice flavors, from mild to strong, spicy to plain hot. Try not to design your meal with all hot items, or all mild ones either. You want to provide a balance of flavors and range of intensities. Yogurt raitas are there to cool you off and work as a nice palate cleanser too.

Here’s what you need:

1 cup plain nonfat or whole-milk yogurt
1/4 cup coarsely grated hothouse (seedless) cucumber
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted.
1 Tbsp.. olive oil
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 small scallion, finely chopped
1 tsp. snipped chives, or fresh cilantro leaves.
Black pepper, to taste
Optional: 1/2 tsp. orange zest

Here’s what you do:

1. Peel cucumber. Grate with hand grater using the large holes.

2. Toast cumin seeds for a few seconds in a small, heavy frying pan over high heat.

3. In a bowl, stir yogurt until it is smooth. Mix it with the cumin, garlic, chopped scallons and cilantro leaves and the balance of ingredients.

4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour but no longer than 3. Stir well before serving. Sprinkle with paprika. Makes 1 cup.

East India Bread and Celery Stuffing

We took this traditional and simple stuffing and added fruit, nuts and classic Indian spices. Everyone loves stuffing and when it comes to experimenting with variations of baked stuffing… there are no complaints from the hungry. Just for the record… it is called stuffing if it is put inside the bird. It is called dressing if it is cooked outside the bird.

Here is what you need:

1 (1 pound) loaf sliced white bread (8-10 cups)
3/4 cup butter
2 medium onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup each

Golden raisins –
plumped in hot liquid (water or brandy)
Currants
Coarsely chopped pitted prunes
Chopped almonds
Toasted coconut – in a 350 degree oven, for 7-16 minutes. Watch carefully.

1 Tbsp. Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 eggs beaten
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp.garam marsala
Salt and peper to taste.
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp. half & half cream

Here is what you do:

1. Let bread slices air dry for 5 to 12 hours (overnight), then cut into cubes.

2. Chop celery, parsley and anything else that needs cutting up.

3. In a large pan or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion and celery until translucent. Season with poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper, paprika, cinnamon and garam marsala. Stir in fruit.

4. Stir in bread cubes until evenly coated. Toss in almonds

5. Moisten with chicken broth, half & half and beaten eggs; Lastly throw in toasted coconut. Mix well.

4. Chill, and use as a stuffing for turkey, or bake in a buttered casserole dish covered with foil at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Then bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.

Original recipe yield: 10 servings.

Stuffing and Dressing Notes: If you choose to stuff your turkey, here’s the drill. Twelve cups of stuffing will fill both cavities and leave you extra to bake separately. Just before roasting, spoon room-temperature stuffing loosely (stuffing expands as it cooks) into the neck (smaller) cavity. Fold the neck skin underneath the body and secure with a small metal skewer. Then loosely fill the body (larger) cavity, and tie drumsticks together. If you don't want any stuffing to spill out, cover the opening with a slice of fresh bread, tucking it inside the cavity before tying the drumsticks. Follow roasting directions above. (Timing for a stuffed bird may be slightly longer, but start checking the temperature at 1 3/4 hours.) Immediately transfer stuffing from body cavity to a shallow baking dish (separate from one for stuffing baked outside the turkey). Take temperature of stuffing in neck cavity and if less than 165°F, add it to the baking dish. Bake (covered for a moist stuffing or uncovered for a crisp top) until it reaches a minimum of 165°F. This can take 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the temperature of the oven, which you may have lowered to reheat side dishes.

Make the stuffing slightly dry if you are going to stuff the turkey with it. It will expand and become more moist as the turkey roasts.

The bread you use should be dried overnight at room temperature, or sliced and baked in a very low oven for about an hour. Bread that's too moist will make a soggy, sticky stuffing.

Make sure to spoon the stuffing lightly into the turkey cavities. We want to get that stuffing to 165 degrees, and it won't if it's packed too tightly!

Indian Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

We’ve been making the original recipe of this pie for 10 years. We often have ‘dueling pumpkin pies’ for dessert at Thanksgiving and this one usually wins. After a day of snacking, drinking and just possibly overeating – the lightness of this pie is just what the Doctor ordered for the last course.

It wasn’t hard to turn a pumpkin pie into an Indian delight. Squash and pumpkins have been in India for centuries. The fillings cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cardamom are staples in Indian cooking already. We simply added chopped coconut to the crust and boosted the ginger profile with the addition of crystallized ginger into the filling.

Here’s what you need.

For the crust:
fourteen 2-inch gingersnaps
(about 4 ounces)
1 cup almonds (about 4 ounces)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
melted and cooled
1/2 cup sweet shredded coconut,
finely chopped.

For filling:
1 envelope (about 1 Tbsp..)
unflavored gelatin
2 Tbsp. brandy rum or water
1 cup milk
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. chopped crystallized ginger
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup heavy cream

Accompaniment:
Whipped cream with finely ground cardamom
Garnish: Chopped crystallized ginger (image at right)

Here’s what you do:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

1. Make the crust: In a food processor grind gingersnaps, almonds, coconut and sugar fine and add butter, blending until combined well. Press mixture onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch (1-quart) glass pie plate. Bake crust in middle of oven 15 minutes, or until crisp and golden around edge, and cool on rack.

2. Make filling: In a small bowl sprinkle gelatin over brandy, rum, or water and let stand. In a heavy saucepan whisk together milk, brown sugar, yolks, pumpkin, spices, and salt and cook over moderately low heat, whisking, until mixture registers 160°F. on a candy thermometer. Remove pan from heat and immediately add gelatin mixture, whisking until gelatin is completely dissolved.

3. Transfer filling to a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and cool, stirring constantly, just until the consistency of raw egg white. Remove bowl from ice water.

4. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat cream until it holds stiff peaks and whisk about one fourth into filling to lighten.

5. Fold in remaining cream gently but thoroughly and pour filling into crust. Chill pie until set, at least 3 hours and up to 24, covered with plastic wrap after 1 hour.

6. Top each serving with whipped cream and garnish with chopped crystallized ginger.

Original inspiration: Gourmet - November 1995… and 10 years of taste trials

Garam Marsala

The yellow "curry powder" in stores today is a copy made by the British in place of the true Indian garam marsala, a combination of flavors that gives that distinctive "Indian" flare to meals. As there are various recipes for "bouillabaisse", "paella" or “salsa”, so it is with garam marsala. Here is one version of the classic ‘curry’.

1 tsp. ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. fenugreek
1/2 tsp. black mustard seed
1/4 tsp. cayenne (to taste)
1/2 tsp. powdered cinnamon
1/4 tsp. crushed chili peppers.

1. In a pre-heated pan stir in the spices until quite warm. Let cool and blend in an electric coffee grinder devoted to grinding spices. You now have garam marsala.

2. Should you want to make a paste to cook with - add 1/4 cup broth or white wine of your choice.

This flavor enhancer can be used with a variety of meats or vegetarian dishes. (Lentils, steamed vegetables, basmati rice, vegetable stew, goat and all fowl) Add some to your bread ingredients before baking!

A few notes about Indian cooking:

Usually the seed spices such as cumin and coriander should be dry roasted in a skillet. This both mellows the spice and adds depth of flavor.
Use a coffee grinder to grind spices.
If you can find them stock whole spices and grind as you need it…they will stay fresher longer when whole than when powdered.
I’ve made the generic reference to ‘curry powder’ in some recipes
order to make it easy for everyone to cook these meals. Store bought curry powers are simply a blend of Indian spices. Every household in India has their own blends, region by region. The famous turmeric based yellow curry powder in the stores is simply one version. Garam marsala is another well known blend (which is often used to dust over a dish after it is cooked, almost as a condiment).

About Michael Sherwood

Michael Sherwood is an Oregon original - your modern day Renaissance man. He’s done more interesting jobs than most of us – FM radio personality, commercial logger, commercial fisherman, rock band promoter, neighborhood advocate, energy conservation expert, arts festival coordinator, software developer, non-profit executive, beer and wine guy and land use planner.

After 10 years developing software in Seattle, Mike moved back to Portland and was soon drafted to be the first Executive Director of the Oregon Brewers Guild, a fledgling non-profit trade organization, which he helped turn into one of the most dynamic small brewer associations in North America.

All the while he was managing the affairs of the states craft brewers, he was not so secretly a wine lover and worked providing marketing assistance to a local winery. Beverages are 'in his blood' as his family owned a beer and wine distributorship in the 60’s and 70’s in Roseburg.

Today Mike runs a wine sales, marketing and technology consulting business called Arbre which provides branding and sales support for wineries large and small. He has also created the Internets first truly virtual stealth restaurant and underground wine bar called Sub Rosa. We liked his mix of wine savvy and irreverent humor so much, we hired him to write for Avalon.