Sunday 16 September 2018

VeganMoFo 2018 #16: Menu: Show Them Your Curry from The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook

Welcome to week three of MoFo! This week, my theme is menus. These are similar to recipe round-ups, except they focus on a specific menu suggestion from a book, and how it all comes together. Some may be more elaborate, some may be quite simple, but hopefully all are delicious.

I always make my parents a special dinner for their birthdays, and also for Mother's and Father's dad. My dad loves Indian, so that normally forms the theme of his dinners. Last year for his birthday, I made the 'Show Them Your Curry' menu from The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. It is actually in the Valentine's Day chapter, but whatever! Here's what I made, and stay tuned at the end for bonus cake! You can see what else I have made from this book here.

Potato Samosas in Phyllo: As I was serving only three people, I cut the recipe in half and ended up with nine samosas... which still only used half of the filling that I had made! Was I making them too small? I saved the rest of the filling and just ate it as leftovers with some rice and chutney another day. Confession: phyllo is one of my least favourite things to work with, and as you can see my rolling certainly needs practice. About half way through I was wishing that I had made a samosa strudel! Oh well, practice makes... not perfect but adequate? As well as potato they have onion, carrots, peas, and lots of spices in them.
Rating: :)

Potato Samosas


Pistachio Lentil Biriyani: I made this in a rice cooker for ease, first sauteeing the garlic in a pan before adding it. I also only used two and a half cups of water rather than three and a half cups, based on the instructions with my rice. This was a nice, fragrant rice dish, with lentils, pistachios, and raisins.
Rating: :)

Pistachio Lentil Biryani


Cauliflower Tikka Masala: I made a half recipe of this as well, baking it in an 8 x 8 inch pan rather than a 9 x 13 inch one. This is really easy to make ahead, but I gave it an extra 10 minutes in the oven to bake as it had cooled a bit before I put it in. I didn't have fire crushed tomatoes, so I just used a tin of regular ones, as well as some light coconut milk and water to make it a bit less rich for me. The cauliflower is roasted first, then layered in the casserole dish with the sauce.
Rating: :)

Cauliflower Tikka Masala


And here it is all together! Served with some Brussels sprouts, and some mango chutney. Happy birthday Dad!

Show Them You Curry Menu


Of course, you can't have a birthday without a cake. The cake comes from Blissful Basil by Ashley Melillo. You can see what else I've cooked from that book here.

Cadamom & Pecan-Pear Upside-Down Pudding Cake: I love upside down cakes! This is a lovely one, with some great flavours. Plus, pretty! I subbed Nuttelex in for everywhere that called for coconut oil. I needed to cook mine for the longer side, about 40 minutes all up, to make sure it cooked through. It is topped with a caramel sauce, but in all honestly I think it would be better without it. Just served with some vanilla ice cream. The sauce was a bit over-powering, though I did use peanut butter as the base rather than almond butter (that stuff is just so expensive), so that would have been a bit stronger in flavour. I also subbed Nuttelex for coconut oil in the sauce, which would have made it a bit saltier.
Rating: Cake :), Sauce :)

Cardamom & Pecan-Pear Upside Down Pudding Cake


Cardamom & Pecan-Pear Upside Down Pudding Cake


Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Gizmo and Sahara


Gizmo and Sahara, sweet sisters, snuggling, making kind of a love heart.

6 comments:

  1. I don't have phyllo dough skills either! But I bet they were tasty! And I need to make the rice, yum!!!
    Sleeping bum to bum, I love that!

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  2. Looks like a great meal! (Working with phyllo dough stresses me out, haha!)
    Sweet sleepy kitties! <3

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  3. This makes me want to grab my copy and get cooking.

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    Replies
    1. There are so many great recipes in this book!

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