Tandoori Turkey

Sorry for the back to back posts, but I figure you all need extra distractions as you ease back into work after thanksgiving anyway. I am happy to report that we hosted a very successful potluck on Thursday, complete with some thanksgiving classics, some Indian classics, and some random items that make every potluck complete. We had about 15 people at our humble abode, and just as they did at Plymouth Rock all those years ago, we settled down to a meal with the Indians. The menu included naan, paneer, dal, rice, and samosas to give it some Indian flavor. Then there was the pasta and pizza, not totally traditional for thanksgiving, but fairly American none the less. We rounded out our tour of global cuisine with guacamole, salsa, and hummus, just to make sure Mexico and the Middle East felt included. Jack managed to bake a pumpkin pie in the toaster oven, which turned out remarkably well.

And last but not least, there was even turkey. Keep in mind that about 40 percent of Indians are vegetarian, so even finding meat can be a bit of a challenge. In addition, pretty much the only types of meat available are chicken and mutton. Jack and Aakash managed to track down some turkey at a market, and while we debated attempting to chop it in half and squeeze it into our toaster oven we settled on the more stereotypically correct answer and outsourced the cooking to one of our favorite restaurants. They promptly told us no way they had never seen a turkey before let alone cooked one, but with enough coaxing (aka rupees) they agreed. While at the restaurant, Jack called his mom in Illinois to see if she had any suggestions for the novices. She then asked the New York Times, who put it on their food blog (scroll down to just below the picture of the potatoes) The result was a tandoori turkey, which Aakash, Jack and the other non-vegetarians tell me was delicious. Even with all these other vegetarians running around, India does not do Tofu, much less Tofurkey, but let’s be honest that wasn’t really a big loss for me.

All in all it was an extremely successful thanksgiving and we kept the most important tradition - no not getting together with good friends and thinking of all that we are thankful for - having enough leftovers to last through the long weekend!

The roomies (Jack, Monisha, yours truly, and Aakash) with the Tandoorified Butterball