Sweet Potato Extraordinaries

This post should have been written about two months ago but given that life sometimes gets in the way of blogging, I have been putting it off. Thanksgiving 2009 posed two separate opportunities for me to make something creative with this versatile orange/yellow root vegetable.

The first was a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with friends for which we were assigned to make yams. Whether the dish be traditional or non-traditional was entirely up to us. So we took the initiative to turn a potluck item into a work of delicious art. Ingredients that began forming in our heads were yams, sweet potatoes, marshmallows, graham crackers and a handful of sweet spices. Here is what we came up with.

Sweet Potato Volcanoes filled with Pumpkin Spice Rice, Graham Cracker Rocks, and Marshmallow Lava with a side of Cranberry Fennel Sauce

The most difficult part of this project was the first step which involved carving a well into each cylindrical yam and sweet potato block. I lost a few pieces in the process because our knives are extremely sharp and would occasionally slice off a large chunk of the vegetable. The easiest part of course was decorating the top with a giant marshmallow and watching it slowly melt and become crusty in the oven. :)

I don't have a recipe for this dish due to our andaaz approach that we used towards this project. Our Indian mothers seem to always masterfully cook in this manner. They have a natural andaaz (estimation) of amounts and quantities and don't have to rely on teaspoon, tablespoon and cup measurements to get their food to taste perfect everytime. I guess that comes from years and years

of practice! Perhaps I'll jot down the measurements next time in hopes of adding it to my cookbook someday. :)

The second opportunity was to make something for a family dinner at my in-laws home on Thanksgiving day. I was thinking along the lines of a finger food with sweet potatoes. Hmm... and the first thing that came to my mind were samosas!!

Traditionally samosas are made with savory vegetables such as potatoes, peas or cauliflower accompanied by a tamarind-date and cilantro-chili chutney, but this time they would be different: a Thanksgiving twist on Indian samosas.

Sweet Potato Samosas with Fresh Fennel and Caramelized Onion

The filling itself was not very difficult to make, but the wrapping was tedious and the frying took a lot longer than expected.

During the course of the final batch of frying I realized that I still needed to put on a fancy sari and get decked out before the guests arrive. Thus, I wasn't able to take a beautiful image of the finished appetizer before it was served. :(

But it was a hit!! I served it with a traditional cranberry sauce which added just the perfect amount of sweet and tart to the crispy sweet potato samosa.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!