With all the immigrant communities that make up American society, Thanksgiving dinner has morphed from traditional turkey and trimmings to a melting pot of international flavors. Shiv Puri and Shikha Jain, owners of Manhattan’s vegetarian Bombay Sandwich Co, offer this recipe of Sweet Potato mixed and mashed with Indian flavors. It’s part traditional American and part Indian, but 100-percent delicious.
Shiv says, “My mom would always make this delicious sweet potato recipe as part of our Thanksgiving dinner, which included a lot of traditional Indian food along with the Thanksgiving meal classics. I loved this sweet potato recipe so much that we decided to include it in our cafe menu at Bombay Sandwich Co. – it incorporates the essential sweet potato dish but with a twist of some more spices and an explosion of flavor with sweet, savory and spicy combinations which our eatery has become famous for.”
This dish is vegan and gluten-free.
INGREDIENTS
4 medium sized sweet potatoes (about 4 pounds)
1 bunch scallions
1/2 cup dried cranberry
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon carom seed (aka, “ajwain” in Hindi)
Juice of half of a lemon
1/2 to 1 tablespoon salt to taste
*Optional chilli powder or cayenne pepper to taste
*Optional garnish – fresh, finely chopped cilantro
METHOD
In a large container bring a pot of water to boil.
In the meantime, wash the sweet potatoes, and trim the ends (this will make it easier to peel off the skin after boiling)
Boil the sweet potatoes in water until soft.
Drain, cool and peel off the skin of the sweet potatoes.
Add the cooled and peeled sweet potatoes to a large mixing bowl, and add the remaining ingredients.
Mash and mix the potatoes and ingredients together by hand until well mixed and mashed.
*Optional garnish of fresh, finely chopped cilantro on top
