Thanksgiving Indian Style ..

For a few years now, I've been having a late Thanksgiving dinner at my house. It started as an off-the-cuff idea 3 years ago because I wanted to learn how to make a turkey :) yeah .. how times of changed. I'd rather make everything other than the turkey. The idea initially was to make a semi-traditional Holiday dinner with a twist to each of the traditional dishes. The first year I wasn't online so all my recipes were on paper. Last year, I did post all my recipes online in a post entitled Thanksgiving Indian Ishtyle. This year, I modified all of my recipes to make plant-based, low-fat versions (as much as possible). Because I was entertaining 20 omnivores (and 2 herbivores) I decided that it would be easier to allow myself some added fat/butter for ease of cooking if nothing else. Where needed, I used it minimally and used either Olive Oil or Earth Balance. The use of fat/oil was especially beneficial (IMHO) in some of the hot & dry dishes which I was making a couple of hours in advance of the meal. Recipes that are 100% fat-free are clearly marked as such (see labels below each one!).

All my dishes were 100% plant-based with the exception of the Turkey which I made for our Omnivore guests and kids. And my husband has already asked for 3 Herbie-Holidays when he decided to go plant-based with me - 2 Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas dinner. This was his second holiday :)

My final menu for this year was: 

1. Turkey Do Pyaaza (for the Omnis).
2. East-Indian Dressing/Stuffing
3. Candied Yams in Coconut Milk
4. Herb Roasted Red Potatoes
5. Kerela Green Beans
6. Spicy Candied Carrots
7. Cranberry Chutney
8. Everyday Mushroom Gravy (pp.289)
9. Traditional Turkey Gravy
10. Plain Baked White and Sweet Potatoes
11. Fresh Greens Salad (w fixings - craisins, sunflower seeds, etc.)
12. Sabra Red Pepper Hummus (in lieu of my Pumpkin Hummus) w Baby Carrots & Sliced Cucumbers
13. Dinner Rolls & Earth Balance. 
14. A variety of desserts which the guests brought. 
15. Fruit Punch, Sparkling Apple Cider, and Pop
16. Prechilled Gewürztraminer (a sweet & dry wine that complements Indian spices)

We had 23 people here and the several of the serving bowls were wiped clean (always a good sign!). The roasted potatoes, green beans, turkey and to my very pleasant surprise EHH Mushroom Gravy were all gone.  Overall, I think the dinner was a hit!! Thanks everyone for being there and thanks for being a part of our lives!!! Happy Holidays!!