Cashew burfi (बर्फ़ी) is a sweet Indian dessert made with cashews, ghee, and sugar. They are traditionally eaten during holiday, especially Divali, the Hindi festival of lights (actually meaning “row of lights”). Divali is celebrated the world over Amaavasya, the 15th night of the fortnight of the month of Kaartik in October/November.

Part of the reason must be due to the fact that you need a lot of people around to stir. We made these yesterday in celebration of another holiday. Everyone pitched in with the stirring (and eating). In stores, burfi’s commonly come with a piece of silver foil at the top. Ours our naked and better for it. They have a wonderfully rich and nutty flavor, and are incredibly smooth like fudge.

“One scoop of creamy mashed potatoes. Four peas.” On Thanksgiving mashed potatoes are my jam. Whipped to perfection, they are a creamy, buttery pile on your plate stuffed between turkey and another more colorful side, dripping with homemade gravy, and begging you to fork them first. My mother has always made them with garlic, whipped with butter (or ghee), and spiced with a hint of herb. Since I don’t eat turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing are Thanksgiving to me. And OH BOY, I don’t really miss that turkey one bit. Just drizzle me some of that gravy.

Stuffing is one of those things that you wish you made more than once a year, but then you get around to baking the cornbread a day early, assembling the ingredients, and baking it in the oven for an hour. You realize it’s become a lengthy task to keep you busy while the turkey is cooking. Well, thanks for that. The time we take to make stuffing these days has graduated it to my favorite Thanksgiving dish.

This gem comes from one of my favorite Indian cookbooks, Yamuna Devi’s The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking. This book is a great intro to dals, breads, chutneys, vegetables, and desserts concentrated around South Indian cooking. The dish hits you with a little spice and also has a hint of sweet from the garam masala. The tomatoes are quite savory and add some acid and juice to the mix.

Aki came over for dinner last night and we tried to do all the dirty work in advance. However, we seem to go at our own pace when cooking, and things rarely turn out like magic. After a bit of practice with this recipe, the 10 minute theatrics of making the curry come to life will surely be something to save for the crowd. The spicy and very savory curry of this dish goes well with the softness and sweetness of the fish. The shallots are similar to the small pinkish onions found all over India, and give a more complex flavor than yellow onions.

Everything you can do with apples is excellent, but mom knows best. This one is short and sweet, like the rest. Although, I have to admit coring the apple is a bitch. Could there be a special kitchen tool for this? The Empires we used a wonderful fluffy texture once out of the oven. Serve it a la mode and be impressed with your lack of effort.

There is never an excuse to throw away stale bread. Although breadcrumbs and croutons are the easiest ways to make use of an old loaf, bread putting is definitely the post satisfying. Matt and I headed to a pick-ur-own in upstate this weekend. In addition to scouring for the sweetest apples, pulling heads of cabbage from the ground with our bear hands, and trying to determine what a ripe eggplant looks like, we picked up a few small sugar pumpkins. Once baked, the skin turned an amazing orange-brown. With my slightly stale loaf of whole wheat and fresh pumpkin puree, I set out to make delectable peasant food. After weeding through some totally pretentious recipes, I gave a call to my mother, who reminded me of its simple roots. Pumpkin aside, I tried to stay true to what bread pudding should really be like: easy, comforting, and sweet.

Ghee, or Indian clarified and caramelized butter, is hard to relay in a recipe. There are many visual and aromatic cues to watch out for, and all are subject to interpretation. Learning how to make ghee in my family, like most other things, has always been show, not tell. When my parents were newlyweds, they went to India. My mother spent much of the time observing in the kitchen with my relatives. When I learned, I brought my camera along. Now, four years later, I’m attempting a written version for public consumption. So we’re breaking new ground here. Why? Because ghee kicks butter’s ass.

Praise be to the omelette. They are easy, quick (if done right, they cook in 3 minutes), delicious, and an excellent way to get protein in at the start of the day. The dill in this recipe is subtle, but adds some complexity to the always excellent combo of basil and goat cheese. I generally put a splash of milk in my omelette to keep it soft and a fresh grind of nutmeg to bring out the sweetness.

My parents met each other when my dad moved from India into my mother’s apartment building in Philadelphia. They were friends long before they started dating. My dad made my mother a lot of kichidi during their college years. Dad always made it with peas. Kichidi, khichhdi, khichdee in the South is simply rice and dal (lentils). In the North the dish was embellished to include cauliflower, peas, or other vegetables, and is called khichhuri. It’s all phonetic spelling anyways. Like the spelling, the dish is very open to interpretation as well, provided it’s cooked at home with love. Some further guidance…