A Sunday evening festive dinner potluck, at the home of Camarillo Yoga Center Director, Audrey Walzer, was where I was first introduced to Komali Nunna, the author of Entertaining from an Ethnic Indian Kitchen. All the guests at the dinner party lovingly crafted recipes from within the pages of this treasure trove of magic meals. For Nunna and her family, the table is a place to break bread, make friends, share joy and revel in the abundant produce found growing around their Southern California home. Picking the fruit growing in this area, such as the fall season’s orange persimmons that become ripe and found in yards and farmers throughout the fall season, Nunna has adapted traditional family recipes to the cyclical bounty of her new home. The selection of recipes featured here could brighten up a vegetarian holiday feast and provide an innovative and delicious way to enjoy seasonal fare and inspire a community gathering around a decorative table. –– FMT
Kabocha Squash Coconut Soup
Kabocha Squash Coconut Soup (Serves 8)
- 3 pounds kabocha squash, quartered and seeded
- melted butter for brushing
- 6 cups milk, divided
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 20 fresh or dry curry leaves
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- one 13.5 ounce can coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon ground dry ginger
- ½ teaspoon lightly packed saffron
- 2 teaspoons salt garnish
- fried curry leaves
- paprika
Preheat oven to 400º F. Brush the flesh side of the squash with melted butter. Set the squash on a sheet pan, flesh side up. Roast for 35 – 40 minutes or until flesh is soft.
Scoop flesh from the squash and puree in the food processor using 2 cups of milk. Puree in batches if necessary.
Heat oil in a medium stockpot over medium heat. When oil is hot, add curry leaves. As soon as curry leaves crisp up, add pureed squash along with coconut milk and rest of the 4 cups of milk. Bring it to simmer. Stir in cayenne, ginger, saffron and salt. Continue to simmer for another 5 – 10 minutes. Season to taste. Ladle soup into the soup bowls, and garnish with curry leaves, and sprinkling of paprika, and serve.
Roasted Winter Vegetables (Serves 8)
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut in half lengthwise, sliced into 2-inch pieces
- 1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut lengthwise into 2-inch pieces
- 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 x 1 inch pieces
- 1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2 x 1 inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons masala spice blend
- ½ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 425º F. Toss all the vegetables with oil, spice blend and salt. Transfer to a baking sheet in a single layer and roast them in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes. Season to taste and serve.
Jeweled Rice With Dry Fruits and Nuts
Coconut milk adds a sweet taste to the rice. Dry fruits and nuts garnish are like jewels against the white bed of rice.
- ¼ cup ghee
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 cloves
- 1-inch stick cinnamon
- 6 green cardamoms, lightly crushed to open the shell
- 2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh green chilies, such as serrano
Heat ghee in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. When ghee is hot, add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Fry until cloves plump up. Add ginger garlic paste and green chili and stir for about 1 minute. Add salt and basmati rice. Stir well to coat all rice grains with a thin film of ghee and spices. Stir in coconut milk and water. At this point, you can transfer the mixture to rice cooker and finish cooking. Alternately, bring the rice mixture to boil. Reduce heat to lowest setting. Cover with the lid and cook until rice is done for about 20 – 25 minutes. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Fluff up the rice with fork. Transfer to a serving platter. Garnish with dry fruits and nuts and serve.
Cook’s Note: Whole spices are added for flavoring the dish and are not meant to be eaten.
Persimmon Date Cocunut Pudding (Serves 8)
Persimmons are bountiful during the Thanksgiving season. Use only well-ripened fruit for this recipe. This recipe combines 3 of my favorite ingredients: persimmons, dates, and coconuts with a touch of cardamom. The end result is absolutely divine.
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dry ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon green cardamom seed powder
- 3 eggs
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 cups persimmon puree
- ½ cup sweetened coconut
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup chopped dates
- apricot glaze
Preheat oven to 350º F. Spray a six cup fluted tube pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a bowl, stir in flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and cardamom and set aside.
Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, combine eggs and sugar. Beat until well-blended. Add melted butter and vanilla. Beat until butter is incorporated into the egg mixture. Add persimmon puree and whipping cream and mix until combined. Slowly stir in dry ingredients until moistened. Add coconut, dates and pecans. Stir to mix. Add batter to the prepared pan.
Set the baking pan in a large roasting pan. Transfer roasting pan to the oven. Pour enough hot water to the roasting pan until water is halfway up to the sides of the baking pan.
Bake for an hour to hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let it cool in the baking pan for 15 – 20 minutes. Unmold onto a serving plate. Glaze with apricot glaze. Serve either with ice cream or whipping cream.
Komali Nunna grows persimmons and other fruits and a cornucopia of vegetables in her Camarillo garden where she has honed the fine art of entertaining. The recipes in her newly released cookbook, Entertaining from an Ethnic Indian Kitchen, were tested over a period of twenty-five years in her home, with family, friends and community. When anyone receives a dinner invitation to the Nunna house, they know better than to turn it down. Entertaining, she offers Indian flare and flavors with California produce. While not strictly a vegetarian home, it is full of veg-friendly options. komalinunna.com
By Recipes By Komali Nunna
