Even though I filed this recipe from my mother under South Indian, I also tagged it as fusion. Mostly, this is because I often substitute in quinoa in place of the more traditional white rice, as demonstrated by the photos. However I would like to point out that Thakkali Sadam itself, even when using rice, is an old example of fusion cuisine to begin with. Two key ingredients for tomato rice—tomatoes and chili—both originally hail from the New World. This dish didn’t exist in India before the time of Columbus. Which goes to show that the food we call fusion today may be called traditional a century from now. Imagine Italy without tomatoes, Ireland without potatoes, South and Southeast Asia without chili peppers. (I can’t.). Cuisine, and culture, both evolve constantly.
Tag: Carb side
Difficulty level: Easy
I enjoy eating fried plantains, but the frying and cleaning part? Not so much. After many botched attempts at frying them myself, I finally decided to give oven-frying a try. After reviewing a few different recipes to see whose plantains looked the tastiest, I decided to try this blogger’s technique. If you’ve never cooked with plantains before, she has helpful instructions (pics included) on how to best peel and slice them.
Karthik and I both enjoy sweet potato so much that I have not just one but two go-to recipes for mashed sweet potatoes. I first encountered this recipe on brokeass gourmet by Gabi Moskowitz, the blogger who was the real life inspiration for the ABC Family sitcom Young and Hungry. I’ve made two changes to her version to suit my tastes.