Northwest-Indian Fusion

Or at least my attempt. For our book group meeting to discuss White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, I chose an Indian-inflected menu. Oh, it was nothing like the women in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, slaving all morning to put on a lunch spread of many dishes. I made a Salmon Biryani, substituting skinless Columbia River Chinook filets for the chicken in the Chicken Biryani recipe, skipping the browning step. I'm pretty sure they don't have salmon in India (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong), but if they did they would put it in a biryani like this. The raita (yogurt sauce as it's called in the recipe) was divine as always. I served it with Curried Cauliflower:

Ginger-Curry Cauliflower
adapted from Real Simple magazine

1 head cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florets
2 T olive oil
1 T unsalted butter
2 t grated fresh ginger root
2 t curry powder
1 t turmeric
1/2 t kosher salt (recipe originally calls for 1/4 t, but it wasn't enough)
1/4 C fresh bread crumbs
1/4 C chicken broth (optional; I've made it both with and without and it turned out fine either way)
1 T fresh parsley, minced (optional; if I'd remembered to save any of the mint and cilantro from the other menu items I'd have used that instead)

Steam cauliflower until fork tender. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ginger, curry powder, turmeric, and salt and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add bread crumbs and cook another minute. Add cauliflower (and broth, if using) and cook until any liquid is absorbed and cauliflower is well-coated. Remove from heat and toss with parsley or other herbs, if using.

We had a palate-cleansing simple salad of baby greens, dried cherries and hazelnuts in balsamic vinaigrette, then finished with mixed berries (raspberries, boysenberries, marionberries and blueberries, purchased at the farmers' market that morning) over vanilla ice cream. Yum!