Thanksgiving leftovers usually mean turkey sandwiches, turkey soup or tried-and-true casseroles, such as turkey tetrazzini.
But we asked chef Asha Gomez to come up with a few different dishes that would transform Thanksgiving favorites into something a bit more bold and exotic.
Gomez is known as the creative dynamo behind Atlanta’s popular Spice Route Supper Club, where she highlighted the distinctive cooking of her native Kerala, a lush tropical land along the southwestern tip of India.
“Kerala is nestled between the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, where it’s been a major port along the spice and trade routes for centuries,” Gomez said. “Our cooking is very influenced by Portuguese, Dutch and French cooking.”
In December, Gomez is set to open Cardamom Hill, a new restaurant on Northside Drive in Berkeley Hills that will feature the food of Kerala at lunch and dinner.
“I always say the food of Kerala is to India what Tuscan cuisine is to Italy,” Gomez said. “It’s really a gem with so many different influences.”
The four principle spices of Kerala are cardamom, ginger, black pepper and turmeric.
“Most of our cuisine revolves around those spices,” Gomez said. “In the 16th century, the Portuguese brought the chile pepper, which became predominant. Our food is also fragrant with curry leaves, mustard seeds, garlic and chilies.”
Working in her home kitchen, Gomez put together a Portuguese-influenced Kerala stew with cubes of roasted turkey, vegetables, spices and chiles, covered in the silky richness of coconut milk.
“On Sundays, this is a classic dish you will see in every household,” Gomez said. “It’s stew with coconut broth, ginger and black pepper that could be made with vegetables, fish, chicken, beef or goat. No matter what you put in it, it always tastes delicious, so why not do it with leftover turkey and vegetables?”
Gomez also created a green bean and carrot thoran, a traditional Kerala vegetable stir-fry flecked with fresh frozen coconut. And her cranberry chutney is a tart and spicy take on cranberry sauce that could be made anytime and served with grilled fish or meat.
“These recipes call for a few ingredients that people may not have on hand,” Gomez said. “But those are available at Indian grocery stores all over Atlanta. The rest of the ingredients are Thanksgiving staples, and the dishes are really easy to make.”
