Our Purim Seudah (Feast)

[rhu]

This year, we decided to have a small Purim Seudah with a few friends at home, and with the food all having a Persian theme (to tie it in to the holiday). Aside from a couple of meat dishes, it was mostly vegan.

Welcome to our table.

Appetizers


Home-pickled vegetable medley: Red bell peppers, cauliflower, and carrots in a white wine vinegar brine.


Homemade garlic chummus


Homemade fresh pita for dipping in the chummus.

There were also store-bought Moroccan beef cigars and tahini.

Soup


Gondi.
(This is a traditional Baghdadi Jewish dish, so it was very appropriate.
It's a chicken broth with balls made from ground meat, chickpea flour, herbs, and spices.)

Main Course


Chicken kabobs atop Shirin Polo (Jeweled Rice).
The kabobs had been marinated in a lime and herb mixture.
The rice is basmati rice with candied orange peels, carrots,
pistachios, and rehydrated Craisins (ok, that part's not
exactly authentic ancient Persian, but we didn't have
barberries in the house).


Roasted herb-infused tomatoes and raw onion


Assorted citrus fruit

Dessert




Homemade baklava

Also, melon slices and coffee or tea.

I'm really proud of this meal. H and I worked really hard on the menu, on researching the recipes, and on executing them. And it showed: I think everything homemade came out beyond our expectations (except that some of the pita was overbaked); the only disappointing bit was the store-bought tahini. The Gondi (which we made with ground turkey) will definitely be entering our regular rotation, and the baklava would except that it's not exactly the healthiest option. This was a meal worthy of the holiday.

And the "serves N" numbers on the recipes made us worry that there wouldn't be enough food, so we have four times as much leftover Shirin Polo (for example) as we actually ate this afternoon.

Comments

[magid.livejournal.com]

This looks and sounds fabulous! If you'd like to post the recipe for the Gondi (or a link thereto), I'd be interested, especially since it's gluten friendly!

PS Purim sameach!

[introverte.livejournal.com]

Gondi meatballs

2 large onions, chopped finely or grated
1/4 finely chopped parsley or cilantro
1 lb ground chicken or turkey
1 c. chickpea flour
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cardamum
2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1/4 c. oil
1/3 c. water

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Form into walnut-sized balls and drop one by one into chicken soup. Simmer 30 minutes, serve.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Very impressive! And if you don't know what to do with all those leftovers, we'd be happy to help out...

[cellio]

Ooh, very nice!

Now I'm hungry. :-)