Vegetarian Dum Biryani for Potluck

For the traditional potluck at the friends', the man and I are so grateful that the dates got shifted to accommodate our schedule. Many many thanks for that. We're back in town for such a short while that it's impossible to meet everyone. We'd hate to miss out on this particular awesome annual gathering.

As usual, the man was enthusiastic about cooking, and I sorted out the logistics of ingredients, kitchen prep, transport, and the sorts. We had so little time! Bought a modest 1kg of meat and bone to do Trinidad goat curry for the few meat-eaters. Stirred up an easy sambar. We usually provided carbs at this potluck. But this round was dicey because we wanted to do something we hadn't practiced.

It was with much trepidation that we attempted the vegetarian dum biryani. The vegetable curry had to be really flavorful without the help of meats. Plonked in a mixture of pumpkins, carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes. Adding tamarind helped too. Cauliflower was separately toasted and not done in curry at all in order to have a different texture in the final pot. We didn't think this biryani was that legit, but it kinda tasted pretty good with the sambar. So I think it did go down all right at the table. Heeeheee.

Everyone brought a pot of something. There were dhal and chickpea salad. One did Sri Lankan cashew nut curry and went low on the spices, so it became like a lovely gravy to pour over the biryani. Oof. Those sliders from Cedele were really decent! Meats and vegetarian sliders were both available. I stole a bite, but had no space to eat one, so I shamelessly tapau-ed four home. :P

Then it was time for a homebaked pecan pie!!! After which we played 'Exploding Kittens'. I very much suspect that we need to be either in costume or be really drunk to get through it. The illustrations and instructions on the cards were quite funny, complete with additional cards for an adults' version; cards could be removed to make it a more children-friendly version. There were homebaked triple chocolate cookies. Those were irresistible. It was so very good to hang out, see everyone again and hear what they've been up to.