Tien made Vegetable Purses with Cumin-Scented Tomatoes. This was the cookbook’s cover photo recipe, and she was really worried that it didn’t come out looking like the picture. Regardless, it was delicious and the consensus was it was the best dish of the night.

Brian made Chilled Cucumber Soup with Dill and Mustard Seeds. This had a refreshing quality to it, though I have to say it didn’t wow me. It could in part be because I’m not generally predisposed to be a fan of cold soups, but the flavor also just felt somewhat flat.

I made Veloute of Curried Butternut Squash Soup. I was worried that it wouldn’t have enough flavor since it used 4 cups of water and the only spices were salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of curry powder. But it came out flavorful, with several people noting it had more depth than a typical butternut squash soup.

Amy made Broccoli and Green Pea Soup with Indian Curry Leaves and Mustard Seeds. She said it was quite a bit of work straining the peas to remove the skins. The soup was watery, maybe because the vegetables tended to separate from the liquid. The flavors were very delicate, maybe too much so for my taste.

Amy also made Spiced Basmati Rice with Fruit and Pine Nuts. She felt it was missing something, but I enjoyed this rice, which I thought had a nice fragrance that was enhanced especially by the pops of sweetness that the raisins and dried apricots added.

Rayann made Mrs. Ayyer’s Vegetable Biryani with Tempered Onion-Cucumber Raita. I adored this dish. I went back for seconds, then thirds. The blend of spices infused the rice with flavor that made it good enough to eat on its own, but even better topped with the raita.

Rayann also made Tomatoes Stuffed with Potato Korma. As you can see, the presentation was gorgeous, though I have to say that while the filling and cheesy breadcrumb topping were tasty, the tomato seemed to water everything down rather than adding flavor.

Naran made Tenderloin of Pork with Black Mustard Rub, Collard Greens, and Curried Blueberry Sauce. The pork was moist and perfectly cooked, the greens were a great accompaniment, and the blueberry sauce brought everything together to make a wonderful dish.

Austin made Chicken with Coconut Milk, Lemongrass, and Ginger. I thought this was going to be my favorite dish, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Lemongrass and ginger are usually such bold flavors that I guess I was expecting something less subtle.

Eileen made Spiced Apple Tarts. She felt that the recipe was vague, had a hard time getting the apples cooked the right amount, and thought the tarts would have been better if she had used more phyllo. Despite her dislike of the recipe, I thought they came out tasty and looked pretty.

Kamy made Pan-Seared Peaches with Brown Butter and Jaggery. She didn’t have ghee, so she used butter. I think these would have been good with vanilla ice cream, but Kamy felt her peaches weren’t ripe enough and also worried that they didn’t come out very aesthetically pleasing.

Rayann also made Coconut Rice Pudding. She even homemade the coconut milk! This was so good I could have eaten the whole bowl. I definitely plan to make this, though Rayann said she quadrupled the cardamom, and making the coconut milk was a lot of work so in future she would just use store-bought – I’ll follow her advice 🙂