curried sweet potato gratin (with a vegan option)

Lately, Lu and I have been eating sweet potatoes nearly every evening. Thick slices, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, a bit of fresh thyme, roasted in the oven until they yield to the fork but still have a bite -- this has been part of our dinner at least four times a week. Throw in the sweet potato puree I have made, the soup with sweet potatoes and chorizo? We're pretty nuts about sweet potatoes around here.

It used to be that the only way I knew sweet potatoes was at Thanksgiving. They arrived at the table, after being liberated from the can, with handfuls of brown sugar and smothered in marshmallows. Cloying and sticky as gum at the bottom of my shoe on a hot day, those sweet potatoes never sated me. I sort of shoved them aside on my plate to make my way to the stuffing and gravy.

Sweet potatoes deserve better than this. If you're still trying to figure out what to do with sweet potatoes this year, we'd like to suggest this unexpected dish. It's far more satisfying than those overly sweet potatoes. We could eat these sweet potatoes, threaded through with the mystery of Madras curry powder, any week of the year. This week, in particular, we crave them.



Curried Sweet Potato Gratin

Sweet potatoes and curry powder are best friends. Simmering the bay leaf in cream gives it all a shimmering mysterious taste. And the toasted almonds on top, in place of the traditional breadcrumbs, gives this dish an unexpected crunch.

If you cannot eat eggs or dairy, don't despair. We have a variation on this dish below this recipe. In fact, it's the one you see pictured above.

1 quart heavy cream
2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic
½ bunch fresh fine-chopped cilantro
4 large sweet potatoes
2 egg whites
2 cups Parmesan
1/2 cup toasted almond pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter a 3-quart casserole pan.

Bring the cream, curry powder, turmeric, bay leaf, and garlic to boil in a small saucepan. Set aside and let the flavors steep for ½ hour.

Strain the bay leaf and garlic from the cream. Add the cilantro into the cream.

Peel the sweet potatoes. Slice them ½-inch thick.

Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Toss the sweet potatoes into the egg whites, along with the salt and pepper, and mix.

Put a layer of the sweet potatoes in the casserole pan. Sprinkle the layer with Parmesan cheese. Repeat until you are out of potatoes.

Pour the flavored cream over the potatoes until it is all gone and evenly distributed.

Finish the casserole with the remaining Parmesan cheese and the almonds.

Cover the dish with tin foil.

Bake in the oven until the casserole is golden brown and bubbly, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve hot.

Feeds 8 to 10.

If you need to avoid eggs and dairy, try this variation on the recipe instead:

1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup Ahern AP flour mix
4 cups soy milk
2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic
½ bunch fresh fine-chopped cilantro
4 large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup toasted almond pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°. Oil a 3-quart casserole pan.

Heat the canola oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Pour in the flour mix and stir vigorously until the flour forms a ball. Cook until you have a thick paste, which is called a roux, about another 2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and set it on the back burner.

Set a saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour in the soy milk. Add the curry powder, turmeric, bay leaf, and garlic to the soy milk. Once the milk has turned hot and begins to boil lightly, add a bit of the roux (about 2 tablespoons)at a time. Whisk the roux into the milk and let the milk simmer for a few minutes. Repeat this process. 2 tablespoons at a time, until you have reached your desired consistency. (We used all the roux to create a sauce with the consistency of thick, heavy cream.) You just made a vegan bechamel.

Strain the bechamel of the bay leaf and garlic. Add the cilantro.

Peel the sweet potatoes. Slice them ½-inch thick. Layer the sweet potatoes in the casserole pan until you have used all the slices. Pour the bechamel over the sweet potato slices. Toss the sweet potatoes with a spoon to make sure the bechamel is coating all the sweet potato slices.

Finish the casserole with the almonds.

Cover the dish with tin foil.

Bake in the oven until the casserole is golden brown and bubbly, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve hot.

Feeds 8 to 10.