Indian-Spiced Nan Bread Stuffing

Last week, when I shared the Indian-inspired Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Honey-Curry Yogurt recipe, I talked about using Indian spices as a way to inject new and surprising flavors into the Thanksgiving menu. That's also the idea behind this dish, a fairly straightforward bread stuffing (or dressing, if you want to be technical about it) flavored with ginger, cumin, garam masala and turmeric. A touch of cayenne pepper adds some spice too.

Indian nan bread

Additionally, I used a traditional Indian bread, nan, as the foundation. Nan, also spelled as "naan," is an East Indian flatbread traditionally baked in a tandoor oven. I found nan at my local supermarket (Giant). If you can't find it, you could look for a recipe and make it yourself or substitute a similar flatbread. I cut the nan up and toasted it to dry it out, just as you might for any other bread for stuffing.

Indian-Spiced Nan Bread Stuffing

1 lb. nan bread (about 4 pieces), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 lb. mild Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
2-3 celery ribs, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Olive oil for greasing the baking dish

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.

2. Spread nan cubes in an even layer on a large baking sheet. Heat in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the nan starts to dry out and brown a bit on the edges. Remove from oven and set aside to cool and further dry out.

3. Increase oven to 400 F.

4. Heat a large sauté pan over moderately high heat. Add sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned. Remove sausage from pan and set aside.

5. Melt butter in pan, then add the onion, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Add the spices (cumin through black pepper) and stir to combine. Add back the cooked sausage and cook another minute to reheat and blend with the spices.

6. In a large bowl, combine the toasted nan bread cubes, the cooked sausage-vegetable mixture, eggs, cream and chicken broth. Transfer mixture to a greased (with olive oil) 9 X 13 baking dish. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir the ingredients. Bake for another 15 minutes until the mixture is lightly browned on top. Allow to cool sightly before serving.

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