A childhood favorite with a twist…

Mumbi Sloppy Joes

When I was a kid, I had some favorite meals that my mother made for dinner. I say made because nothing was cooked from scratch. I grew up eating frozen, canned, or boxed foods.

Granted, some dinners required other ingredients that needed to be cooked. Others were made in the oven or stovetop, like the stuffing. Stovetop stuffing for dinner? I’m staying! Remember that commercial? I loved it.

My favorite dinners were frozen Weaver chicken croquettes or fried chicken with boxed mashed potatoes, fish sticks with tator tots, open-faced hot roast beef or turkey sandwiches with deli meat, jarred gravy, canned green beans, and the box mashed potatoes.

Something she cooked was boneless chicken with Campbell’s cream of chicken or mushroom soup. My friend, Martin’s mother, made that too. London broil was good, and we had it a lot. Shake and bake pork chops with apple sauce were another me and my dad’s favorite dinners.

The granddaddy of all were the nights she made Manwich sloppy joes. When I saw them on the school lunch menu, I looked forward all week to having them.

When I was a school lunch director and lunch lady, I found in a school lunch USDA cookbook from the 1950s and found the recipe. The first time I made it, I almost cried because it was the same sloppy joes I remembered! I was stoked, and the kids loved them like I did.

In 2013, I watched an Indian female cook on the Food Network make Bombay Sloppy Joes. I made them, and they were so delicious and flavorful. Over the years, I’ve made the recipe with slight variations and cooking methods. Above is the link to the original recipe.

My brain thinks about food 24/7, so when we were watching Indian Matchmaker this week, I started craving Indian food. I’ve mastered some easier dishes, but when we go out for Indian food, I choose dishes that are too difficult or have a gazillion ingredients.

I made the version that I call Mumbi Sloppy Joes. The name makes sense since Bombay is now Mumbi, and this recipe is an updated original version. At least, it makes sense to me. Lol.

The dish is made with ground turkey instead of beef with a tikki masala flavor profile. It’s bursting with pistachios, plump raisins, and mixed nuts. If you don’t like any of those things, don’t add them.

You can control the heat by not adding spicy peppers to the dish. I never used the fresh hot peppers the recipe calls for; I added cayenne pepper.

The matchmaker happens to be from Mumbi, and over and over, she introduces herself as Simi Aunty from Mumbi, and I always think of those sloppy joes. A cook’s brain works that way with everything.

I made a double batch tonight and froze three small containers, just enough for a quick dinner on belly dance nights when we eat close to 9 pm, just like my 2013 Facebook post.

Have a great night, guys! ♥️