A Party can mean different things for different people. While some of us think party to be more of a social gathering and a place for people to get together, others may feel its a change from the daily routine life, for some others a party might mean a source of entertainment, dance, fun, frolic and merry making. But for people like me a party is a time to practice my favorite hobby, COOKING!!!
My Dad loves throwing parties and his group of old buddies, (his college friends), is over to our place with their families almost every weekend. And me being the only female in the house, have to be prepared to impress our guests with our khatirdaari(pleasant treatment)!!! So here are a few tips which can help u organize an impressive menu without much hard work, in fact I am sure by the end of it, it will all seem so easy...coz well it is easy indeed!!! :)
Starters... It is always important to take special care about the starters or a we cal them ’snacks’ because they set your party in a rhythm. At an informal party we often try to skip this by simple tea and biscuits. But in fact serving starters can help in more ways than one. Firstly, it forms a “first impression” in front of your guests. Secondly, there is a wide variety of things you can choose from. And thirdly, they help your guests wait longer for the dinner to be served so that you can enjoy some chatting, music or dancing.
You can choose from homemade to ready made snacks. If you think you think you can manage to cook some snacks, you can choose anything from, Tandoori Chicken, Grilled Chicken or Fish and if you want to keep it vegetarian, you could try Dhokla, Khandvi or Paneer Tikka. Or if you wish to keep it lighter, we can have some finger chips, Cheese balls or Potato balls. Well if you wish to find a short cut to it, you can simply get ready to serve stuff and warm it and serve. There is so much in the markets for the same, you have frozen items both in veg and non-veg which are not much expensive, and all you have to do is get it from the market and fry it or grill it and serve.
Drinks… If you like alcohol you may read my review on Beverages. But if you are a non drinker, you could help it with any aerated drinks. But with the coming summers, if you wanna add variety to it, you can try serving Aam Panna(A drink made from unripe mangoes), Lemon soda, Lemon Water, Milk Shakes, etc etc etc. This take a little effort to be prepared and can be prepared before the guests arrive and be served chilled!!! If you wish to serve something hot, you can try tea, coffee or some flavored black tea or coffee.
Main Course… I believe in quality over quantity. So I generally avoid cooking a number of dishes, which I feel confuses the entire dinner, because the guests expect it to be, a homely affair and too many items make it look as if I got half of it from the restaurant!! Besides it would add to my pressure landing me into being tiered by the time the guests came. So I suggest an easy menu for a good dinner may have 1-2 curries, 1-2 dry vegetable, Vegetable Rice(even plain would do), Salad and curd. These sums up all that your guests can expect to eat after all the snacks you served. The best part is you don’t have to cook things is huge quantities if you have already had heavy snacks.
Sweet Dish…If you ask me, the best I do for this part is that I keep roasted nuts in my refrigerator ALWAYS. So a quick fix is ice cream scoops garnished with roasted nuts. Its easy, simple and tasty. If you wish to cook, in winters you could try some hot Halwa. And in summers you can make a Thandi kheer
So I guess next time you have guests over to your place, you will have a sought out plan of action. If you wish to make things easier… as I always say… don’t treat it as a burden to treat people, feel it a pleasure that you are cooking for people you love and care for… remember the Indian tradition of Atithee Devo Bhawa(A guest is like God). This will for sure make your experience of throwing parties and preparing for them an enjoyable one instead of a burden!!!