Hello folks!
We will be hosting our annual Christmas party next month for approx 30 people. This year, I would like the food theme to be Indian.
Although I am fairly proficient in cooking many Indian dishes, I am not sure how to plan and cook for such a large number.
Due to numbers, it will be very informal, so I had in mind a mix of meat and veg samosas with a mint raita and then a few dishes layed out on the table in my slow cookers to keep them warm with rice and breads for people to help themselves.
Does anyone have any tips on how best to tackle this? Any recipe recommendations? Will Mamta's recipes transpose effectively when scaling up??
I really want to WOW our guests and this will be good practice for me as I dream of having my own outside catering business!!!
Please help friends!
Many thanks
James.
Hello James
I am having 20 people around for dinner/buffet on Saturday. I have both vegetarians and non-vegetarians coming. I do multiply the recipe to suit numbers, but err on the side of less spices/salt when cooking. I taste and adjust if needed. Most of my food is dished out and re-heated in a hostess trolley, without any fuss or last minute running around. I usually watch T-V on the afternoon of the party, or nap on the settee, so I can enjoy the party! These days, I get my cleaning lady to come and help me serve and clear out on party night, old bones get tired quickly LOL!
This is my menu, you are welcome to pick something from here:
Spiced nuts (cashews/almonds etc.), prawn crackers, celery sticks, various crisps for titbits with drinks.
Starters;
Mackerel fish kebabs* (made and frozen last night, ready to pan-fry on the day, leave on foil lined trays to heat in hot oven for 6-8 minutes before serving)
Aloo Tikki* (will make tomorrow and freeze, ready to pan-fry on the morning, leave on foil lined trays to heat in hot oven for 6-8 minutes before serving)
*These pan fry on two back burners slowly, while I am doing other things in the kitchen
Green chutney (already made and frozen)-defrost in the morning, put in serving bowl in the afternoon
Tamarind chutney (already made and frozen)-defrost in the morning, put in serving bowl in the afternoon.
Finely shredded Iceberg lettuce (on the morning) in a large bowl
Mixed Kachumbhar salad (cut on the morning) ?finely chopped cucumber, red onions, red/yellow peppers, tomatoes with seeds removed etc.), put in serving bowl, cling film it and stick it in the fridge/garage/shed, where it is cold)
Vinaigrette (Will make on Friday)
Main:
Lamp Vindaloo (will make on Friday, in slow cooker)
Chicken Ajwaini (will marinade day before. Spread it out on lined tray in the afternoon, ready to cook in very hot oven, just before serving)
Aloo Bari (make day before). Can be left in slow cooker to re-heat. You can make aloo curry without baries or aloo matar (potato and peas)
Chana dal with lauki (make day before). Can be re-heated in slowcooker. I cook mine in a pressure cooker, takes 10 minutes.
One green vegetable bhaji (depends what I find fresh in the shop on Thursday. Cook on Sat morning). Place in 2-3 serving bowls. Re-heat as needed in microwave.
Mint and onion raita (make day before and keep in sealed container)
Indian Salad platter (cut in the early afternoon), cling film and keep in cool place.
Popodoms (grill in the morning, keep in sealed bag)
Yellow Chapattis with methi leaves (make day before, keep in fridge and re-heat- I wrap them in double foil and put them on the top shelf of my hostess trolly. They heat up nicely, without getting hard.)
Dessert
Kulfi (already made)
Fruit salad with cream/ice-cream
One Indian sweet called Petha (ready-made)
I lay out the table on the evening before, including getting dessert dishes, serving bowls etc. out for the party day. I used to be able to cook for 60-70 people on the same day, but can?t anymore, so divide the work to suit my energy! My husband is responsible for sorting out the drinks/glasses etc.
Have a great party!
Thanks Mamta for that full reply - I've book marked if for future reference.
Could it not also be preserved also on the 'Advice' > 'Menu Planning' tag?
Winton
I have just sent a copy to Pete to add to the Menu scetion John. Hopefully he will have time one of these days to do it :-)!
Hi Mamta
Oh my goodness what a lovely meal your guests will have. Thanks for the tips especially on how to be organised so the hostess can enjoy relax in the afternoon and the then enjoy the party too
cheer and have a great time
June
if you are doing all the cooking, I recommend you make a time line, showing what can be made, when, and to give you an idea if you are getting behind. [can you tell I was a project manager?] I did this when I cooked a three coarse meal for 16, it had to be planned to the minute!
Give yourself a little extra time in the plan, I don't suppose there will be much that could spoil, though, but I like to be spot on with my timing.
The most I have cooked for was 60, with one helper. The food was from the Comoros Islands, and was similar to Indian food, so I wasn't phased by it.
I will strongly recommend that you finish all your cooking/settings/salads etc. by 2 pm, so you have time to sit and relax in the afternoon, have a cup of tea, watch a film on the telly. If you miss anything, no one will notice, because they will not know what you have forgotten! I always make a list/menu, otherwise I am likely to find something in the fridge next day that I had forgotten all about!
wow Mamta....i'll book my flight now!!!! Sounds great! Would love to see some pics of the whole spread!
Cheers
Steve
Forgot the rice! That is what happens if I don't plan ahead! I will be making cumin rice. A simple rice goes well with rich dishes. I will measure rice any time during the day. I will wash it as i serve starters and then put it on once the starters are cleared away. We have a gap of about 45 mt. to 1 hour between starters and main meal. If youy are doing a buffet, start rice about 20-25 minutes before serving.
Steve, you are welcome! That is a good idea, I might take a few pictures if I remember!
Mamta,
All. Thank you so much for all your advice, tips and ideas. This really is a fabulous community!!
As I said before Mamta, hope the party goes well on Saturday. Your guests are VERY LUCKY! Do let us know how you got on.
Kind Regards
James
Wow, that is a long list for your party Mamta, but what are yellow chapatis?.
That's a LOT of cooking, Mamta!
I'm usually cooked out by the end of any festive season: I love cooking, but enough is enough!
We'll be doing our usual guineau fowl (with dark cherries) or pheasant on Christmas Eve (shame my wife has gone off roast goose and coq au vin), and then goodness knows what we'll eat at a big New Year's Eve party with French/English friends and their invitees.
Hello Rajneesh
These are the yellow chapatties; Yellow chapatties. I have eaten these at many restaurants in India. They look nice and taste nice and turmeric is always good for you.
Phil, I don?t do parties very often these days and do like to spoil my friends when I do. I haven?t even thought about X-Mas/New-Year!
lol, i often forget the rice due to having too many beers whilst cooking. If i was cooking for 20 id be asleep under the dining room table! Yeah take a pic and make a new section in recipes "Catering for large groups". Have litte arrows poiting to the various dishes with its name and a link to the recipe :o) Interested in the lamb vindaloo also. Let us know how it goes.
Cheers
Steve
I often have too many glasses of wine while cooking, but I never forget the rice. However, if you're tipsy when cooking, you tend to make mistakes, some of them glaring errors of omission.
Thankfully, the New Year party we're going to is not being hosted by us (the largest number of people I've ever cooked for was 14: stressful!). We'll be taking some Indian food to that party. Any further suggestions for things that are good served cold on a buffet table?
We had 18 last night, 3 didn't turn up! It went okay, people enjoyed the food and there was a lot of laughter. I am still knackered although I had help in clearing up, getting old I guess! We have just had some leftovers for lunch and now I am going to watch some soppy old film!
The largest number of people I have catered for for was 678, I did have a little help as I was a professional chef with 25 other chefs, stressful no a doddle if it well organised.
The largest at home with my wife's help was cooking an Indian meal for 22 people carried out in a similar manner as Mamta has described.
Plan a meal for a large number of guests as you would plan a one off holiday!!!
And keep off the "juice" until all guests are happy.
Someone had asked me for a picture, here it is; http://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s9/Mamta1/?action=view¤t=BuffetParty.jpg
It doesn't of course have desserts.
Mamta
What a veritable feast Mamta.
But who couldn't hold back on the kebabs?
Well, I decided to serve them as starters, leaving a gap on the buffet table!
Couldn't get the link to work, may be you can edit it for me?
Planning menu for neighbour's party now for next Friday!
Fish and green banana kebab? never heard about it???. Mamta your link (party pic) is not working.
There is no edit function but the link works if you copy and paste it.
Ah I see!!!! I though it was fish mixed with raw banana. I always visualised Kebabs as non- veg only, but it can be vegetarian.
Thanks.