Flavors of India Home Cooking Party

We’ve planned the preparation for this party assuming everyone will want to help with the cooking. You’ll still want to organize and prep what’s possible ahead of time—include time for shopping at an Indian market—and orchestrate your chefs’ final stir-frying or grilling. Plan who will finish making each dish.

The Morning Of

• Assemble ingredients for Greens with Garlic and Raisins; cover and store.

• Assemble ingredients for Sweet Potato Curry; cover and store.

• Measure ingredients except bananas and ice cream for Red Bananas with Cardamom; cover and store.

• Measure ingredients for Lime-Flavored Potato Croquettes; cover and store.

• Assemble ingredients for Whole Wheat Unleavened Breads.

About 3 Hours Before Eating

• Marinate shrimp for Marinated Grilled Shrimp; store covered in refrigerator.

• Make Mint-Cilantro Chutney; tightly cover and store in refrigerator.

• Make Coconut Chutney; tightly cover and store in refrigerator.

• Assemble ingredients for Multi-Lentil Persian Stew with Vegetables.

About 2 Hours Before Eating

• Make Multi-Lentil Persian Stew with Vegetables.

• Make Grilled Ground Lamb on Skewers up to grilling or broiling.

• Make dough for Whole Wheat Unleavened Breads; store covered in refrigerator.

About 1 Hour Before Eating

• Brush grill rack with vegetable oil; start charcoal.

• Make potato filling for Lime-Flavored Potato Croquettes.

• Cook breads; wrap in aluminum foil to keep warm.

• Make Chai Tea; keep warm.

Just Before Eating (All cooks need to be at their stations for last-minute cooking!)

• Make Basmati Rice with Saffron.

• Make Red Bananas with Cardamom.

• Stir-fry Sweet Potato Curry.

• Complete Greens with Garlic and Raisins.

• Grill or broil shrimp.

• Grill or broil lamb skewers.

• Cook the croquettes.

One Cookbook, So Many Ideas

• Search ‘Indian’ and you’ll find more recipes and many of the specialty ingredients defined in Glossary listings under the Videos/How-To tab.

Worldly Invitations

• Use a map of India for the background of your invitations; print over the map in bold type.

• Dinner in India is served late, usually 8 p.m. or later. Invite guests to arrive at 5 p.m. so everyone has time to cook.

Indian Style

• Greet guests clothed Indian style by draping and wrapping a few simple cloths from a fabric store over your clothing.

• Bazaars, or open-air markets, are the norm in India. With some brightly colored cloths and baskets, create your own bazaar for atmosphere.

• Indian people eat at a low table or sit cross-legged on a thin bamboo mat, called a chattai, placed on the floor. Turn your coffee table into the dinner table, or create a low table with a piece of plywood on 12-inch plastic crates or bricks.

• Gather travel posters and brochures to use for tabletop or wall decoration.

• Play Indian music. It’s available at music stores, libraries and specialty markets.

• Kitchen aromas will create a savory atmosphere.

Food Traditions

• Indian custom is to serve all food courses, including dessert, at the same time. A large, rimmed stainless-steel platter, called a thali, holds the foods and is placed in the center of the table for people to serve themselves. Dessert is served in small bowls that are placed next to the main dishes.

• Although all food is served at the same time, it is eaten in courses: appetizer, then the main course and sides, followed by dessert if there is one.

• Most Indians eat with their fingers, believing that food doesn’t taste as good when eaten with utensils. Breads are used as eating utensils to scoop up or wrap around food. Saucy dishes soak into mounds of basmati rice, making it easier to eat. Only the right hand is used for eating. The left hand, considered “unclean,” is reserved for handling a glass or spooning foods onto the plate.

• Make name tags for the food dishes, including both the English and Indian recipe titles. Encourage guests to introduce the foods they prepared and share knowledge of special ingredients. Pass a spice, such as Garam Masaala, before and after it is cooked and ground.

Beyond Cooking

The preparation of the food is the fun activity of this party. If you want to party on, try these ideas:

• View an Indian travel DVD.
• Propose an Indian restaurant adventure.
• Invite a guest to talk about Indian travels and traditions.
• Plan a trip to India.
• Watch a movie filmed in India, such as the award-winning Slumdog Millionaire, the Bollywood musical Bride & Prejudice, or classics like A Passage to India or Ghandi.