I'm having some people around for dinner tomorrow evening. I'm going
to work along the rough theme of "spicy things". So far I'm thinking
that the starters will include potato croquettes:
http://www.earth.li/~kake/cookery/re...roquettes.html
and ful medames (as suggested here by Jen Tyler, ages ago, for using up
my cumin mountain).

And the main courses will include spinach and chickpea curry:
http://www.earth.li/~kake/cookery/re...h-spinach.html
and khichuri:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm...es.GBA.NYU.EDU
and maybe aubergine in coconut milk and tamarind:
http://www.earth.li/~kake/cookery/re...nut-curry.html

I will probably make my final decisions when I see what looks good in
the supermarket tomorrow. I don't want it to be too "Indian takeaway"
like; I'd like to have a range of flavours, hence the ful medames. I'm
expecting about ten people, so I'll do several dishes.

I don't need advice for this meal, but I was just wondering what other
people here would serve at such a meal.

Kake

"Kate L Pugh" > wrote
<mod edits>
> I'm having some people around for dinner tomorrow evening. .. So far I'm
> thinking that the starters will include potato croquettes:
> .... spinach and chickpea curry and maybe aubergine in coconut milk and
> tamarind .....I was just wondering what other
> people here would serve at such a meal.

The menu looks good, it definitely will not end up like an 'Indian
takeout'. One thing to note, kichuri has to be served piping hot, in small
bowls as it will be slightly wet almost like a risotto. If you don't mind,
adding a tablespoon or two of butter/ghee/margarine in the end, this will
make the dish rich and extremely good. You could accompany this with a
simple salad+lime-cumin-vinaigrette, maybe a raita and some
chapatis/rotis/puris. For dessert, I would just serve plain vanilla
ice-cream with fruits or maybe a fruit-based srikhand.

- Kamala.

Kamala Ganesh > wrote:
> The menu looks good, it definitely will not end up like an 'Indian
> takeout'. One thing to note, kichuri has to be served piping hot, in small
> bowls as it will be slightly wet almost like a risotto. If you don't mind,
> adding a tablespoon or two of butter/ghee/margarine in the end, this will
> make the dish rich and extremely good.

I made a mess of the kichuri. It was the wrong thing to include since
I ended up having to make almost all of the dishes in advance. The
kichuri tasted good but after reheating was too lacking in texture.
I served lime quarters with it; they improved the flavour a lot.
I will try it again under less pressured circumstances some time.

> You could accompany this with a simple salad+lime-cumin-vinaigrette,
> maybe a raita and some chapatis/rotis/puris.

I served starters/appetisers since people were going to arrive at
different times in different degrees of hungriness. For these, I made
a sort-of-raita by mixing plain yogurt with a Patak curry paste, to
accompany the mini potato croquettes. That was very popular.

Another popular dish was the chilled spiced tomato soup - fry onions,
garlic and ginger, add a litre of tomato juice and plenty of chilli
powder, simmer covered 30 minutes, liquidise and press through a
sieve, chill and then mix in some soya cream. I served this with the
main course, in small shot glasses.

I almost always serve my red pepper salad with spicy foods - sliced
red bell pepper, sliced onion, fresh lemon juice, and some seeds such
as cumin or celery. Marinade together for at least an hour before serving.

> For dessert, I would just serve plain vanilla ice-cream with fruits
> or maybe a fruit-based srikhand.

Someone else organised the dessert - she brought frozen strawberry
cheesecake and chocolate cake. Those went down very well.

Kake