Re: Cooking large quantities, and menu suitability for large group?!
Keep the starters uncovered in the oven at 200-250 F Just make sure that you let the food "breathe" & not stack an item on top of one another in a way that the bottom one is completely covered. Basically don't let any steam form on the food. Your starters will be warm & crispy instead of soggy. I have fried/baked stuff & kept 'em in the oven for more than 4 hours & guests loved it.
Also you can even make the Pulao Yakhni 2 days in advance. As long as you keep it covered in the fridge & not open it till the day you have to do the final cooking.
On my daughter's Aqeeqa & first birthday party I made all the food by myself. Cooked for 250 people. This is how I did it.
3 weeks in advance: Made Mutton Biryani masala (cooked it 95%) transferred it to foil pans, sprinkled cut green chilies, mint & cilantro, lined with plastic wrap, foil & then the foil pan cover. In the freezer.
2 weeks in advance: Marinated fish & Tandoori Chicken. Transferred in huge ziplog bags. In the freezer.
1 week in advance: Fried Chicken for chicken 65 & separately cooked gravy cooled it to room temperature, Transferred the chicken in ziplog bags & gravy in foil pans, lining them the same way mentioned above.
4 days before: Had all the serving pans/utensils/sternos sorted out
1 day before: Broiled Tandoori Chicken in foil pans, cool down to room temperature, cover air tight with foil. In the fridge. Washed, cut all salad vegetable except onions/lettuce. Stored everything in the fridge in zip lock bags.
The night before: Made Chickar Cholay, transferred to foil pans. In the fridge. Boiled macaronis, stored in ziploc bag in the fridge. Made salad dressing, stored in a jar in the fridge. Took all frozen food out & left it to thaw overnight at room temperature (not exceeding 65-68 F)
Event day: Placed biryani masala, chicken 65 in the oven at 350F. Gave "dum" to the biryani. Tossed the chicken 65 in the gravy. Fried fish. Made Raita. Tossed the salad.
Once all the food was "done" placed every thing in foil pans & then in the oven at 250F. For the cold chikar cholay & already baked chicken the oven temperature was 350F for the first 45 minutes, then 250F later.
Note: we did buy a mini freezer to help us store all the frozen food. Depending on where you live, if you don't want to buy one, you can always rent one.
Once the food was done. It was transferred to the venue that provided us a kitchen with food warmers.
For 20-25 people you can always make the biryani masala/pulao yakhni 2 day in advance & store it covered in the fridge. For meat based curries, you can make them 2 days in advance. If adding any vegetable, then do it the same day.
You can make raita 2 days in advance & store it in the fridge.
Good luck for the charity meal & your 5k
To figure out the quantities to cook. Simply divide the number of people with the number of dishes including starters & then cook each dish for that many number of people.
For example if I had no starter, 4 meat dishes, one non veg dish & two heavy cream based salads. I counted that as 5 dishes & divided 250 with 5. This way I cooked each dish except Tandoori Chicken for 50 people.
So if you are making 4 dishes including starters for 20 people, you'll cook each dish keeping 5 people in mind.
