Everytime I go to a desi dawat, the table (or the kitchen counter) is bombarded with variety of dishes. It seems just too many.
What would you consider an appropriate menu for let’s say less than 10 people?.
Madhoobala, NO SOUP FOR YOU!
I don't know what you are complaining about.
Having a number of varieties of food isn't only a desi thing. Greeks and Italians have the same thing, along with Arabs etc. Personally I like having a lot of options, and if it's too many you take a little bit of everything and basically "chakh" all of the food there. Yehi to hai apna desi-pan!
It all depends on who you are inviting and what's their food preference.
Usually, a Pakistani Davut starts with Chai/Thunda with something like samosay, pakoray on the side while waiting for all parties to arrive. The dinner includes a rice dish like Biryani or Palao with two or more salan, usually one is non-meat. Kababs & raita are the fav. side dishes. And for meetha halwa/kheer or something with custard like trifle is the norm.
Now, this menu doesn’t fit anymore if the people invited include a majority of vegetarians, kids, old people or non-desis!
Sahar, I am not complaining. Only discussing.
I agree with ahmedjee. One rice dish, some kababs and one curry dish should be enough.
Tell me about it! Holy moly… we’d have so many dishes that the taste will just mix up in the mouth. I just don’t agree to have Haleem, Nihari AND Biryani all served at the same time. Each of them, IMO, can stand on its own. It not only confuses the people (who’d have to taste so many, and in the process fill up more than necessary) but they can’t possibly enjoy that one dish to its max. Plus, unless its a one-dish, the host spends so much time cooking and serving, than enjoying the party.
If it were up to me… we’d have one main dish, and a couple of supporting dishes. But na ji… “table khaali khaali lagta hai” 
Okay after reading Faisal bhai's reply, I have to agree that there should be some sort of balance. Biryani, Haleem, and Nihari all on the same table is a bit overwhelming.
Generally at my house when we invite people for dinner, a basic Davut, to be phonetically correct, consists of the following
-Biryani (mutton, chicken, keema, etc.)
-2-3 salans (one is all vegetables and no meat)
-kababs (most of the time)
-salad and raita
- 1-2 dessert (kheer, cake, halva, ice cream, mixed chopped fruit, etc.)
or
-Chawal (no meat) w/ matar, channay, etc.
-chicken roast
-kababs (not chicken but whatever else like shami kabab or chapli)
-2-3 salans
-salad and raita
-1-2 desserts
The one dish theory will work only if the parties invited know about the menu before hand and the people are not too much in number. From my experience, sometimes the way I cook my nihari is not necessarily the way my friends would fancy and if it’s a nihari only party, some will go home half hungry or feed themselves with snacks and all.
Also, even the seasoned cooks can’t ensure that the one dish they will cook will come out perfect or at least the way they want it. Sometimes mishaps happen and with no back-up, it’s a pretty uncomfortable situation.
A little diversity is needed for the success of the party and for the spirit of hospitality!
I have an issue with TWO or THREE saluns on top of Biryani and kababs. I think ONE saalun should be enough.
Bhaee, agar aap ne aik salan nosh farmana hai tou aap aik hi le leiN, koi zabardasti tou nahi kar aap ke saath.
It's just catering to different tastes. If you do have one salan, then there will be people who may not prefer that salan and that is why you have to have more than one.
He is looking at it from the preparer's point of view, I think.
In any case, some people keep it simple... and some make it lavish. As long as the dishes are tasty, I don't have a problem if you are serving just a chargha or just a daal-chawwal. Its unfortunate, that some times, the table is full of all kinds of dishes and after chakh'ing all of them you realize that none of them is worth a second serving. Lets try to avoid that. :)
Aik banao per achi banao.
If anyone follows Madhanee's recipe for pilao, please make sure you prepare at least 4 or 5 additional saaluns or I am not coming.
hmmm i prefer simple deVat … biryani with salad , rihata and kebab :k: … Allah Allah khair sala 
its just a no imaginationt hing, during dawat seasons, its like the same dang food everywhere..a good break is when you go to hyderabadi pal's place and get khatti daal and bagahare baingan, otherwise, biryani, qorma, haleem, nihari, assorted kebabs is pretty much it.
I mean lets get a little bit diff and serve our guests other stuff, like maybe make a rack of lamb, some grilled shrimp, some diff types opf chicken roasts like kaali mirch chicken roast, pasinda etc. nargissi koftay, etc.. zara different toh ho na..
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Madhanee: *
Fungo, please don't call it a Pilao... it is Cajun Rice. Not everything containing rice has to be bloody Desi.
[/QUOTE]
oye but pilaf is the same words origin as pulao..so no harm done..cajun man
And I hate the fact that desis expect you to carry a full line of sodas ranging from classic to diet to caffeine free variteis in both clear and colored drinks. Hey, I don't drink soda and neither do I carry it at home. At the most I will have some juices and maybe a few cans of Pepsi at home. I am not a freaking restaurant with fountain drinks outlet.
funguy, what annoys me more than anything is when ppl have strange food issues, some idiot not only just eats boneless white meat, he does not want it cooked in the same pot as the dark meat. I had one such character.
worse still are ppl with bratty kids, .. you are told, they dont eat desi food? ..haen..abay..farangi kay bacchay...tumhain rawalpindi say aaye huay 6 maheenay huay naheen hain aur bacchay only want non desi food...
so u have to get pizza for the kids, cuz they dont really like the frozen ones...abay...what the hell..
you get a few people with idiotic kids like these and its a huge problem with one kid wants only something on the pizza other one only wants something, your order to the pizza place is like.. yeah I would like 3 pizzas
first pizza
green peppers all over, half mushroom and half olives
second pizza
onions all over, mushrooms on half and olives on half
third pizza
beef on half, green pepper son other half..
then someone's chaheetay says, i want hand tossed, one wants crispy, one wants deep dish, one want stuffed crusts..
That happened to me once, since then i just dont invite the punks or their parents over. I mean..if yer kid is s such a damn drama queen, feed him before you come over, drop him somewhere else, or teach him some manners.
anyways..
funguy you cheap host, u mean to tell me that your drinks menu does not look like this
pepsi
diet pepsi
pepsi twist
diet pepsi twist
coke
diet coke
caffeien free coke
caffeine free diet coke
7 up
sprite
diet 7 up
diet sprite
sunkist
crush
diet sunkist
diet crush
cuz errr there are ppl who want lemon soda but dont like 7 up, only like sprite..same with orange,, no sunkist is too sweet we like crush..
kabhi kabhar aik namoona ..again some bratty kid who just wants to be differenty and wants D'nL, mountain dew, dr pepper or something..
anyways... my solution, make what u want offer what u want, ppl who are to picky, just dont invite them next time
Re: Desi Dawat
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by funguy: *
What would you consider an appropriate menu for let's say less than 10 people?.
[/QUOTE]
Rice
Salan
fried/baked chicken
kabab
salad
dessert.
drink: water,coke/7-up
You inexperienced lot! One would think you’d figure out these things as you grow old…
You always get cheese pizza for kids delivered by Pizza Hut or Dominos or whoever. It is less messy and you should keep the number of kids out of your calculations to decide how much food to cook. Those kids who don’t eat cheese pizza can eat “barooN wala khaana” or go home hungry. They proly don’t eat much anyway.
For drinks we just have regular Coke and regular Sprite. Those diet freaks can drink plain ol’ water. I assume water has similar calorie count. I have to remind myself to keep a straight face everytime someone eats bowl after bowl of nihari, and heaps of biryani, only to request “Can I have a diet Coke plz?”. Sheesh! 
I would serve something similar to what sehar and ahmadjee mentioned. I would not only make sure to have a rice dish and a vegetable dish, but also to make sure there is a beef/mutton dish and one chicken dish. This works out very well most of the time.
Like for example:
Chicken Biryani
Aloo gosht
Bhindi with tomatoes
Naan
Raita/chutney
Another menu:
Chicken tikka
Qorma
Veggie Pulao
Aloo palak
Naan
Raita
If I know that a few members are into eating italian or amriki dishes, a simple pasta with sauce can be put on the table as well.
Portions are important so that if there are leftovers, they wont last you a whole week, but rather a day or two max.