I am planning an 8 course dinner party. Because the guests are big on Desi food , hence I want the menu to be mostly desi influenced with bits of other cuisines here and there …
The only pointers to be kept in mind while doing the menu are :
Workwise , I need to keep it simple to avoid getting dead tired , as i have no help at hand
Food wise, I have done complex dishes in the past and want to keep it simple taste this time round.
Focus is on the presentation of food and giving the guests a grand , royal feeling …
Here is my basic selection , please could you help me refine this menu further and add ideas to where ever you can ..
1st Course Starters : Mince&Cheese Fillo rolls , finger size roll( two of them ) drizzled with sauces
2nd Course Salad : Caesar Salad with a small 2x2 inch piece of Lasagna
3rd Course Grill : 1 Piece Seekh Kabab along with 3 Pieces of grilled boneless chicken on a stick served with roasted spicy potatoes
4th Course Soup : Quarter serving of haleem or Lentil soup. I am using Haleem instead of soup
5th Course Curry : Dry Chicken Karahi & Koftay served with a Quarter piece of Naan or Paratha
6th Course Rice : Biryani masala rice served with a piece of shami kabab
7th Course Dessert : Cheese cake with Sauce Drizzle
8th Course Mithai : Homemade Gulab Jamun and Jalebi
I am intentionally staying away from seafood , coz last them none of them touched any fish or prawn dishes
Please feel free to tweak this list with creative ideas Thanks so much in advance for all your kind help
No I am not putting any courses together … Here is the plan:
For the first four courses , food will be served in individual plates .. I will change plates at every course …
then for the fifth course , which is the curry round i will place the two dishes in the middle of the table and served two quarter pieces of naan on the individual plates .. guests can help themselves with the curry round.
Same for the 6th round , briyani rice will go in the middle of the table , guests can serve themselves, their plates will be handed with a portion of shami kabab decorated with sauce drizzle …
and then the rest of the courses again in individual plates …
thats alot of plates to wash afterwards , but I am got tonns of quarter and small plates handy …
ooh my God , how r u going to serve 8 course dinner all by yurself. too much work, btw just curious why u choose 8 course dinner. yur menu is good, an di am sure u will have raita as well.
I agree with midnighteyes. I would say to take out the lasgna as well since you are serving quiet a bit afterwards.. the menu looks pretty good to me.. I would include green tea at the end or perhaps just regular tea.
maiN ne to bachpan se apne lucknow meN "ta'aam e sittah" "seven course"] hii sun rakkhaa thaa...yeh aaThvaaN khaanaa kab aur kaise daaKhil ho gayaa list meN?
Maybe combine the salad with the soup...as it's a lighter combination...before the more heavier entree courses. I just feel like the soup should come before the grilled course...as meats tend to be heavier.
Another possible suggestion is to have a vegetarian dish. Most of the dishes include meat (haleem has a meat base to it). So you can divide the courses into a vegetarian entree.....and a meat entree. And that way there will be like more organization to it. The vegetarian course can include two dishes such as a veggie lasagna and a desi dish like daal or baingan, etc. That way you'll have a desi and a non-desi dish for the vegetarian course.
So, that way it could go like:
1st course: Appetizers (the ones you have)
2nd course: Salad and soup
3rd course: Grilled meats
4th course: Vegetarian course (Since meat tends to be heavier, having a veggie course next...would be lighter and can provide some balance before they have another round of meat dishes in the form of curries and biryani).
5th course: Curries
6th course: Rice
7th course: non-desi deserts
8th course: desi desserts
Other options:
1) You can also serve a general "curry course" that contains both vegetable and meat curries. This "curry course" can be followed by the "rice course". That can make the grouping more organized as well. Or divide it into a separate meat course and then a vegetable course. The grilled meats can be served as part of the meat course. I just feel like you can either reduce or combine some of the courses, so it loos less busy/overwhelming.
2) Instead of having 2 dessert courses where you serve the cheescake separate and then the desi sweets separate........why not just have one overal dessert course where you serve ONE non-desi dessert (cheesecake) and one desi dessert? You can put out these two deserts at the same time....even in the same plate....for guests to try. By combining the deserts into one desert course.....your last course could even be reserved for Beverages where you serve chai or lassi, etc.
3) You may even omit the salad and soup.....and do something with beverages....which is not commonly done and would be fun and interesting.
Desi do not like to be served in coursed. They like everything on the serving table and want to pick and choose , they do not want anybody else to make this kind of decision for them.
Desi do not like to be served in coursed. They like everything on the serving table and want to pick and choose , they do not want anybody else to make this kind of decision for them.
I was also wondering as to how desi guests would respond to an 8 course arrangement as it's not commonly done. BUT....then if you read her original post it says that "Because the guests are big on Desi food"..............and that statement seems to imply that CB's guests might not all be desi.
Desi do not like to be served in coursed. They like everything on the serving table and want to pick and choose , they do not want anybody else to make this kind of decision for them.
agree 100 percent. i dun like ppl puttin stuff for me.i wanna take charge and take AS MUCH as i want... sometimes as little too but that dusnt matter. i wud always prefer all the dishes on the table and the guest help themselves. btw as grand as ur menu is.. for which u mst b appreciated do u think its physically possible for u to do this? u wud b the last person to enjoy urself and spend time with others, tht day... i think its a bit too impractical. i always make 5 dishes whenever i have guests over.. and a meetha. i think that shud b fine. but ofcourse whatever u decide is gud enuff :)
1) You are alone
2) Changing courses/plates will take hell of a time
3) Who want's his food to be pick and choose specially it's desi food and eaten by desi people
4) i don't see a reason why serve in eight course's, no body do that even in western families it's just for high-end restaurants or splurge parties with over 50+ guests and served by waiters.
5) Dishes are not much, 3/4 apetizers, 4/5 entrées & 2/3 deserts - that's more like a normal desi party IMO.
6) too many dishes to clean up in the end and waste of time.
if you still wanna go with the plan, then get some help or have two Tylenol before guests are arrived and going to bed.
how many ppl u r having over for this dinner?? I would not serve lasagna with salad...and would combine soup+salad
do you want it to be this formal? if yes go ahead with yor plan of plating/partial plating..if not and you are a bit flexible I would serve seekh before sit down dinner. Eight course with desi food sound to me as a lot of food...even if you are going to portion control.
