i have iftar party planned for few families. I like to know how in advance can i cook salans and bryani. How in advance can i make chole, dahi baray. what time should i fry everything like pakoray and samosay? please help… i am worried. i want everything to taste good and fresh at the same time i want everything done in advance so that things can go smoothly.
Re: how in advance do you fry and cook food for iftar
you know if you make dahi balay and chole even an hour before , its fine , they will still remain fresh ... with pakora's I usually start making them 20-25 minutes before the iftar ... so that they are ready in 20 minutes ... even if they get ready 10 minutes before the iftar time , they are good to go ...
Most people get to the kitchen an hour before the iftar time ...
Re: how in advance do you fry and cook food for iftar
With the fried stuff, if I do them more than 30 mins in advance, I tend to put them in the oven on a low heat either on a tray with greaseproof paper or mostly on a pizza crisper tray - this stops them going soggy
HTH
Re: how in advance do you fry and cook food for iftar
where can i get the pizza crisper tray? will greaseproff paper stop the fried stuff from going soggy?
Chicken biryani thanks for the info.. i just don't want be frying stuff when people are at my place. I have a very small place. i was thinking about frying everything 1 hour in advance.
Re: how in advance do you fry and cook food for iftar
If you are in the UK then you cn get the pizza crisper oven trays at places like supermarkets/department stores......it's basically a oven tray with holes in the bottom
Yes, the greesproof paper will prevent the fried food getting soggy
Re: how in advance do you fry and cook food for iftar
Thank u so much for reply. When should I make cut the fruit for fruit chat. Can I make that the day before?
Re: how in advance do you fry and cook food for iftar
^Fruit chat a day before might not be a good idea, the fruits start losing color even if you toss them with lemon juice and sugar.. I make it an hour before, add a little lemon juice and orange juice to it and cover it tightly with a cling film so it stays fresh.
Re: how in advance do you fry and cook food for iftar
ditch the pakoras and make chicken patees because you can make those in advance and stick them in the oven on warm like someone mentioned.
Fruit salad you can make in the afternoon. Just leave the bananas out and add those an hour or so before iftaar time. Make sure you add some OJ or other type of juice to the fruits so they don't go dark when you make it in advance.
Cholay you can make a few hours before as well.
If you are making dahi baray from white daal then you can make those in the morning and stick them in a semi-cool place. My mom would sit the cholas and dahi baras in a room with the fan on.
I am like you - I don't like to make things 30 minutes in advance of the party and have the whole house and myself all stinky from the oil smell. (yucky)
Also I think there are quite a few threads on iftaar/dinner menus. I would suggest to not do heavy biryani if your iftaar is going to be heavy. Do some other type of rice dish.
Re: how in advance do you fry and cook food for iftar
We generally fry stuff within the last half hour of the day before iftari.
Here's what I've done in the past:
cooked salans beforehand and heated it before serving
shaped aloo tikkis beforehand and fried them before iftari (30 mins beforehand, then onto a tray and kept in a very low oven).
I prepare rolls/samosas beforehand, and sometimes freeze them. Take them out of the oven and bung them into the microwave for a minute to defrost. Then fry them 45 minutes before iftari-I find they are still crispy even an hour later.
If you are making a cholay chat with no yogurt I would even suggest making it the night before allowing flavours to develop.