I am normally considered as a good cook if not excellent by my frnds, family, inlaws etc They all enjoy my cooking. So we just moved into our new house…and my luck one of husbands family frnds live 2 blocks from us. The woman is constantly complaining of how her husband dislikes going to dinner, lunches etc at other people’s houses coz he doesnt think they are clean enough or food good enough. The lady tends to send food to her house whenever she cooks something special and from that food i undertand that they eat extremely spicy food…the total daigi type of stuff served in pakistan at weddings full of masalas and oil (not that i am criticizing her just trying to give a picture how her food is different than mine). I am extremely health concious …i try to use minimal masalas and oil.
So i also sometimes end food to her house …2 days ago i was cooking matar pulao when her daughter came to my house and was like wow auntie rice. so i sent them the rice. and after some time i met them and one of her sons said auntie the rice were so nasty that my younger brother (in garde 2) spit them out and that too in front of his mother. The lady didnt say a word and just smiled.
Now my dilemma is my husband has invited them over for dinner along with another family frnd of our the coming weekend. Even if i stick to a complete desi menu i dont think i can pull it off. Any ideas other than adding heaps of red chillies and han masalas to the curries
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
How awful of the son to tell you that! What was the need!? Just plain mean and nasty.
I think you should cook her a special dish with so many spices in it that she'll spend most of her time in the bathroom and you can enjoy the dinner without her.
OR, on a more serious and nicer note lol, it can be hard to please everyone, so just make what you consider your best dishes (a variety) and if she doesnt like it, at least you tried, and try not to put pressure on yourself, take it easy :)
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
inviting someone over dinner is a gesture of caring and goodwill, the invitees must take it as such and their focus must NOT be on the food but on the love and care with which the host has invited. NO?
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
^ lol Reidi i was joking! It would probably make her worse no? Perhaps you could do half the menu quite spicy to suit her tastes, and the other half how you would normally do it? For example, two starters, one spicy, one normal, two mains, one spicy one normal etc etc.
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
Reidi,
What I normally do is , cook food as per the needs of the guests ... so like husband and I eat mostly desi food and average spices ... but some of our closest friends eat literally spiceless food .. so i try hard to ensure i cook food their style and reduce spices significantly or add them even more if the guests like to eat spicy food ..
I have a few suggestions on top of what sazzie has said very wisely .. have two items that are your style , two other items that are spicy ...
Lets help you plan a menu .. what do you have in mind originally ? lets help you do some spicy food items :@:
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
Ideally it should be like this KKF but are things ever ideal
then, we should leave them with their misery...we must not feel guilty...we have done our 'BEST'! agree?
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
well originally i was going for a three course chineese/ thai menu as we were inviting just one family but now with the addition of this one i totally have to change the game plan
so for dry items i was thinking chicken legs (i usually make them by marinating in some yogurt, sale, hone, red chilli flakes, cracked black pepper, honey, and some zesty italian salad dressing, i steam it reduce the left over sauce into thick paste and use it as a baste while broiling or grilling ).......should i also add some tandoori or tikka masala to it?
beef chappli kebab (i usually make them before hand freeze for both mine and my hsubands lunch sandwitches or burger so i just need to take them out and fry them)
a simple chiken karahi or afghani karahi
biryani (or should i keep the original chineese rice with sweet and sour chicken to suit other couples taste)
channa masala or masla bhari bhindi
couple of salads originally i had a spinach salad, mango salad and a russian salad in mind.....now i think i should change to kachoomar salad, mixed bean salad or lettuce salad
some dessert.
i want to add a dish or two to it but right now i cant think of anything .......as i am in my first trimester i would rather not cook anything with strong smells like biryani ........and my spice level is very moderate o even if i add more than my standard it doesnt reach that level where u see steam coming outta peoples ears.
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
hmmm ...
Chicken legs - Seems perfect , yes please add the tikka masala ..
Kabab - seem perfect - If you want, do a simple green chutney ( if you have a blender, pop in a handful fresh corriander, half tomato, two tablespoons mint sauce, 5-6 green chillies , one tablespoon yoghurt and a tinge of garlic ..blend it all into a fine paste ) This will fare well with the guests that like spicy food ...
I would say you stick to biryani ... you can keep it moderate spice .. serve it with that green sauce to the couple that likes it spicy ... and the sauce can be ignored by the couple that cant have the spices .. but Biryani will create that X Factor in your menu...
Chicken karahi and then bindi masala .. seem two brilliant options ...
here's a tip: keep the spices moderate until the very end ... but just before taking it off the flame , take out half the salan into a separate dish .. and the remaining half , just add in finely chopped green chillies ( two or three of them ) and leave it on dum for extra 5 to 10 minutes .. give it a stir and that will be spicy stuff for the other couple .. you can serve it in two different bowls .. thats what i do when i have such guests over ...
I like you choice of salad, keep it to two types of salad only.
I think you have a complete menu there ... I think if you invest time in making that green mint chutney , that should largely sort out your problem ...
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
Your menu sounds good.
I am sorry,and not to sound offensive but that lady does lack manners..!..
I really try to adjust the menus acc to my guests.But if there is someone so obnoxious that they think food cooked in other homes is not clean or good enough,I'd rather not invite them.On top of that they just let their kids blurt out whatever they want and wherever they want...
I understand uninviting them is not an option or what you asked for,but I would not go through trouble for them because they will never appreciate whatever I do.I will just make what I feel like and they can like it or unlike it,as they please.
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook…i am freaked
Ok, we have family friends who eat extremely spicy food, whereas we don’t. So whenever they are over, I put a big bowl of green chillies on the table. They AND their kids gobble up the chillies like crazy with the khana while saying ‘wah wah, bohat mazay ka khana hai’…So just use this trick, and to keep that chalaakoo kids mouth shut, just stuff his face with a big chocolate cake!
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
Prepare some rounaq , red chilli powder cooked in oil and some fried masala on the table if they like they can add that to their plate.
You might have seen nihari hotel wala doing this trick in Karachi.
Let everybody know that you have taken time to prepare these things for those who like extra rounaq and extra masala.
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
I know they lack manners and i usually dont mingle with such families but she is family frnds with my inlaws so i atleast have to invite her once.
Thank you every one for the suggestions, i will try both the green chutney and the fried red chillie thing .
I will update u guys on how the dinner went after it done.
Re: Inviting people on dinner who think you aint a good cook.............i am freaked
I know they lack manners and i usually dont mingle with such families but she is family frnds with my inlaws so i atleast have to invite her once.
Thank you every one for the suggestions, i will try both the green chutney and the fried red chillie thing .
I will update u guys on how the dinner went after it done.
Don't forget the extra masala trick too , I have posted a couple of recipes in this forum previously.
So just use this trick, and to keep that chalaakoo kids mouth shut, just stuff his face with a big chocolate cake!