My parents are coming over to my place for the first time for lunch (maybe dinner) after I got married. I need to make something and it has to be really good. I need suggestions on what to make. I was thinking of making salad, chicken broast for appetizer and am definitely making molten lava cakes for dessert (cuz its the best thing i can make). I don’t know what to make for entrees but i don’t wanna make more than two things :).
In addition, I’m new to this cooking thing so the recipes have to be easy and they also have to be good cuz my mom is possibly the best cook in the world haha and my dad is a picky eater (not to mention that Chef Zakir has been making many dishes for him for the past year and has been giving cooking lessons to him :(). So I would like to impress them when they come over. Any ideas? PLEASEEE HELP!
uff i forgot to add that i do not want to make any difficult dishes like biryani, korma, pulao, koftae, etc. love karhais but we have it all the time.
Sumo,
Some sort of chawal and salan dish are pretty standard/usual in desi cuisine whether you're holding a party, or simply entertaining your parents. If you don't want to make pulao or biryani....how about just making rice with matar (peas)? Or you can boil some brown rice and add boiled chick peas to it (chanay walay chawal).
For salans, if you want something more simple....how about palak? You can either make palak with meat, or palak with aaloo, or paalak with paneer. You can also make daal **with some fried onions (tarka) on top. And for a meat dish you can make some **kababs. There you go, you're done. You have a simple but wholesome menu of broasted chicken for appetizer, and chawal, palak, daal, and kababs for lunch. And lava cake for desert.
If your parents are into non-desi foods as well, you can consider making a casserole too.
Re: Need to cook for my parents first time after wedding! HELP!
ohhhhh :) i went through this a couple of weeks ago!! my dad was visiting me for the first time since my shadi! i basically made 2 dishes. i made lamb chops, karhaie-ish style and a rack of ribs, in the oven. he loves meetha, so i made some vermicelli pudding.
Re: Need to cook for my parents first time after wedding! HELP!
that's so sweet! i recently went through the same thing, making a full dinner for my parents for the first time.. i planned on making biryani, maash ki daal, salad, dahi bhalay, sewiyan.
erm the biryani came out mushy and wet :( mash ki daal was sweet dint make the dahi palay and sewiyan were burnt. but they still ate it with love. :D
Re: Need to cook for my parents first time after wedding! HELP!
Sumo, if your parents r used to eating desi food then go all out western on them. Give them something different like Chicken and mushroom pie, mashed potato with a herb butter, salad. Or make some Middle Eastern food, that always goes down well.
Try middle-eastern kebab thing with cous-cous, or make a tagine. U can have a mixed meze for starters. Mmmmm. Or soup.
Sumo , I can give you a freaking easy recipe of chicken tikka's .. you wont have to do much ...
I am suggesting a kabab platter with humous ... ? Some seekh kabab's and some chicken tikka's and humous with olive oil in the middle ....
Let me know if you need the recipes for the platter ...
If you keep one more dish along with the Kabab platter , I think that should do the magic ...
Also for starters I normally make cole slaw , russian salad and pasta salad .... just to add variety to the table .. its little to do but seems lots when put on the table ...
Re: Need to cook for my parents first time after wedding! HELP!
i think you just make what you are comfortable with and something that you know that you can cook well...ur parents will be proud of you whatver you make, but you dont wanna embarrass urself by making something and messing it up.....
my mum visited my sister after she got married and she attempted biryani and it went all mushy, my mum stressed about it for weeks, thinking that she's always cooking like that..
good luck all will be well InshAllah
Re: Need to cook for my parents first time after wedding! HELP!
i thought you were talking about your like mother&father IN LAW. ..you dont need to empress them. but if you want i just recommend looking on some sites & practice cooking the main dish the day before, just to see how it comes out
Re: Need to cook for my parents first time after wedding! HELP!
keep it simple, i agree!
do an opening salad with a bag of mixed lettuce and baby spinach. toss with a bit of dressing (olive oil and lemon juice: shaken, not stirred, or blended), dried cranberries (buy 'em from the supermarket), toasted walnuts (throw pre-chopped walnuts into a frying pan and just keep tossing until they're nice and brown) and crumbled goat cheese. its delicious!
you can also serve dressing on the side if you want, instead of tossing it.
entree- stuffed tomatoes and mashed potatoes.
get some fairly firm, but not underripe, large tomatoes. chop off their heads. run a sharp knife around the inside rim to loosen the inside bits. scoop out the inside bits with a spoon so the toms are all nice and hollow.
fill with pre-cooked qeema*. lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle (i use powdered, not shredded as it lends a hint of sharpness but is not overwhelming) parmesan cheese generously over the top.
bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is all nice and golden-brown on the top. voila! they're absolutely delicious on their own but kick ass with mashed potatoes on the side.
*when i make the qeema for the filling, i like to add in a few chopped jalapenos to it- makes it smell awesome and taste great.
dessert: your molten lava cakes (would love the recipe for this, btw) and chai/coffee.
done and done.
also, the tomatoes "plate" really well - i usually drizzle a zig-zag of olive oil on the plate, place a tomato slightly offcentre with an ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes on the side. it looks all schmancy.