Fun with food

With Christmas and New Year round the corner, get set to host a
party with nourishing and easy-to-prepare meals 

IT is party time once again and we can’t keep our thoughts away from guilt-free splurging — gorging on sweets and snacks, roasts and pies, soups and punches — not necessarily in that order. Needless to add, that these are not selfish ideas. How can one forget family and friends and unexpected guests, who will drop in ‘just for a moment’ to wish us a Merry X-Mas and Happy New Year but happily stay back to share potluck?`A0More the merrier and its always better to plan and prepare in advance so that you can enjoy your own parties without stress.

We like to keep our get-togethers simple and strongly suggest that you do the same — stay with a couple of ‘substantial’ dishes — filling, healthy and nourishing — familiar but zara sa hat ke from the main thoroughfare — easy to prepare, offering enough scope for improvisation (read that showing off your culinary skills) and with sufficient eye appeal.

Pan-fried noodles, with oodles of colourful vegetables, and not doused in bottled ketchup, fits the bill ideally. Cook the noodles as per instructions on the pack and keep the sliced, chopped and diced veggies ready. Stir-fry these in a non-stick pan with minimal oil and blend with the noodles tossing and turning carefully. Avoid ajinomoto like plague and use only good quality Soya sauce judiciously. Chilli paste in oil and green chillies in vinegar complete the bliss.

Give your guests a choice selecting a rice/noodles/pasta delicacy and other that can be paired with bread. Don’t break your own or the assistant’s back in the kitchen rolling and cooking dozens of chapattis. Get a supply of whole meal pita, pav or multi-grain bread. Whatever you do, resist the temptation to call for tandoori/roomali or assorted naan from the baker next door.

Traditional North Indian breads are best hot just off the tawa or from the tandoor and if eaten reheated are awful. Many options now available, to fork the dry dishes or mop up the gravy: Malabar parantha, kulcha and Lebanese breads that are available you can try. Pan-grilled Singapore or Hong Kong noodles are our favourite. Penne with fresh tomato sauce and shavings of Parmesan comes a close second.

But, first things first: everyone loves a welcome drink. It doesn’t have to be an alcoholic beverage. A piping hot cup of soup with something to nibble on the side is very tempting. Actually, you can put a little something interesting in the soup itself. There is great scope of improvisation if the Chinese repertoire is being purloined. Either Hot and Sour or Manchow may be considered. Both can be rendered vegetarian or non-vegetarian in a jiffy.

Even the stronger spirits should be treated with juices and garnishes to dilute the intoxicants and enhance relaxed enjoyment of drinks. Mocktails and liqueurs, punches and toddy should be given the pride of place.

We have nothing against the ‘bought from the store heat and eat starters’ as you can eschew the monotonous tikka, seekh and salami. We are not gluttons for punishment and don’t expect you to be masochists, who love having their nose to the grinding stone, literally, to produce the melt-in-the-mouth shami kebab, mini samosa or whatever. A balance can be struck by ‘assembling’ snacks and starters that are interesting, whet the appetite for what is to follow and are not the same old stuff like chopped up seekh or ‘chips with dips’. Avoid, salted nuts or namkeen mixtures.

At the same time, do appreciate that the guests aren’t exactly dying to be converted to a ‘salads only’ diet. Something that can be handled without soiling fingers and can be relished without messy chutney or sauces should be high on your priority list. Small individual bowls of Russian salad — ‘Indianised’ sufficiently — serve the purpose admirably. Baked potato wedges or tikkis served with chaat prepared with steamed sweet corn and thawed frozen piece with pineapple tit-bits never fails to deliver. Roasted bajra, lotus puffs and jhaal muri bring up the rear brilliantly and add variety. Khakras have a papad-like brittleness but score over the familiar due to lighter spicing and novelty.

For the main course, we always have a roast — no not the humongous raan — but the breast of chicken, pan-grilled with lightly browned onions and tomatoes. Smoked chicken breasts are now not difficult to obtain and can be pan-grilled a la minute and dressed up as per individual preference. For the vegetarians, we have pav, not with regular bhaji but a m`E9lange of blanched gajar, phool gobhi and mushrooms with just a little bit of crumbled paneer to add body with sauce-like gravy — either based on hara dhania, hari mirch, pudina and adrak base or lehsun, laal mirch, amchoor, kali mirch, bhuna jeera and kala namak.

Now remains the challenge to tickle the sweet tooth. Honey — just a teaspoonful goes a long, long way. Chopped dried figs, apricots and prunes can be used to obtain a mince that can add lustre to even the humdrum. Have some almonds, pistachios, raisins and walnut kernels by your side and you can rustle up a brilliant dessert every time.

A peach poached in red wine served warm is guaranteed to delight one and all with the warm Italian touch. Just melt a little butter in a pan, add 2 tbsp gm sugar, 100 ml red wine and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes. If using canned peaches, drain the syrup, rinse well and cook only for 3-4 minutes. Remove, place on a bed of whipped cream continue to cook the sauce till it thickens a little. Pour over the peaches. Stew a few halved apples or pears, then fill the scooped out hollows with the mixture of dried fruits and nuts topped with a few drops of honey. Serve warm. Homemade chocolate sauce preferably from sugarless or at least not very sweet dark bitter chocolates can transform this dessert with sheer black magic. Rare are the occasions when one misses the slice of cake, gulab jamun or gajar ka halwa after this dreamboat.

This triveni — fusion confluence of Chinese, Italian, Indian — doesn’t require any special skills and rest assured doesn’t break the piggy bank either. Just select the music and pick up a few gifts — thoughtfully selected and`A0wrapped tastefully and enjoy with hair down and feet tapping.

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