The Art of Feeding People Menus: North Indian : Dinner at Home : Veg or Nonveg?
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| This was ordered in to my son's house. I normally don't photograph my normal dinners, only special occasions like Christmas or Thanksgiving. One reason is that Indian food rarely photographs well, the required gravy dishes just don't 'pop' like dry items can in photos. |
The only other non “American” food was a birthday dinner at the Magic Wok, a Chinese restaurant, where I mispronounced the word lichi so bad the waiter had to ask several times what I wanted for a sweet dish.
That was pretty much it, except for my Granny’s spaghetti, the only other homemade Italian food we had came from a Ragu jar or a Chef Boyardee Pizza kit.
Then I met Hubby. We started dating in the second half of my freshman year of college. He was at the same university getting his MBA. One of my corridor friends was dating a friend of his and we all became friends. As “good” girlfriends often do, my friend and I wanted to cook dinner for our boyfriends. Our boyfriends had taken an apartment together and we were often guinea pigs for their cooking. Which consisted of making a huge pot of dal, keema, or channa, all tasting the same as they would put in a spoon of salt, red chili, cumin seed, and if they had been able to get to an Indian store Garam Masala. They would make fresh rice every night and eat from that pot until it finished and then make something new.
My friend had discovered an Indian Cookbook and to this day I still believe it is the best Indian cookbook for American kitchens. “An Invitation Indian Cooking” by Madhur Jaffrey. It was originally published in 1973, there aren’t any photos, however, the stories she tells are interesting to read. But more importantly her recipes are made for the American Kitchen, it doesn’t say soak garbanzo beans overnight, it says buy 2 cans of garbanzo beans.
Now after having lived in India for 30 years and having to cook everything from scratch, I can say with a clear conscience that cooking Indian food in America was in many ways easier. But then I now have staff and make them do all the chopping work when I cook. Either way putting together a North Indian Dinner Menu that needs to be prepared at home takes a lot of time and effort.
Madhur Jaffrey had put in sample menus in her book, but below I will share a few menus that I still use today. Many items can be found in “An Invitation to Indian Cooking”, others can be found elsewhere on my blog.
Before starting a menu one needs to explain vegan, veg, and nonveg. Vegan is any food item that is plant based. Vegetarian (veg) includes anything that is plant based or dairy. No living creature has been killed to prepare it. Nonvegetarian (nonveg) is the opposite, a creature has died for consumption. Meat, poultry, fish, and seafood. These are the easy ones to classify. It is the hidden ones that always get me into trouble. Examples:
Gelatin: while there are some veg versions, natural gelatin is made from collagen from animals, usually cows and pigs.
Eggs: While most eggs are unfertilised and unable to become a bird, one must ask the guest if eggs are allowed. Hidden egg can be found in bread (often used to brush the top to make it shiny), cakes, it’s often used to baste some kabobs. It is often used in alcoholic cocktails.
Sauces: Fish sauce, oyster sauce are obviously nonveg sauces. But also Worcester Sauce is nonveg as it contains anchovies. Mayonnaise is made with egg as are several salad dressings.
Cheeses: Although many modern cheeses are made with chymosin from bacterial sources. Many traditional cheeses are still made from rennet, which is taken from calf stomachs.
Red Wine: Some wines use egg and/or other animal products in the fining process therefore making it nonveg for some.
FYI: I learned this the hard way. If you are deep frying veg items and nonveg items they must be deep fried in two different oils. If you deep fry something nonveg, that oil becomes nonveg. Therefore, when I have anything catered, I insist that there be two sets of grills/oil/pans. One for veg and one for nonveg.
Once I know how many of my guests are veg or nonveg I then can start planning my menu. I consider the below as a normal dinner party at home.
Invitees: Friends or Close Family
# Eating: Up to 20 people
Service: Buffet or Family Style.
As part of the planning a menu I have some slots to fill in
Veg appetizer?
Nonveg appetizer?
Rice?
Chappati (flat bread)?
Nonveg?
Lentil?
Paneer?
Dry Vegetables?
Yogurt?
Dessert?
Accompaniments?
Within the above categories I then determine which items will be gravy dishes and which will be dry.
ACCOMPANIMENTS: Regardless of the menu the following will usually be placed on the dinner table/buffet.
Nimboo Pyaz: Onions (purple ones preferably), thinly sliced, salted and fresh lemon/lime squeezed on top. Best to make it at least an hour in advance.
Green Chutney: A chutney made from fresh coriander leaves (cilantro, dhania), ground with green chili, salt, and lemon are the basic ingredients. Some recipes call for mint leaves, katai (aamchur, dried green mango powder), ground roasted cumin seed, yogurt, and/or garlic.
Papad (papadom): These are crispy thin wafers of spiced dried lentil paste. They can either be roasted on the stove or deep fried. The flavors range from mild to spicy.
Achaar: We usually make our own achaars in the house, although there are many good tasting branded achars on the market.
Aam - made from green mangoes. The mangoes are cubed and flavored with spices and mustard oil and then set in the sun for a couple of weeks.
Stuffed Red Chili - These are made in the winter from a large mild red chili. Spices are roasted and powdered, mixed with the seeds from inside the chili, stuffed back into the chili which is then dipped in mustard oil. This is then put in the sun for a couple of weeks.
Nimboo (lemon) - I make a recipe with lemon, salt, ginger, and sugar. Branded variations tend to not have ginger, but lots of red chili powder or sugar.
Mixed - This is usually a mixture of winter vegetables, I have never been able to make a good version so I normally purchase this one. One of my go to brands is Pachranga. Ingredients often include carrots, cauliflower, mango, lotus stem, green chilis, lime, spices and of course vegetable oil.
MENU 1: WINTER DINNER
Appetizer Veg:
Moong Dal Pakora - (recipe for pakora in Mangorchi) served with Green Chutney
Masala Moong Phali - Freshly roasted peanuts mixed with Kachumber Salad and Sprinkled with Chat Masala.
Appetizer Nonveg -
Seekh Kabob - Minced meat (we usually eat mutton (goat) seekhs although you can use any minced meat). There is a recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s Cookbook, but I usually purchase premade at the meat shop. Many Indian stores carry frozen varieties, in which you just reheat at home.
Chicken Tikka - Cubes of chicken marinated in a spicy yogurt marinade and then roasted. You can use the marinade from Madhur Jaffrey’s Tandori Chicken recipe. Hubby and I used to start the chicken on a coal grill to get the smoky flavor and finish in the oven.
Rice -
Jeera Pullao garnished w/ Crispy Browned Onions. The advantage of this particular rice dish is that it is bland and works well with any gravy dish but the main reason this is my go to rice dish - it is more attractive than just plain rice. There are some recipes online which add more spices, but for my house it is only Cumin Seed lightly sauteed and cooked with basmati rice, then garnished with the browned onions for the table.
Chappati -
Phulka, Mirchi Paranthas - For a western kitchen this is the hardest thing. Although now many grocery stores carry refrigerated/frozen Indian flatbreads. God’s honest truth even after almost 40 years I can’t make a phulka to save my life. I have made the paranthas in Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbook, but by the time I was finished making them Hubby had eaten all of them. I can make pooris, but I have come to learn that pooris aren’t usually served at normal dinners unless you are having poori bhaji or something similar. I have used pita bread in a pinch. However, if you can’t figure out a good flat bread at your local store and you don’t plan on making parathas or pooris at home just skip it. I did for years.
Nonveg Dish - My go to is a mutton (goat) dish which is slow cooked for hours. However, the next best thing and something which is very popular is Butter Chicken or Murgh Makhani (in Madhur Jaffrey’s Cookbook she has something similar called Chicken w/Tomato Sauce and Butter). Butter Chicken is a bit spicy with a hint of sweetness. It can be with whole pieces of chicken on the bone, although this gets very messy and difficult to eat if the dinner is not a sit down) or it can be cooked with chicken cubes. In restaurants chicken tikka is added to the makhani sauce.
Lentil - The go to dal in my house is Arhar, it is yellow, has a nice flavor and texture. The main thing about cooking a dal is that although it is great from a pressure cooker, it is so much better if you slow cook. However, the most important thing is the tardka that is added to the dal just before serving. In my house we heat the mustard oil, add jeera and whole red chili, and pour it over the dal. The dal should not be watery at the same time it shouldn’t be so thick that it almost becomes a paste.
Paneer - Paneer is a homemade cheese curd. I have now seen it in Western grocery stores. It is easy to make at home. Take whole milk heat and add a spoon or two of yogurt. The curd will separate from the whey. You can use the whey when making dal or other dishes for the liquid or just cool and add a bit of salt and pepper and drink it. Matar Paneer is always a great winter dish as the peas are fresh and so sweet. Matar Paneer can be made in so many ways although in the winter I prefer the heavier mughlai style which has an onion tomato gravy often with cashews and cream. Normally, I wouldn’t have two dishes with a tomato gravy base, but as one is veg and the other nonveg they shouldn’t clash on the plate.
Dry Vegetables -
There is such a wide variety of winter vegetables in Delhi. Gobhi Fry, cauliflower florets are deep fried and then sauteed with a mixture of cumin seed, turmeric, red chili, garam masala, salt, and one tomato for the acidity and liquid.
Bhindi, okra are my next favorite dry vegetables. We usually cut it in rings and saute it with cumin seed, onion, salt and a bit of turmeric. Red chili can be added for those who want the heat, but I normally like to serve at least one dish where there isn’t any spiciness.
Yogurt - Yogurt is used to calm the heat from the spicy food. Raita is yogurt with spices, vegetables, and boondis. I have seen some restaurants/caterers add green or red chili to their raita, but I think this defeats the purpose of having something to cool down and settle the tummy after a rich meal. My go to raita is kachumber raita, yogurt with finely diced onion, tomato, and cucumber, flavored with salt and roasted cumin powder.
Dessert - Gajar ka Halwa, carrot pudding. I know, I know, it sounds weird and kind of like Huh? But trust me. There is nothing like gajar ka halwa on a cold winter’s night. Grated carrot is slowly cooked in whole milk until the milk disappears. Then it is slightly fried with cardamom and almonds and sweetened with a bit of sugar. (Madhur Jaffrey has a recipe for it). It can be made a day ahead, refrigerated and reheated.
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