Guests for Dinner

After a long time really, I will be entertaining formally at home.


I have planned a sit down dinner for 6 , proper Indian style with thalis. This can be a bit cumbersome for our foreign guests who are reluctant to use their fingers and happily use their knives and scratch the smooth, unblemished polish of my thalis. How it breaks my heart, when I hear the screach and I resist the urge to grab the knife and tell them "Use your fingers for God's sake!"


However, in true Indian tradition, I have to accept my dinner guests as "God who comes to my home" and keep my ungodly thoughts to myself.


This morning was spent shopping for the ingredients and as usual, I find it impossible to get all the stuff in one place. 


To begin with I needed to replace my 20 year old gas tandoor and spent the better part of the morning at Lohar Chawl looking for a shop that was open!  Most of the shops here were just about opening their shutters for business at 11.15 in the morning and that was irritating me quite a bit. I remember the good old days when I could finish all my shopping and get home by 12. These days it is well nigh impossible.


Then I went to Crawford for the veggies and fruit and was quite surprised to find some of the prices much lower than what they were last month. Of courseI am not complaining, but I wonder how long this blissful period will last.


In the afternoon my meat man delivered the meat and thankfully followed my instructions. So I marinated my lovely leg of lamb and slow cooked it in the evening while I went for my evening stroll.


While the lamb was marinating, I made a quick chicken curry with ground almonds and saffron, pulverised the mint, chillies, coriander and garlic to make the spiciest of chutneys - so spicy that the spice went up my nose! 


Now I just have to wait for the Baby Pomfrets  which I am going to stuff with mint and lime and grill in a banana leaf on my new gas tandoor. 


My guests arrive at 6 tomorrow evening and I will give them tandoori prawns and chilled beer while they continue with their business discussions till 8. 


Dinner of course will be the grilled fish, Lobster thermidore, smoked aubergine salsa, zeera rice, potato bhaji and ice cream.