There's more to a recipe than ingredients...

In the old days, I used to throw two or three parties a year in my little 'ole apartment.  I like to have lots of friends around and I like trying out new recipes on them!  I've been pretty fortunate that everyone has liked nearly everything I've served over the years.  The limoncello tiramisu was a particular favorite: 

I can hardly believe I haven't had a party at my house since my Tony party in 2010!  I fully intended on throwing my annual Martin Luther King Day/dear pal birthday bash last year, but I got the distressing news about my diagnosis that same week, so I postponed.  Then I didn't have the energy to entertain and/or cook for pretty much the rest of the year.  So I was determined to get 2012 off to a rousing start and planned a President's Day weekend bash.  And I was also determined to successfully present an entire Indian food feast.  I have to say, with a few little cooking bumps, the bash was a rousing success!  Someday, I will learn to edit and accept my cooking space limitations when menu planning.  Maybe...

After scouring the internet for recipes of my favorite Indian dishes, I found a very nice recipe for aloo gobi (the cauliflower/potato dish) online, and there were good recipes for chicken biryani and vegetable curry on the Cooks Illustrated app on my iPhone.  So, off I went to various stores throughout the week (I still get uncomfortable if I carry too much heavy stuff at one time) to pick up the ingredients I don't always have on hand.  My trip to Kalustyan's was particularly fun (and helpful!) in that they have that huge room of spices in the back of the shop.  And you can buy small 1-oz packages of the spices instead of a big jar of them.  Since I don't have a daily use for cumin seeds or ground turmeric, this was quite a blessing.

I got started early Saturday morning, figuring I would prepare a couple of things in advance, since my oven/stovetop situation is pretty limited.  First, I had to wash all of my platters.  They haven't been used since the fire!  The white china pieces were a little stained, so it took quite a while to clean them.  Once the platters and serving utensils were clean, I gathered foodstuffs onto my coffee table and started mixing and chopping in front of the tv.  Tennis was on, don't you know.  ;)  First, I put together my raita, a cooling yogurt sauce with cucumber and a touch of ginger.  Although I wasn't making anything that was hugely spicy, I thought the yogurt would be a nice contrast to the rich sauces of the other dishes.  It was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.

Next, I decided to make the aloo gobi.  I did the prep again in my living room.  If I had a pet, they would've had a grand time snacking on all the stuff I kept dropping there.  Many Lysol wipes were used throughout the chopping process... 

After getting everything chopped up, I set up my mise en place (don't you love how I pretend to be a real cook??) on my non-existent counter space.  It's really a joke, but I keep on keeping on with the cooking. 

This dish was pretty easy to put together, just sauteeing the onions, then throwing nearly everything else in the pot and simmering for 45 minutes.  Even though the chopping was a bit time consuming (but that's mainly because I'm so slow at it), the rest of the dish was a breeze.  Of course, I had to taste it and make sure it was good enough for my guests... ;)

Of course it was.  And it looked almost as good as it tasted.  Next time, though, I think I will try to prepare it and serve it immediately.  I made it maybe five hours in advance, and threw it in the frig, trying to keep my limited cooking space in mind.  Although it reheated very well, the consistency was a little different when I reheated it.  I thought about adding a little water to thin the sauce a bit, but I didn't want to dilute the flavor.  So, it was a little stickier and thicker when I served it at the bash.  But it still tasted good, if my guests were to be believed... 

I next did the prep for the vegetable curry (chopping onions, sweet potatoes, green beans, jalapeno, blah blah blah).  By the time I did that, I needed to have a little lie-down.  I think I was a tad too ambitious for my first party in a long while, so I decided to skip the chicken biryani recipe.  It was rather long and involved, so I decided that if people wanted chicken, I would maybe sautee some with garam masala (since I had purchased chicken thighs at Whole Foods), but I wouldn't do the whole biryani.  No one seemed too upset, thankfully.

After my little lie-down, it was time to start putting together the appetizers.  In my Vegetarian Times magazine, there was a recipe for an Indian tea sandwich, which had hummus, mint chutney, cucumber and tomato.  It also called for red onion, but one of my dear gal pals can't have red onions, so I decided to leave them off.  Besides, the mint chutney had enough of a bite that red onion might've been gilding the lily.  I also purchased some pre-prepared samosas from Fresh Direct (I had placed an order with them for a lot of the heavy stuff in my shopping, like the potatoes, onions, box of kosher salt).  They were quite delicious!  I probably could've picked up another tray of them.  Hmmmm, I'll know next time.  The appetizer table looked nice, I think, with the samosas, tea sandwiches and an assortment of chutneys.  I also bought some pre-prepared papadum, which came in a can like Pringles.  I thought that was funny.  How could I not buy them??  The chips were delicious, especially dipped in the aloo gobi sauce. 

So, here's a problem I didn't anticipate:  when you work off a recipe saved on your iPhone, you can't use your iPhone to take photos as you're cooking.  Oop.  Sorry.  You'll just have to take my word for it - the vegetable curry was tasty and attractive.  :)   And there was none left at the end of the evening, the biggest compliment a home cook can be paid.  Oh, here's a place where I was genius - I asked a friend who is an expert baker to bring dessert.  His lemon tart was to die for and the perfect dessert for a rich Indian meal.  I also picked up some candied fennel seeds, like they serve at Indian restaurants, for an after-dinner minty/licorice-y refreshment.  I always forget that lots of people aren't as big on licorice as me, so...there's that.  Oh well.  I have lots left over for my own enjoyment.  I also have lots of chicken thighs left over.  I was a bad vegetarian for the rest of the weekend.  Do I get credit for braising the chicken thighs in vegetable stock??  lol 

All in all, the party was a huge success and I'm so glad so many friends came by.  It was crowded and cozy, in the best way.  I love that we all have so much to talk about, no matter if we saw each other last year, last month or yesterday.  We didn't break our personal record of bottles of wine consumed, but there's always the next party!  I don't think I can wait for the Tonys, though!!  :)