Meal for 8- Fusion of Conti, Asian, Indian

I had a party last saturday nite. about 8 people in toto. Now, i do love to cook. No doubt about that. But if the number of mouths increase more that 2 then i kinda get a little stressed. So 8 hungry people were expected later in the night and I hadnt even planned out my menu yet!
I wasnt going to spend my precious saturday worrying over that. So I simply went with was available at my home. Further narrowed this down to degree of ease of preparing. All this while I kept in mind that the guests should go home gastronomically happy.

The final menu was a fusion of different cuisines and read thus:

Appetizers:
Spicy Indian Meat Balls
Mutton, peas and sweet corn samosas

Soup Course:
Coconut-lemon grass Seafood Soup

Main Course:
Spaghetti with Bacon and Mushroom Cream Sauce Sprinkled with Parmesan
Whole Roast Chicken with French Bread served with gravy

Desserts:
Darsan with Vanilla Royale icecream with a sprinkling of sesame seeds

Sounds impressive eh? It is. Sounds tough too? Well, That it ain't. You'll see.

Was too drunk on good scotch whiskey, by the time i remembered to click pics, appetizers and soup was over.

Spicy Indian Meat Balls and Mutton- Peas-Sweet Corn Samosas
I made a common mixture for both to save time and effort..super lazy aren'i I? I made minor changes to each and they both tasted very good and nobody would guess you used a similar mixture.
Mutton- 150 grams
Peas- 1/2 cup
Sweet Corn- 1/2 cup
Salt, red chilly, coriander powder
ginger and garlic paste 2 tsps
chopped onion1/3 cup and fresh coriander 1/3 cup

For Indian Meat Balls- Mix all the above along with 1/2 cup besan (chickpea flour). Make balls the size of lemons. Make a thick batter of Maida with water. Dip balls in this, roll in bread crumbs and deep fry.

For Samosas- Mix everything mentioned earlier. Add peanuts or nuts to it if desired. Prepare a firm but soft dough using Maida, water, salt and little oil. Make a very firm dough. Pinch out some dough and roll it out in an oval shape. Cut the oval in half. Put little mixture in the centre of the ensuing semi circle, fold it and seal like a samosa using some water.
Deep Fry till light brown and crispy.

COCONUT- LEMON GRASS SEAFOOD SOUP
They simply loved this one! I personally prefer this soup abouve most others. It is a great appetiser while satisfying your soup cravings. Its quite chilly in Bangalore these days. It was drizzling when i served this and its warmth and flavours were perfect for the weather. I also feel that this soup somehow whets the appetite.

Extremely simple to make, you'll need:
Coconut Milk- fresh or canned or powdered- 3 cups
Seafood- prawns, crab and squids- 1 cup together
You can use chicken cubes if fresh seafood is inaccessible.
Coriander chopped, to garnish
Salt, Thai Red Curry Paste- 2 tsps,
1 stem of Lemon grass, sliced
1 inch ginger sliced
Carrots and other vegetables as desired

Reserve 1/2 cup coconut milk. Mix everything else together. Put on low heat till it simmers. Stir occassionally till coconut milk is jutst about to boil . Cook for another few minutes. Take extra care not to overcook as coconut milk tends to loose its flavour if cooked too long. Add remaining coconut milk. Add fresh coriander. Serve

Handy Tip: Be very careful while heating coconut milk to prevent curdling. Keep it on low heat.

Handy Tip2: Do not cook coconut milk too long as it will loose that sweet coconuty flavour.

ROAST CHICKEN

My herbed roast always hits the mark. Its my favorite thing to serve too as it need hardly any effort nor time. And looks gud doesn't it? This isnt a flattering pic. But then the photographer was 3 drinks down. Even the chicken looks drunk with its neck on one side and left wing attempting to escape the tray!

My guests squealed with delight at the sight- presentation is everything and I carved the chicken in front of them. Swagata helped in deboning ant leftover flesh. See the pic :-)

Recipe of Roast Chicken:

Whole Chicken with Skin , Salt, Pepper, Red Wine Vinegar or Worcestershire Sauce, Olive Oil, Oregano, Fresh parsley, Thyme, Lemon, whole pod of garlic, sticks of butter

Rub everything except the herbs on the chicken And leave for atleast 2 hours (8 hours, if possible) In the hole of the chicken stomach place the whole pod of chicken,bunch of thyme, parsley. Make a tiny puncture underneath the skin and slide in sticks of butter in different places. Place in a roasting tray with legs beneath at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn over the chicken and roast for another 15 minutes. Turn again and roast for 10 minutes. All the while keep spooning over the juices that run out, over the chicken.

Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and Serve with Grilled veggies.

Spaghetti with Bacon and Mushroom Cream Sauce Sprinkled with Parmesan

For Spaghetti: Take a whole packet of a good quality Spaghetti and cook as per directions on the packet. I used Agnesi pasta as thats the best quality available in stores. These days local spaghetti is also available but they are not really worth it. Use them only if feeling too economical. Do not overcook. Leave the strands aldente.

For Sauce: 1/2 litre Milk, 2tb sp heavy cream, 1/2 cup chopped bacon, salt, pepper, fresh basil or dried mixed herbs, Parmesan to grate on top, 4 tbsp chopped onion, 1 tbsp Maida/ white flour, 1tbsp butter, a clove, a bayleaf, a single garlic clove-large.

Heat butter until it just melt on very low flame. Dont let the butter burn. Add bayleaf, garlic, clove, bacon and onions and cook till onions are transparent. Remove from flame. Add flour while constantly stirring. Put back on flame. Add Milk gradually and keep stirring to avoid lumps and stir on till sauce is thickened to a sauce like consistency. You can add chopped button mushrooms along with bacon for a marvellous flavour. Add salt and pepper and throw in fresh basil/ dried herbs.

Just before serving place spaghetti in a bowl, drizzle sauce all over, grate parmesan on top and serve. Give the guests a grater and let them grate their own cheese for a european bistro feel!These small things matter so much. I told the guests to carve their own roast chicken (so that they can take the pieces they prefer) and atleast a few of them were super delighted :-) The comment I got was: "...havent heard someone say that since my last visit to Australia!"

Handy Tip: Do not add dried herbs too early while cooking as they tend to turn bitter if overcooked.

DARSAN

This must be among the simplest desserts ever known. And among the most delicious. The softness of the icecream goes very well with the crunchy fritters and white sesame.

Here is how to make it: Make a hard dough using Maida, liitle vegetable oil and water. Roll it out flat and cut thin stripes. The thickness etc should resemble flat noodles. Deep fry till crispy.

For Sauce: Honey, Liitle water to thin the viscousity of honey. Add 1 tbspn of cold water to3/4rth of a cup of honey.

Rest is an assembly job: Toss the fritters and honey sauce along for 2 minutes to let them combine well. Place it on the side of a plate. Sprinkle toasted white sesame seeds on top. Serve some vanilla icecream with it. Instant hit!

Handy Tip: I make the crispy noodles a day ahead and toast the sesame seeds in advance and bottle them both, separately.