Unexpected Guests At Lunch. Simple Recipes That You Can Cook

Guests and Indian homes have a special connection that is often showcased in movies and shows. It is that unexpected doorbell that most women fear because it means guests, hospitality and food. Food is one of the biggest concerns when it comes to hosting guests. At times like these, all you need is a guide that could quickly tell you what you could cook in very little time and regular ingredients. Along with less time and minimum ingredients, you need dishes that look and sound fancy and guest-like too like paneer butter masala. Indian cuisine considers all dishes with butter and paneer fancy and time-taking but that’s not true. Most dishes take 20 - 30 minutes and can be made deliciously at home. Whenever there’s time-crunch, you have your saviour called rice. Rice cooks quickly and is absolutely yummy if made with some extra masalas and veggies. You can use any of your leftover sabzi to make pulao too. Once you decide on the mains, you can pick your side. Indian cuisine usually has any fried dish as a side like kababs or tikkis.

To make paneer butter masala, you need to have paneer, tomatoes, onions, fresh cream, cashews and spices. Usually it is recommended to finely chop onions and tomatoes and cook them, but when you don’t have much time on your hands, you can caramelise onions and garlic at first, then add tomatoes. You don’t need to chop them finely, you can just chop them in bigger cubes. Once cooked, you can blend them in a blender. Add spices and paneer to the blended mixture along with some sesame seeds and fresh cream. This gives your gravy a creamy flavour. And just like that, you’re done with your main.

You can always add some coarse ground spices to your plain rice and turn it into a pulao. Added veggies are definitely a bonus. Having time on your hands makes it possible for you to go for Biryani. The recipe isn’t as complicated as you think. Biryani requires patience. You need to cook the base (paneer or meat) first, with caramelised onions and add all the right spices in it’s whole form. Then you have to layer it with rice and meat portions and garnish. The best part about Biryani is the effort put on cooking the meat. It needs to marinated first and then cooked. The marination makes it succulent and juicy, just the way everyone likes it. No wonder, Biryani is everyone’s favourite dish.

For the sides, you can make veg or non-veg kababs. You will require minced paneer and potatoes for veg kababs and minced chicken for non-veg kababs. You need to add kabab masala to it to give it flavours instead of adding individual spices. Fry them until golden brown and serve them with chutney. They will also play the role of appetisers. For desserts, you can serve ice cream. It will be the perfect end for your impromptu feast.