Small dinner party - indian - dishes and recipes?
I thnk the simplest quickest curries are those using on-the-bone chicken. Madhur Jaffrey has several which start with sizzling whole spices (cardamon-cinnamon-peppercorn-cloves-bay leaf, then may involve adding in stages onion garlic-ginger paste, the chicken and yogurt and/or tomato sauce. As I say, they go from really simple to more complex, but all are relatively quick (unlike meat curries) and can be prepared ahead. Raita is simple - either with tomato-cucumber-cilantro, with a add-in of sizzled oil/ghee with a bit of asafoetida, mustard seeds, whole cumin seed and chopped green chiles or one we enjoy, cooked potatoees crumbled and sauteed with the aforesaid sizzled ingredients and onion, and mixed into the yogurt, with some chopped cilantro. I like particularly the veg - cabbage and onions or frenched green beans - sauteed with the sauteed mustard seed, asafoetida and cumin and then blended with a mix of grated fresh coconut and chopped cilantro. Even easier is a simple sautee of shredded cabbage and onions in oil (slivered chiles at your discretion) flavored with a sizzled tsp. of panch phoron (5 spice mix of equal quantities of cumin, black mustard, fennel, fenugreek and nigella (blqack mustard seed) . After the inital sauteeing, add sprinkles of salt, a bit of sugard, cover and cook til tender - it should still be crisp - garnish with some cilantro and you are done. Some rice pilaf is good - sautee some whole spices and onions in butter or oil, then the rice a bit before adding the water, and add a few green peas and some cilantro garnish at the end and your guests will be impressed.
