Catering for many

Morning Glory said:
That's what is needed but I can't imagine @karadekoolaid has such things at his son's house.
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Back home in Caracas, I've got 4, 35 lt stainless steel pots, but...
I'm not there, so I have to improvise.
The chickpeas are ready, so I put them in the "chafing dish" receptacles and now they're safely nestling in the fridge.
Aubergines/eggplants tomorrow, then chicken on Thursday. All in order so far; and the things I didn't get to buy in the supermarket today, DIL ordered online nad they arrived about 10pm. YESSSSSS!
 
rascal said:
Cup day here i put up 2 3x3 mtre gazebos and we eat pick all day.
We usually have 15 to 25 over 6 hrs.
Club sammys
Sausage rolls and savouries
Leg of ham glazed with buns at 6pm.
It's a good day here.

Russ
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Sounds nice. We don't have level ground in our yard, it's sloped and it's pretty much a forest of trees with no room for gazebos.
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karadekoolaid said:
Next Saturday, the little fella (ie. my youngest grandson, 1½ yrs old) is getting baptised. 2 of my son's best friends decided to join in the fun, so there are going to be 3 littluns baptised.
I knew before I'd even arrived that the food was going to be my responsibility, so no big deal; I was more concerned about the logisitics, especially as I had no idea how many people might turn up. Once I arrived, it was "about 30", but that figure has now increased to about 50, including kids.
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So how did it all go? Any photos?
 
I got everything done, except the rice, by Friday lunchtime. Then people started arriving and it was a beer here, a beer there, off to the park with the kids...by 10pm, I was frazzled, so I went to bed and thought "Sod it - it's going to work out tomorrow"
It did. Made the rice as soon as we got back from the baptism and put it in a warm oven. Warmed up the samosas, vadas, sausage rolls; got some help from a couple who'd worked in catering; made some blue cheese sauce for the shortbread and the cheddar twists, thinned out the tamarind sauce for the samosas & vadas. While everyone was noshing that, I was heating up the tikka masala and the aubergines in the oven (wife said it wouldn't work - I know better; it did). Heated up the chickpea curry on the stove and added fresh tomatoes, more garam masala and a whole bunch of cilantro. Made a bowl of raita. Everything was served at the same time, HOT, with tamarind, mango , beetroot chutneys and a spicy hot pickle I made with chiles & garlic. Took 2½ hours, but then I joined the party, which went on well into the night. Sat down with a fat cigar and a single malt and said to myself: "yep, you've still got it in you!"
Photos were taken by one of the guests who has promised to send me the photos tomorrow or Wednesday.
3 couples didn't show up , so there was plenty left over, which we partly consumed on Sunday.
Mission accomplished. I'm knackered and just want to get home to rest. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
karadekoolaid said:
I got everything done, except the rice, by Friday lunchtime. Then people started arriving and it was a beer here, a beer there, off to the park with the kids...by 10pm, I was frazzled, so I went to bed and thought "Sod it - it's going to work out tomorrow"
It did. Made the rice as soon as we got back from the baptism and put it in a warm oven. Warmed up the samosas, vadas, sausage rolls; got some help from a couple who'd worked in catering; made some blue cheese sauce for the shortbread and the cheddar twists, thinned out the tamarind sauce for the samosas & vadas. While everyone was noshing that, I was heating up the tikka masala and the aubergines in the oven (wife said it wouldn't work - I know better; it did). Heated up the chickpea curry on the stove and added fresh tomatoes, more garam masala and a whole bunch of cilantro. Made a bowl of raita. Everything was served at the same time, HOT, with tamarind, mango , beetroot chutneys and a spicy hot pickle I made with chiles & garlic. Took 2½ hours, but then I joined the party, which went on well into the night. Sat down with a fat cigar and a single malt and said to myself: "yep, you've still got it in you!"
Photos were taken by one of the guests who has promised to send me the photos tomorrow or Wednesday.
3 couples didn't show up , so there was plenty left over, which we partly consumed on Sunday.
Mission accomplished. I'm knackered and just want to get home to rest. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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Well done! It all sounds splendid.

The one thing I am curious about is how (elsewhere) you mentioned your son and his family ate meat all the time and didn't like your vegetarian/indian food. I assume that might apply to a lot of the guests - so did anyone remark about the lack of meat?
 
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Morning Glory said:
did anyone remark about the lack of meat?
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Nope. In fact, many people said they loved the chickpeas, and the aubergine dish. They've always enjoyed my
Indian food (we've had several dinners here) and they probably prepare and eat meat more because it's easier to cook. Just chuck it on the grill.I think they loved everything because it was all home-made, too. I see far too much commercially prepared food here.
 
Photos arrived at last!
Here are the appetizers - called pasapalos in Venezuela. I sent out a plateful of pappadums first, with a yoghurt chutney. Then there were some shortbreads and Cheddar cheese straws with a blue cheese dip - no-one got a photo of that because they were wolfed down in record time.
Samosas went next, with a tamarind chutney, followed by mini sausage rolls, with a mustard/honey dip, and finally vadas (which are the Indian version of falafel,made with split peas) .The other guy with me was my helper; he'd worked for a catering company about 6-7 years ago, so that was a godsend.
Baptism Papadums.jpg
Baptism samosas.jpg
Baptism sausage rolls.jpg
Baptism Vadas.jpg
Baptism Me & Juanchi.jpg
 
And finally, a closer look at the main dishes. Chicken tikka masala, spiced chickpeas, Hyderbadi aubergines/eggplant with coconut, peanuts, tamarind, raw sugar and a hefty load of spices, and basmati rice - 3 kilos of it. The presentation and decoration could have been a lot better, had I had another few minutes, but everyone was hungry.
Baptism tikka masala 2.jpg
Baptism chickpeas 2.jpg
Baptism aubergines Hyderabad.jpg
Baptism basmati.jpg
Baptism everyone together.jpg
 
Just for the record: 2 pkts puff pastry and 1 kg sausage meat; 80 samosas,80 vadas, 100 Cheese straws, 70 shortbreads, 6 packets of papadums. 4 kgs basmati, 3 kilos aubergine/eggplant, 3 packets dried chickpeas, 8 kgs chicken, 3 kgs yoghurt.
1 lt tamarind paste for the chutney, and 2kgs fresh mangoes, plus 300 gms Thai finger chiles and 4 heads of garlic. Yum!
 
karadekoolaid said:
And finally, a closer look at the main dishes. Chicken tikka masala, spiced chickpeas, Hyderbadi aubergines/eggplant with coconut, peanuts, tamarind, raw sugar and a hefty load of spices, and basmati rice - 3 kilos of it. The presentation and decoration could have been a lot better, had I had another few minutes, but everyone was hungry. View attachment 131254View attachment 131251View attachment 131253View attachment 131252View attachment 131256
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I'm really impressed karadekoolaid. Superb!
 
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