Contest Time, Friends - Dinner for Americans!

Dear Sharada,
congratulations to you on winning the contest. I would say, we have both thought about somewhat on the same line. But I was not sure about Americans sitting on the floor and eating-even many Indians find it hard nowadays- .
Your idea of the dance and carnatic music recital is really tops. I am sure your guests would be bowled completely over, if and when you give the party. Congrats again.
And here is my entry.


Dear Malathy,
I am now ready to give a Dinner to the Americans.I have planned according to the knowledge I have of them.
THE FRONT YARD
On the front yard, I have drawn a large kolam-with white kola mavu and brick red borders. The kolam is a padi kolam, drawn for special occasions.I draw the kolams well, so I have chosen that.
THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE HOUSE
On both sides of the entrance, there are two tall brass lamps, Kerala style. They are placed on decorative brass plates, which are on identical, colorful rangolis. This way, the rangolis will not be walked on and will stay intact.
On the one end of the verandah, I have placed earthern pots of various sizes and shapes, some painted and some worked on- all done by me.
The door frame has a beautiful Aari thoran, embroidered by me- with white background and other dark colours and mirrors. There are also strings of birds with beads and small bells on both the door frames.
WELCOMING THE GUESTS
The guests face a small table as they enter. I have placed sandal paste on small silverware and also a panneer chombu- to spray panneer on the guests. It has beautiful workmanship, an antique piece also. The guests will smear a little of the sandal paste on their foreheads.
THE DRAWING ROOM
In the drawing room, I have placed thick mattresses for my guests to sit on. They are covered with bright Rajasthani printed sheets. I have also thrown cushions, with matching covers- all ethnic designs.
I have placed a large brass uruli with sweet smelling flowers floating in water. I am not floating candles, they may take up the oxygen and cause difficulty to the guests. Instead, I have floated small silver lamps in decorative silver plates in a corner. The lamps will burn with ghee.
On the corner of the drawing area, there are small brass items like gindi (pot with spout), hand lamp etc. Also there is a terracotta lamp shade hanging from the ceiling on another corner.
Incense sticks are giving out a mild fragrance.
THE DINING ROOM
A beautiful brass lamp is hanging from the ceiling on the way to the dining room. The dining table is laid with the goodies. I shall come to there later.
WELCOME DRINK
I am about to serve light masala tea to the guests in small earthern cups, as the weather is cold. No snacks, they may lose their appetite.
DINNER MENU
The dinner menu consists of :-
crisp ulundu vadais ,
Colorful veg.oothappam,
potato paratha,
phulka rotis,
sambhar,
coconut chutney,
paneer butter masala,
navratna kurma,
dal makhani,
milagai podi with gingeli oil,
coconut rice,
lemon rice,
chepankizhangu fry,
vengaya vadams,
Appalams
Curd idlis
Kadalaparuppu kosmalli
Pomegranate boondi raita
Dessert-
Warm Semiya payasam
Hot Lapsi halwa
Piping Pasiparuppu payasam with jaggery
Cut fruits.
I have cut banana leaves to the shape of the plates in which I am about to serve the food. The guests can help themselves to the food on the table first, then sit comfortably in chairs arranged in the dining area. I will go around with food to each one and serve the second helping according to their wishes. This way, I could give them an insight about the Indian cooking.
The dessert will be served in the drawing area, with guests relaxing after a sumptuous meal. Once they have enjoyed the party, and are getting ready to leave, I shall give them small gifts.
The gifts will be things of utility, ethnic ones, which they will love. There are small embroidered purses, table mats, crochet runners, wall hangings and small figurines.
I am sure that the Americans would remember this dinner for a long time and cherish the gifts.
I hope you have enjoyed this dinner.
P.S. I have uploaded the photo of the aari toran which I embroidered, in the General Discussions forum- Hand embroideries Thread. Please see that also.

Dear Saradha,
Congratulations. Reading your entry I was mentally enjoying your party, so good is your expression. Looking forward to feedback on the party.
Dear Meenaprakash,
Your entry was lovely. The love, care and attention you have stressed isevident in your posts. I enjoyed it very much.
Dear varloo,
Your menu is lipsmacking.Be ready to host me!
Dear Vandana,
Your ideas are fine.Very well planned and organised
Regards,
Meenu

I am posting this on her behalf:


I would tell the way I prepare dinner for native Americans when they visit us. They know sambar more than you and me.
I would prepare sambar with less chilly and tamarind.It should not be very liquid. Consistency should be such that they would be able to use the spoon.Garnish with coriander leaves. They get excited by the colour of sambar and coriander leaves.I also keep few plain vada so that they can taste with sambar. At times instead of vada it is idli. when Dahi vada is prepared I make idli sambar .
Dahi Vada,pulao,Chole Baturae and sweet payasam'lastly fruit salad with ice-cream. I find many of them relish this combination.
We have hosted dinner for personal friends. not official diners.We keep the house clean but very unassuming manner.They too love to be informal and behave without any inhibition.
WE are strict teetotallers. Hence instead of hot drinks we offer fresh fruit juice. They also like slightly bitter orange juice. My husband observed this at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City></st1:place> airport.(one American commented "You are lucky. U get evrything fresh"
Before meal why not serve hot potato stew as appetisers. This can be followed by serving the dinner. Keep the menu with a small note(name of the dish,ingredients) to quench theit curiosity about our dihes. They prefer self service after getting a small brief about each item. So no need to worry about the sequence except for sweet dishes.Some enjoy HOT FILTER COFFEE after dinner.Many prefer black coffee.As they leave why not give a token ssymbolic of our culture. They appreciate small items which can be packed and carried easily. Give me your suggestion and comment. Kanaka

Dear Sharada,

Accept my hearty congratulations for winning this much-coveted contest. To confess, Sharada, I am not even competent to read the contest entries, let alone assess them. But one thing is sure, when (if) I travel to the US I know a place where I can get the perfect food.

May you and yours always remain blessed.
sridhar

I am posting this on her behalf:

Dear all,
here with i want to share with u all,abt the party food for x'mas competition......
1 .welcome drink-masala tea,becoz here except indians,other people won't get nice tea.
2. Appetizer
onion & cashew pakora
3. sweets
carrot halwa,gulab jamun
4. Bread
puri,Naan
5. subji
panner butter masala,aloo,chenna masala
6. Rice
veg.pulav,briyani.
7. fruit & vegetable salad
8. cake & Icecream
Now for decorations:

to decorate the house,keep deep bowels in the center of the hall,place colourful fragrant flowers with water & light a candle.
keep our india photos in the hall,also play our classical,instrumental music,light agarbathis...
after having food,play some games for kids & also for adults like passing the ball,somebody have to sing,dance like that...for kids painting,drawing competitions,so they'll not disturb...
& finally small gifts for all,santa claus gift for all..
hope this idea will b good...

Imp.note: all the items should be very less hot,becoz Americans & kids can't eat hot & spicy food.
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I am posting this on her behalf:

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Let us imagine, it is an Indian family, living in the U S of A . ( This is, I am sure, very familiar to most of you ! ). You are inviting American friends including husband's colleagues, for dinner. You want to show them the best of Indian hospitality, but at the same time, make them feel comfortable and very much at ease. You want to make this a very memorable occasion for them. </PRE>

• </PRE>
• What is the welcome-drink you would like to offer them first ?</PRE>
• How do you decorate, rather arrange the drawing room and the dining room ?</PRE>
• How best can you present the dishes ?</PRE>
• How do you create a pleasant ambience, without too much of an American touch, but at the same time , keeping in mind that they must get admirable glimpses of our tradition !</PRE>
• What else can be part of the evening ?

I am not married and I've never been to US.</PRE>
But as a member of this great community, I am trying to give my ideas.I am from Andhra. So I'll tell u my style.</PRE>
</PRE>
Coming to the decoration part, I've so much interest in decorating the house, as at least twice in a week, I'll arrange all the room at my home. So, I'll do decorations with fresh flower vauses and mild smelled agar dhoop sticks. This will do a lot. Not much decoration is needed if we do these things first. Then arranging the sofas and chairs will bo common, but to make it different, I'll put some bright cushions with paintings on them. </PRE>
Then coming to the food, I'll make great Andhra avakaya and Gongura(green leaves one) pickle, then papads, etc. If I've to tell u the menu, brinjal stuffed curry, puliogare, and tasty sambar, etc. </PRE>
And finally serving can be done on the table with nice casserols arranging neatly.</PRE>
This is my idea to give a party to the people who dont know about our styles and culture. Means they are from different food habits and so certainly they'll wonder with these items.</PRE>
</PRE>
Plz let me know how u felt about it...</PRE>

Hello all,

Now that all the entries have been posted, I need to make special mention of two entry's that are the runner's up. Meena Prakash and Varloo, Both of you did such a great job, you gave us a hard time in coming up with a winner. We literally had to break our heads to come to a unanimous conclusion.

Great job both of you

Vandhana

Meenaprakash & Varloo,

Congratulations on being the runners up. Both your entries were almost there with your innovative ideas on planning the dinner. The judges had real tough time in deciding among the three of your entries.

All the best and look forward to your entries in the future contests.

Regards,
Malathy

Congratulations on being the runner up in this contest. I read your entry and must say that you have a very generous heart and giving nature. Your hospitality was grandiose. I shall inform you well in advance about my next visit to India and maybe you will invite me and I am sure I will be pampered by you:)

L, Kamla

Let me congratulate you for being a runner up in this contest. Your entry sounded really beautiful and you have taken utmost pains by creating everything yourself for your lucky guests. I am sure your rangolis will be a treat to see and your food sounded too good.

L, Kamla