When you invite your guests over for dinner.....

I am sure most of the women would agree with me on this one-the amount of thought we put into "What do i prepare for my guests". Cooking itself is not half as tiring as coming up with a menu tailored specifically for your guests. I have come up with this one simple formula(which does not necessary always apply or work for you ;))...I am a South Indian,,If your guests are from the north of India..chances are they would love to taste your South Indian specialities,however if you want to prepare North Indian food then you better be very good at it(better than them) or be ready to subject your food to Critics' comments. On the other hand if your guests are from the South, they do not necessarily always prefer North Indian Cuisine over South Indian . Now things get interesting, being an Indian, I think it is unfair to divide the cuisine to South/North, as every region has its own specialities, which gives us more options, so let your guests try out something specific to your hometown/native region, I am sure they will appreciate the effort and ask you for the recipe;)...translation-your dish is a HIT!!!!!

Yesterday night i had a couple of friends and their parents over for dinner. Most of them are Originally from Rajhasthan. My menu was simple but had three elements to it (South, Regional and common)....Idli and Sambhar, which is a well known and loved 'SOUTH' Indian food even among the North Indians......Bisibelebath (Curried Lentil and rice) which is specific to the Bangalore/Mysore region...and Udina Vade ( Lentil fritters in Karnataka) also known as Mendhu Vada in the north, this was my safe bet as it is prepared both in the North and the South. My guests enjoyed the dinner, my menu was a success, I am a happy person.

When I am the guest, I relish my Friends' Rajasthani/Gujrati/Andhra/Madras cuisine...thats the best part about being an Indian...the variety of food is amazing!...a get-together always ends up in exchanging recipe notes over the dinner table:)