PSquared

So...you're home, someone calls and says they're five minutes away and are just dropping by to say HI.

I need your quickest recipes for simple food or finger food that can be whipped up in a short amount of time to take care of a last minute guest.

redvelvet

Hey Reha!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, keep your pantry stock for emergency situations like these with cookies, mixed nuts, etc.

And for desi food, you can freeze shami kababs and fry them up a few minutes before guests come. Doesn't take long. And you can buy things like nimko and frozen ras malai for last minute visits. Or ready made frozen samosas.

Okay....recipes. Hmmmm. Take strawberries. Make a deep vertical and horizontal slit in them...like a cross...but don't go all the way. Open up the slit and fill with whipped cream. Makes for a nice presentation. Like this:
http://lovestoeat.files.wordpress.co...1/p2010025.jpg

Take dates...take the seed out....spoon whipped cream in the date and add an almond. Do this with several dates.

Mix some yogurt in a bowl until it's smooth. Take a can of chick peas, drain fluid, and add them to the yogurt. Take two medium potatoes and bake em in the micorwave. Most microwaves have a function for baking potatoes. It's MUCH quicker than boiling. Dice the potatoes in smaller pieces, dice up a medium tomato, and small onion......add to yogurt. Add salt, chilli powder, garam masala. And you have your yogurt chaat!

Fruit salad? Just take one of every fruit you have and dice it up in a bowl. Drizzle with juice, sugar, and chaat masala.

Sandwiches.....make cucumber sandwiches.

Niksik

hmmmm,

canned chickpeas chaat
fruit salad
aloo kababs
if you have frozen shami kebabs, fish sticks, egg rolls, fry those up
besan halwa (takes 10 mins)
pakorey (especially if you have a deep frier)
mixed chaat (with aloo tikkis, yogurt, chickpeas and chutneys that we usually have in stock)
sandwiches
thaw chicken breast, grill it and make bite size tikka type deal
deviled eggs

ManoRani

KYA? 10 minute ka Halwa? How did you achieve this jaadugar

ManoRani

Those are all great ideas. If they are bringing kids over, here are a few other finger foods:

Pigs in a blanket: Take chicken franks hot dogs, cut them in half and roll them up in pillsbury crescent dough with a half slice of american cheese, bake at 350 degrees for 10 mins and it'll be poofy and crispy and cheesy, kids love them

Keema ki patties: Buy a packet of Philo puff pastry sheets, cut them in half, pinch two sides closed to make a pocket and fill it with bhunna wa keema and bake for 10 mins at 350 degrees

Quick dessert:
Take out a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream and mix it until it becomes smooth, add in fresh berries, strawberry, rasberry, etc, spoon into individual cups and top with strawberry jam and whip cream

Home made french fries: Cut up a few potatos and fry them! Top with salt and chaat masala



When people are showing up on the spot I prefer the baking items rather than the frying because with baking you just prep and toss it in the oven and go get ready, where as with frying you must stand there and toy around with it, etc, and it makes the house smell like ghee and you start sweating standing next to the stove blah

Kinzz

yes she is right..it takes 10 to 15

RupayHalwa

Cheese and Crackers, very simple really.

RupayHalwa

A very handy tip that everyone can benefit from, freeze keema inside a plastic bag which is flattened inside a small plastic tray. You can remove from the tray when frozen. For an amazingly quick defrost in your moment of need, just drop the bag into a large bowl of hot water and hey presto, keema quickly ready to cook for an unexpected guest.

Same can be done with boneless chicken chopped into tikka pieces. A quick chicken karahi with pilau rice.

same

lol @ cheese & crackers,

yaar RH kissi din app kai ghar kabhi mehmaan nahi aya ga..lol j/k

AnGeL EyEs

keep shaami kabobs and samosas in the freezer always.

keep alu on hand...you can make alu cutlets...if u have tuna cans you can make tuna/alu cutlets or you can make alu bhoojia/tarkari and serve that with puriyaan. you can also make alu ki tayari (alu with rice).

chickpeas for chaat

fruits for fruit chaat/fruit salad

chicken pieces for tikkas- you can have this already prepared, marinated and frozen so when u need it u just take it out of the freezer and grill. I dont recommend leaving anything in the freezer for more then a week tho...it loses it's taste IMO.

ground beef for seekh kabobs

always keep teas, coffees, cookies, nuts on hand.

whip up some raita and chutney to go with some of the above ideas.

all of the above are very easy to make and wont take much time.

RupayHalwa

Always keep caviar in the fridge, and champagne in the cellar.

Aliyish

Hire a chef

Sara516

Or just pretend ur not home

Kinzz

^ hahaha...and if they give u surprise and bell at ur door ?:P

Sara516

ppl who drop by unexpectedly, shouldn't be expecting food or anything really. they should be hapy for my company.
But hey that's just me

maroush

If they're coming by just to say 'hi' as you said, then tea/coffee/espresso with pastries, cakes/biscuits etc should be enough... but knowing our fellow desis.. dropping by to say hi usually turns into 'i can spare another couple of hours'

so i always have 'niblets' that i have prepared from before and frozen especially for these 'occasions' like samosas, kebabs, stuffed filo pastries, popcorn chicken etc that i can just put in the oven and as we're health freaks in our house, we have plenty of fruits and veggies, so i prepare a fruit platter, and crudités made out of the veggies... we always have chaat and a variety of home made dips etc in the fridge so i serve them...... and i pray to allah that that is enough and they don't stay any longer, cos i can't prepare saalan etc in a limited time ...but if they do stay for longer i hope and pray that the hubby comes home early enough for him to cook

PSquared

Ladies, these are ALL actually pretty cool ideas!!! I had no clue there were so many ways to minimize my prep time...wow. And most of you all suggested shami kabobs...interesting and makes a lot of sense too. Im making a grocery list as I go along so I know what to get and have a separate shelf simply for guest food now.

RV...those strawberries looked so damn good, I KNOW Im making those as a summer desserts in little cups!!! And that chat recipe is getting filed also as my backup plan! Good stuff woman...

Okay, so Ive got a few questions for some of our guppans here:

Nikki, how on earth do you make ten minute halwa??? That sounds awesome! Please tell me... Thank you!!!!
Aloo tikkis are cutlets, right?

Mano, that dessert is definitely making an appearance soon...thank you!

Thank you for the input people, keep the ideas coming! This is great!

AnGeL EyEs

yes they are.

chips6

as others said...kababs are a life saver...
I always have some form of them in the freezer....

another thing I almost always have on hand is dahi bhallay...I make the bhallas(that is fry them) and then store them in ziplock bags,....when needed I just take them out and add to boiling water and add to yogurt with boiled potatoes and the garnishing etc....

another thing I like to make if someone is coming over just to say HI,is something of the sorts of crackers and cheese....but I cut up some bread into squares,put cheese,tomatoes,cucumbers,and boiled eggs and garnish with cilantro...its always been liked by any kids who come over....

other than that,cookies and nuts etc are something I guess we all have on hand for times like these...

Sajalina

Nope they aren't.


Cutlets are actually made when shredded chicken is stuffed inside aaloo kababs or so I hear.