Early Diwali dinner with friends last night, as I’ll be away for the actual holiday.
I made apps and dessert plus a cocktail syrup, my friend (who hosted) made the main and sides.
Cocktail: Festive Old Fashioneds (cardamom, ginger, caramel, pomegranate molasses)
Apps: Savory spiced mini cupcakes (handvo), Puff pastry and potato spirals.
Mains: Meatball biryani
Sides: Crunchy okra, boondi raita, kachumber (onion, tomato, chilli, cilantro).
Dessert: Yogurt Panna Cotta Tart
We had a lot of fun (especially after a couple of rounds of the cocktail, then remembering that a bottle of wine had been decanted with another one waiting…).
But… there were a few food misses. Rice for the biryani didn’t cook properly at first, then overcooked a bit and broke up, in which time the masala dried out more than it should have. Dessert (which turned out absolutely perfectly last week for another party) was over-gelled because I was afraid it wouldn’t set in a deeper tart and very slightly increased the gelatin.
Oh well. A very enjoyable evening overall, and my friend and I both got to experiment with new dishes which we’ll continue to work on, even though they didn’t turn out exactly as we had hoped this time.
