Book Excerpt: How To Host A Party Like A Star This Diwali

Excerpted from ‘Party Like A Star’, By Shilarna Vaze, with permission from Penguin Random House.

Laughter filters out of the main door and down to the entrance of your building. Your friends or family recognize the loudest laughter as yours. They have brought their speciality, whether it’s dessert, salad or pickle. The conversation is warm, full of memories and nostalgia, and everyone makes fun of everyone else. Someone gets up and puts on your favourite songs, the ones you used to listen to in college, which, of course, means everyone has to get up and start dancing as they sing along (totally off-key). You have rustled up your mum’s famous mutton curry because you know the guest of honour loves it, or your husband has decided that the men need burgers and has set up a small BBQ on the balcony (which he promptly puts his best friend in charge of). You have put out a platter of dips and chips, and maybe one or two homemade starters. When it’s time to eat, you have help without needing to ask. The food is simple and delicious, the drinks are flowing, and there is no ice that needs to be broken and no introductions that need to be made. Everyone loves everybody else and at the end of the night, you turn to your partner and say ‘what a sweet evening’ and sleep with a smile on your face, knowing that you are loved and supported.

As idyllic as the description above sounds, let’s face it: we don’t always get along with everyone in our family and neither are all our friends so well-behaved and accommodating. But hey, we love them anyway. This is the gang that comes over often, doesn’t expect much and leaves when you tell them to. They also do as they are told when it comes to bringing food, helping with the dishes, clearing up the table, etc.

The idea is to not mix gangs when it comes to small parties. There aren’t enough people to mingle and mix and if you invite one couple that doesn’t know any of the others (who are falling over laughing remembering your first trip to Goa in 1999), they might feel left out.

This is, however, a good time to mix old friends and family Some of my college and school friends come and hang out with my mum even when I’m not in town. Involving a couple of generations of friends and family is always a good idea, especially if there are children around. The oldies can’t resist hanging out with the younger ones. They are usually amazing cooks and you’ll be glad to have the delicious dish they bring along.

In your matchbox-sized living room! Or even your bedroom (the AC works better there). Or in front of the biggest screen in your house. You can pick any place where you can all sit on the floor and play monopoly.

It’s usually a given that the oldest, youngest and greediest will sit at the table and eat their dinner. The others can make do with standing around. Therefore, food that is easy to eat with a fork or your hands works perfectly. The number is small enough for you to open up your bedroom if required (expect chips on your bed and black paw marks in your bathrooms) for additional seating, eating and napping. You know all the guests well enough that you can send them out or up on the terrace to smoke.

Usually, there is one friend’s house that is larger than the others. Most of our core group’s hangouts happen in my bestie’s garden (a rare bungalow in Bandra). What helps is that everyone gets drinks and pays for food that is ordered from outside, and contributes in some way or the other.

A huge point to be noted for this kind of entertaining is KISS. (Keep It Simple, Stupid). The last thing you want is your loud and hangry friends walking in the door claiming they’re ravenous (why didn’t you have a snack before coming then?), as you are slogging away in your hot kitchen, looking sweaty and harrowed while you hear uproarious laughter from the other room and miss all the latest goss on that chick you all love to hate on Instagram.

Don’t do it.

Make one-pot dishes like biryani or khao suey. Enlist the help of friends, especially when it comes to their own children’s food and entertainment.

Ask your mom to send across her signature dish.

Sort out dips and easy-to-prepare snacks that can be served as soon as people enter to give you a breather while you prepare the main course.

Asian and Indian food work really well here: they are usually curry-based, can be made in advance and just need to be heated.

As you go through your menu, make sure that you have only one or two dishes that need to be cooked during the party.

If you’re one of those enthusiasts who can pull off just about everything from cocktails to breads and desserts, plan your menu around these special items and remember, your guests are not expecting a five-star hotel spread.

Snacks and dips are always a great idea (especially for those forever hungry types), and also things you can prep for in advance.

Mains should ideally be things that you can just assemble or heat up when the time comes, with maybe one item max to be made last minute (such as a fish dish).

Plan to begin cooking or ‘prepping’, as we call it, at least two–three days in advance. Break down each dish into parts: for example, lamb parsundi.

If your party is on a Saturday, you can shop for most of your ingredients (except for things like herbs, salad vegetables and fruits) on Thursday. You can also make the basic masala and grate the coconut required for coconut milk. On Friday night, you can make the actual lamb gravy, especially if your party is a lunch. On the day of the event, you can just plop it into a baking dish, crack some eggs on top and bake.

The same rules apply to a salad—you can make the dressing and croutons on day one, roast vegetables and cut cheese on day two and wash the lettuce and tomatoes on day three (always serve the salad dressing separately if it’s a leafy salad).

The night before the party, check thoroughly for things you might need to buy fresh the next day, such as veggies, bread and ice. This will also help you check if you haven’t forgotten anything (oh damn, I need saffron for the biryani!) and pay attention to things that you are running out of (this spinach became rather small after I cooked it!).

Have at least one or two people who aren’t cooking to help with collecting all the forgotten stuff as well as to take care of setting up of the table and outside area.

These kinds of parties are all about the comfort of home. Hiring a professional bartender might be a great idea for any party for over twenty-five people, but in this category, it will probably just cramp your style.

The husband’s signature Bloody Marys or your famous white wine sangria will do the trick, as will just a well-stocked bar with the basics—a good bottle of red, a smoky single malt, local rum for the hardcores, lots of ice-cold beer and maybe a nimbu pani that’s the speciality of the house. Check off glasses, ice, bar equipment (ice bucket, tongs, stirrers), lots of small cloth napkins and coasters, and also storage in the fridge for drinks (remember, you might have some food that needs to be kept cool as well). You probably know the guests well enough to know what each drinks.

Tell that one person who drinks only Pinot Noir to get their own bottle!

Shilarna Vazé (Chef Chinu Vaze on Instagram and TV) is a chef, TV host, writer, influencer and mum. She runs a gourmet catering company, Gaia Gourmet, and was voted one of the fifty most influential people in the Indian food scene by Conde Nast Traveller. She also writes for several publications and blogs.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BloombergQuint or its editorial team.