Cooking for a large group 3x day for over a week. Recipe help please!

[Anonymous]

Indian American here. Indians love pizza. Have that a lot. Order it sometimes and make it at home — I use the thin whole wheat ready to bake think crust from Whole Foods.

Indian also like Mediterranean. Order from Lebanese Taverna or Moby Dick.

Every relative has LOVED Burmese food — order the “room
temperature” dishes. They also like Thai and Chinese.

The Frontera Grill sauces at the grocery store are really good. Get rotisserie chicken, tortillas, cheese, and the green sauce and you can make great enchiladas very fast. You can do a tray of plain cheese too, or sauté some spinach for spinach and cheese. Have some hot sauce on the side so they can spice it up. I also bake it with scallions and add chopped fresh tomatoes afterwards.

You have very unusual relatives if they aren’t helping you cook and clean— at least the women. Even the men from my dad’s generation (80 years old) regularly help with the clean up. And my 78-year old mother would do a ton of the cooking in this situation. Paper plates is a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an Indian American who is used to this scenario; if you aren’t used to cooking large quantities of Indian veg food then don’ start now. Enlist the visiting relatives to help but only if they are used to cooking back home and/or get food catered and purchase staples like frozen rotis and a big bag of rice.

Totally agree with this. Go to a South Asian or Arab store. They have all the spices you’ll need. Ask MIL and DH which ingredients to get. If your MIL is used to flavorful Indian veg food, I understand why she wouldn’t want salad. I’d even consider getting big trays of Indian veg takeout. If you’re not used to cooking Indian food, it’s hard to replicate with such short notice. It requires simmering and getting the spice mix right.

For breakfast, I’d have plenty of savory and sweet options in the fridge and let them go to town. And maybe get some good naan too in case they like to eat naan with eggs (or piratha).

Make sure you have tea and some biscuits would be a nice touch. Any sort of tasty tea biscuits from the South Asian or Arab stores. Maybe rusk (a mildly sweet, stiff biscuit designed for dipping in tea) and some kind of cookies with jam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, you need to have an honest conversation with your DH about what his family will eat. I am Indian American. I have relatives in India who eat everything and some who are vegetarian and also don’t eat onion or garlic. Some who are fine with any cuisine and others who only like South Indian food. So, for them the PPs suggestion of aloo gobi etc would not work, even if it seems like it should to most people. I would say that even my flexible Indian relatives get tired of non-Indian food after a couple days. So if you are trying to make them feel comfortable, I would talk to your husband about whether they will enjoy Mediterranean, pancakes etc. After two days, that would mostly be a waste for my family (although pizza, pasta, and Mexican are more popular than other non-Indian foods).

Also, make it a group effort. It seems like you aren’t Indian. They don’t expect you to have perfected everything. So meal plan with them once they get here. And I can’t tell you how many times I have been talking and gossiping with family as we cooked - each person cutting vegetables etc. etc. Make it a fun part of the trip together. You don’t have to cover this by yourself, although you wil need to take the lead. Good luck!

Good points. If I handed my Punjabi relatives or Pathan friends a dosa (which are delicious) they’d be like “wut?” But aloo Gobi or chicken or biryani would make sense.

[Anonymous]

Are you just going to be sitting around your house all day with them? How many meals will you really need to cook?

[Anonymous]

Hi OP- if you’re still checking here, you could make and freeze a few pans of veggie lasagna to serve with bagged salad and bread. Either a red-sauced based lasagna or a white cream sauce base that actually works well with crumbled paneer as the cheese layer, believe it or not!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[code]

My husband’s family is visiting from overseas for 3 weeks over the summer.
We will probably travel half the time but while they are staying with us, I need to feed them.

I’m used to cooking for 5 people but now it will be 12 people and that’s very different.
Also, my husband’s mother is strictly vegetarian but won’t eat salads, veggie burgers or tofu among other things. She typically eats her own cooking - Indian food. I will likely have to make her food separately too.
That’s another issue because she won’t eat chick peas and all my Indian food recipes are with chicken or chick peas.

But for the rest of the group who eat anything but red meat - any recipes that work for large groups???
Breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas

I’ll make my homemade macaroni and cheese for kids and large salads to have on hand along with sandwich supplies. Maybe a French toast casserole one morning and sometimes they will have eggs/toast or cereal and fruit.

But I’m overwhelmed by this. I’m a decent cook but I get nervous trying new recipes for other people so I’m going to start experimenting soon.

Any easy meal recipes appreciated since I’m likely shopping, planning, cooking and cleaning alone.

For that many people and for that length of a visit why would you be cooking and cleaning on your own? No ma’am! This is where they need to step up and help out with the cleaning and cooking. No wonder you feel overwhelmed that’s a lot of people to be a servant to.

[Anonymous]

Are their arms broken?

[Anonymous]

Lol, no. I’m Indian and so are my in-laws. When they visit they cook and feed ME all my favorites. As do my parents. I have a job to hold down and little kids to take care of. When they visit they better make my life easier and give me a break, otherwise they won’t get to visit anymore! You should make this your expectation as well, and make it crystal clear to your DH and ILs.

I do agree on stocking up a little. Get a shopping list from MIL ahead of time and go to the Indian store to fulfill it (at least the dry goods). While you’re at the store, ask if there are any local ladies who cater out of their home, so you can order a few curries for the first couple days until they’re over jet lag. Order any necessary cookware from Amazon or borrow from a local friend who has extra. Ideally get your DH to take on this mental load if he’s not a gigantic loser.

[Anonymous]

^ And really, don’t try to feed them “American” food. They will hate it, especially after jet lag. Order some dishes to tide you over the first day or two, and then put them to work.

[Anonymous]

OP. My family isn't Indian, but the general assumption from them is that Americans don't know how to cook. I would NOT assume that they expect you to be cooking lots of meals for them. Your husband knows them best and should be able to help you plan this one -- he should be asking them what ingredients you should have on hand for home-cooked indian vegetarian meals that the group can make together. He should ask them what types of non-indian food they may want to have while here -- pizza, burgers, etc... so you can plan take-out nights.

[Anonymous]

Crockpot recipes. Pork shoulder with bbq sauce and then just put out rolls. There are lots of crockpot recipes that may help. Also posta salad with lots of veggies and chicken in it so it’s more of a meal. Good luck. And your husband needs to help.