Curry for a large group - I don't want to give them food poisoning!

[happypotter]

I live in the US and I'm attempting to wow my neighbours by throwing a Jubilee party.

Since we moved in, we've had a birthday party at home with lots of sandwiches, quiche etc, most of it left uneaten. During our Boxing Day party, I got in a bit of a tizz heating up all of the party food at the right time and trying to keep guests out of our very small kitchen. As you can tell, I'm not really the hostess with the 'mostess'.

So for the Jubilee party, I have decided to cook a chicken curry for the adults. My thinking is I can cook a large batch in advance then reheat. But there's my worry, if the party is at 4pm on the Sunday, should I cook the curry on Saturday and reheat it? My friend has offered use of one of those tabletop things that keeps food warm, but am I right in thinking that if I cook the curry Saturday, then reheat on Sunday, then keep in the food warmer, then I'm likely to give everyone food poisoning?? I'm thinking about having the food about 6ish.

Any ideas on how best to organise this, seeing as I want to impress the neighbours and our new friends, not make them ill!!

Thanks in advance.

Cook the curry Sat a and let it go cold. Curry flavour improves with time so put it in the fridge and microwave fresh, in batches if necessary. Rice can grow nasty stuff if kept so cook fresh or serve with bought naan or chapatis. To jazz it up, serve raita, chutnies, chapatis salad etc. maybe use the warmer for a short time once it's really hot.

As the poster above said, the flavor of the curry will improve if you leave it over night.

If I do curry I make it the day before, put the pot with a lid on in a sink full of cold water and keep stirring it - this cools it quicker, you can put it in the fridge quicker and less chance of poisoning anyone

Iirc, the spices keep the meat from going bad anyway so it will be fine

Forgot to add - do the same thing with the rice - cook it the day before, cool it quickly and get it in the fridge.

Reheat when needed in the microwave

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely cook on the Saturday then.

So, I need to try and cool it quickly.

Not sure why but it didn't occur to me to reheat in the microwave. There's going to be about 20 adults so I'm guessing I'll have to do loads.

I assume that I would use the warmer when it's really hot after being reheated, so that it doesn't go cold again after being in the microwave.

Sorry, I know this all sounds so stupid but I'm not used to cooking for large groups in advance. Thank you so much!

Why not do coronation chicken, deliberatly served cold and do salads etc with it, bread etc??

Ooh coronation chicken!!! Brilliant idea. That sounds easier to manage too. I'll have a look for a recipe and see what I think. I'm hopeless in the kitchen and curry is about the only thing I'm good at. Thanks.

Your chicken curry should be fine so long as it's heated to REALLY hot & then not kept hanging about - I wouldn't use the warmers.

What I've done when cooking for large groups is to cook ahead of time, cool quickly (pan in cold water in sink is a good idea!), & then tub - use things like old ice cream tubs to store in the fridge in batches.

Then heat on the day ensuring you use a pan with a decent sized base & bring as many tubs as you need to a simmer, making sure the pan's simmering away for a good 10 minutes before you serve anyone.

If you are serving different people at different times, keep a few tubs back in the fridge, then use another pan to heat them when needed.

(I'd do a veggie curry tbh, much safer!)

As for rice, I'd definitely cook that for when you need it, or if you'll be too busy, buy the frozen sort you can microwave.

I do freeze &/or reheat individual portions of rice if I cook too much, but reheating a massive pan of it is always going to be dodgy - it'll be brewing all manner of nasties in that nice warm mass, & you can't be sure you'll get it hot enough all the way through to blitz them.

I'd forget about rice for a big group tbh. The coronation chicken is a great idea!

If you do Coronation chicken and still want rice, how about doing a rice salad?

Coronation chicken perfect for Jubilee celebrations! It's what we're planning anyway. You doing proper trifle for pud too?!

Trifle!!!! Another great idea! This is my first time hosting for a large group, I don't even cook for dinner parties. Maximum guests will be 24 adults and 23 children. I want them to be super impressed with their new english neighbour!!!

So the current menu stands as:

coronation chicken
rice salad
regular salad
baguettes

trifle
jelly and ice cream

Cockadoodle do you have a tried and tested coronation chicken recipe?