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HELP! No pork, no beef - what can I cook for our Indian friends? They are staying a MONTH! Already breakfast was a problem...

71 replies

StarryStarryNight · 25/06/2007 14:09

I am so lost. We have friends staying from India for a whole month, and they dont eat pork and beef, and I am running low on dinner options. There is just so much I can do with chicken and lamb!

Also, they dont eat cereals and milk, and they are not keen on sandwiches, and so they had no idea what to eat for breakfast today, so ended up frying some eggs. Any ideas?

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StarryStarryNight · 25/06/2007 14:27

Lots of good ideas here, keep them coming!

I love the idea of chicken kebabs, could mix in with peppers and red onion. Served with rice.

I have a mean lamb and cabbage stew recipe somewhere, served with potatoes

But it will have to be a bit "give and take", will introduce them to jacket potatoes with tuna and cheese and baked beans and cheese fillings, I am sure they would like to try something they wouldnt really get at home. So will do cod fish cakes with salad and couscous too.

I also do a nice thai red curry which can either be with chicken or with salmon, I am sure they will love it.

They really liked the sweet and sour chicken with rice they got for supper last night.

WIll have to learn to cook with lentils!

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donnie · 25/06/2007 14:27

pizza?

StarryStarryNight · 25/06/2007 14:29

Desiderata, that was my husbands idea. They are his friends from work. I dont know them very well, he does. But guess who is doing the cooking, not hubby!

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StarryStarryNight · 25/06/2007 14:30

I guess I could rustle up the old vegetable pizza and a chicken pizza for a break!

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Desiderata · 25/06/2007 14:31

lol, why am I not surprised?

Well, good luck old bean! Keep us updated (if you've got the energy).

chopster · 25/06/2007 14:34

well the englush diet is totally different from indian, so it will eb a bit of a shock for them. Indians def don't do cereal with milk or bread much. Do you have indian grocers anywhere near you? You should be able to buy idli, or puris.

Typical Indian diet IME -

Breakfast -
Indian tea is essential and
sort of things like bombay mix, you can get all sorts of different ones.
or puris - little flakey flat breads that are deep fried, and lovely dipped into tea.
Or leftover bhajia dipped into tea.

Lunch -
bhajia, mogo, puris, parathas and pickle,
bhel puri, samosas, dhebra,

Dinner -
Curry Usually rice, chapaties, and one curry and maybe one dhal as well. If you do have any indian stores near you you can buy ready made spice mixes that have recipes on the back and are dead easy to make.

Dp is indian, so I make indian food a lot, mostly veggie. I have also adapted trad english food too though, so some ideas that might be worth trying -

pizza - every indian I have ever met loves pizza, but I've foudn veggie is preferred.
shepherds pie - replace the mince with quorn or chickpeas, and add some tabasco to the gravy.
Chilli con carne, with quorn mince.
spicy roast quicken - marinate in garlic, ginger, onion, chopped chillis, lemon, paprika, and olive oil for a few hours.
spag bol - make with lambs mince, or quorn, and put in lots of veg and add worcester sauce.
mushroom stroganoff - with tabasco added.
lasagne - made with black eyed beans and flaked chillis, and salsa instead of the tomato layer.
chicken with veg - Fry off finely chopped aubergines, courgettes, onions, peppers, cherry toms, in oil with chillis and garlic. flatten some chicken breasts, and layer over mozzarella and the veg mix, then bake til browned on top.

BettySpaghetti · 25/06/2007 14:34

Mediterranean roast veg with halloumi, serve with ciabatta

Mushroom Stroganoff

Mexican dishes like refried beans served in tortilla wraps with salsa etc

Various Pasta dishes -with tomato or creamy sauces, with either added meat, chick peas, butter beans, veg etc

If the weather is still chilly, homemade soups (esp lentil and veg) served with crusty bread

Judy1234 · 25/06/2007 15:22

It's a very important feminist principle that they never see a woman cooking for a start. So make last night the lsat time you cook. The men do it from now on and wait on you hand and foot. Then all will be well.

fuzzywuzzy · 25/06/2007 15:25

oh god, for breakfast, present them (or rather point them to the kettle) and give them a pack of biscuits, they can do tea and biscuits.

And if the lady does not know how to cook past onion bhajis and her husband has never stepped foot in the kitchen, who used to do the cooking at home, and why on earth did they leave the country without the cook????

snowleopard · 25/06/2007 15:26

Nice idea Xenia. I'm with you in principle. But if this was our house and I downed tools and told DP to do it, we would all, including visitors, be eating Ginsters pasties and baked beans with integral plastic pork sausages for a month.

You're still right, but i wouldn't have the heart...

MuminBrum · 25/06/2007 15:28

I am wondering if there is a StarryStarryTroll at work here?

Twiglett · 25/06/2007 16:36

"It's a very important feminist principle that they never see a woman cooking for a start. So make last night the lsat time you cook. The men do it from now on and wait on you hand and foot. Then all will be well. "

Now, I would have thought that it was a very important feminist principle that they see both genders doing their share of the cooking

skidaddle · 25/06/2007 16:41

starry, i am half Indian and whenever we are over there we just have fruit for brekkie (and sometimes idli but you're hardly going to embark on that!) - will that not do them?

Clary · 25/06/2007 16:45

Well we don't eat beef and pork not that much.

Apart from sausages that is oops

What we might eat: use lamb mince for any beef mince recipe - lasagne, moussaka, spag bol shepherd's pie etc
Chicken breast fillets - pan fried with cream and mushrooms; chopped up in fricasee with tomatoes and onions, serve with pasta or rice
risotto with chicken and mushroom and any veg in house - leeks, onions, peppers,
pasta with tomato sauce and peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn
brocooli and cauli in cheese sauce (add pasta or tates to bulk it out)
salad of new potatoes, lettuce, cherry toms, asparagus or green beans and hard boiled eggs with vinaigrette
baked potatoes with tuna fish or mushroom filling
chicken pie with puff pastry top (bought pastry)
Nigel slater's puff pastry tart with cherry toms, mushrooms, onions and mozzarella
Leeks in cheese sauce with garlic bread

If no milk means no dairy you could be in trouble tho...

oooh quite hungry now

Judy1234 · 25/06/2007 18:27

Given India and China vie for which country has the highest record of deaths of baby girls I think all we can do to show Indian visitors men can cook and serve is all to the good, a bit of cultural learning they might take back home with them or if someone wants to tell me most Indian men in India do most of hte cooking and cleaning I am happy to be disabused of my prejudice.

And not letting a man cook because he'd do it badly just ends up damaging our daughters because men will never help if they aren't allowed or are denigrated for it.

scampadoodle · 25/06/2007 18:40

Oh for god's sake, Xenia, the poor woman just wants some menu ideas, not a lecture in feminist practice!

Starry: I think fruit & yoghurt for breakfast, but just ask them what they would like - surely with staying for a month they can't expect an Indian feast every day. Religion aside, they've got to muck in, food-wise, to some extent. (Unless they're the guests from hell)

feb · 25/06/2007 18:42

lol at xenia!

snowleopard · 25/06/2007 19:28

Aaaargh Xenia! I do "let" my DP cook - that is to say, we share the cooking. But practicality means having visitors for a month wouldn't be a great time to put a feminist experiment in place.

FioFio · 25/06/2007 19:29

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snowleopard · 25/06/2007 19:30

Anyway Xenia you old sexist

"Damaging our daughters..." so our sons don't need educating in the ways of equality too?

"Men will never help..." but I thought it wasn't "helping", I thought it was about taking an equal share. If they're "helping then that means we're born to do it.

;)

FioFio · 25/06/2007 19:31

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Judy1234 · 25/06/2007 20:50

I only know what I see around me, 18% of my borough is hindu and I don't like the ways boys are prioritised over girls, girls serve brothers at home etc etc I could go on and on about it but I agree it's a huge country and in fact today I had an email from a lady who owns her own business in India - she's in charge, runs it all but my generalisation is correct and they need a kick up the you know where go get the men in the kitchen and cleaning the toilets both in the UK and in India.

littleducks · 25/06/2007 20:59

breakfast- pancakes, crumpets, muffins (fruited cake type)
I bet if they arent keen on english bread they'll like french toast.

oranges · 25/06/2007 21:10

look, stop flapping. Get in loads of tea and ask them to go to the supermarket and buy whatevery they want for breakfast and lunch. Suggest they pick up pickles and spicy chutneys too. If you live near Indian shops, take them there to get whatever they want.

And cook what you want for dinner. On the days you really want pork or beef, let them have the potatoes and veg, and offer to fry them an egg instead.

And weirdly, I do agree with Xenia - dont make this a problem you have to solve on your own. There are 4 adults in the house. They can all play a part in feeding themselves.

StarryStarryNight · 25/06/2007 22:11

I am very thankful for all the input regards to food!

I am sorry to see this turning into such a feminist or rather cultural debate, I have experienced Indian hospitality on several occasions, mostly in India. I am not going to enter into a debate on the social aspects of the culture, I accept it for what it is and delight in the fact that we are all different and any culture change and move at its own pace.

They muck in, they play with the kids, help tidy up, clean the kitchen after meals. But they have never been out of India before and our cooker, and indeed the content of our fridge is as foreign to them as I found an Indian market the first time I came down there.

I just want to be able to cook good family meals for dinner and ensure that I have the right things in the house to enable them to feed themselves adequately for other meals.

The other thing is that they are NOT a couple. They are two friends and colleagues, a man and a woman in their late twenties. Both are managers, each in their different departments, so highly educated professionals, but single.

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