everyday entertaining

Our setting for this dinner was the Hamptons home of my friend the interior designer John Barman and his partner Kelly Graham, who expanded and renovated a modest ranch house near the beach into a stunning showcase. One of the keys to successful entertaining is staying flexible. We had planned to serve this meal at a long picnic table on John’s ample flagstone patio, with drinks, picnic­-­style, on the lawn. We were expecting a balmy evening, but the weather didn’t cooperate. The wind changed direction in the morning, the sky grew dark and stormy, and it rained periodically all day. So we happily moved our dinner ­indoors.

John’s dining room has a round table worthy of King Arthur’s Court, a cathedral-height ceiling, and huge windows that let in a tremendous amount of light, particularly helpful when the skies are brooding. The Indian hand­-stitched tablecloth I had picked up on holiday in the Greek Isles a couple of weeks earlier, was meant to be our picnic blanket, but it functioned very well as a covering for this magnificent ­table.

Beyond India’s wonderfully flavorful foods, Indian design and decor have always been a great inspiration to me. I love the bright fabrics in vibrant shades of red and pink, elaborate patterns, and lacy gold­-­rimmed borders. Dressing up this dinner was a delightful ­experience.

For the centerpiece, I constructed a pyramid of spice. This might appear exceedingly complicated and expensive. But basically I used a worn, old brass pedestal container and shaped a couple of cans of refried beans into a pyramid using the side of a dinner knife. I bought a one­-­pound bag of curry powder at an Indian market and used it to create large mounds. With a simple trompe-l’oeil trick like this, you can create an extravagant conversation piece. The appearance and the scent of this enormous mound of spice right in the middle of the table certainly takes your guests on a magical journey. You can be sure they’ll be tickled when they see the lengths to which you’ve gone to transport them to faraway ­lands.

Of all the world cuisines I cook and serve, I think Indian is my favorite. I enjoyed early exposure to it where I grew up in southern Africa, which has one of the largest populations of Indians living outside India. In the Natal and Cape provinces of South Africa, especially in Cape Town and Durban, the cities along the Spice Route, Indian spices and recipes exert a major ­influence.

The beauty of this cuisine is the way it combines the remarkable variety of flavors and the degrees of hot, spicy, and sweet in its repertoire. A dish can include fifteen or twenty spices and other aromatic ingredients, but you never really taste any one; the coordination and harmony are miraculous. Indian food also possesses a major practical allure: The preparations are not complicated at all. Rather, it’s about acquiring and combining a few key exotic ingredients with many other commonly available foods. With just a bit of planning and organization, you get a huge ­payout.

Menu

Stir-Fried Shrimp with Lemon and Scallions
Yogurt and Cucumber Raita
Yogurt and Banana Raita
Tomato and Onion Raita
Mango Chutney
Chicken Curry and Peas
Garam Masala
Aromatic Basmati Rice
Chicken Stock
Coconut Meringue
Pappadams

Timing

The shrimp can be marinated the morning of or well in advance of the guests’ arrival; it takes literally a couple of minutes to cook. The curry takes about 1 hour and can be made a day in advance; in fact, this is one of those dishes that gets better with a little age. A day or two in the refrigerator gives its flavors time to meld and mature. The rice takes about 35 minutes. The raitas can also be made in advance, stored in the fridge, and placed on the table just before the meal.

Tips

Choosing Mangoes
Firefighters
Key Indian Ingredients and Terms
Sambals