COOK OR CATER IN DUBAI

Dubai’s delicious temperatures right now (bar the last couple of days)  make for perfect soirées with friends in the garden, so far, so good – but what if you end up with a sizable gang,  do you Cook or Cater ?

Last Thursday a friend celebrated her birthday with a mixed crowd of friends, neighbours and family of all ages and nationalities, all of whom shared a liking for Indian food !

The chosen caterers were an old, well established, not wildly upmarket North Indian restaurant chain (2 branches that I know of, Bur Dubai and Karama) called Sind Punjab. We ate very well, and although I’ve never been to the restaurant itself, I would say it’s a seriously good option if you want to cater Indian style.

My favourite starter out of a large range was the Amritsari Fish (small hammour bites marinated with spices and lovage seeds and then lightly fried in a chick pea batter, followed by the vegetarian kebabs) But the piece de resistance was the

live dosa station. (very odd if you’re South Indian I know as typically dosa’s are eaten at breakfast, but who cares !) These lentil and rice batter pancakes with a variety of spicy potato fillings accompanied by fresh coconut chutney were expertly prepared live on the spot by a chef who has  worked in Dubai for 10 years but is originally from Chettinad in Tamil Nadu, South India.

There was a full on buffet with a mix of vegetarian and non vegetarian main courses after these mammoth and filling appetizers as well. So my advice is to perhaps skip the heavy main courses if it’s your first time catering and go for something a bit different from your usual Shwarma guy, try a range of hot starters and masala dosas instead !

The restaurant supplies all the food, staff and equipment required, so at roughly Dhs 40 or less  per head, my advice is to enjoy the weather, enjoy your guests, enjoy your food, enjoy yourself,

CATER, don’t COOK !

A friend has recently set up a great catering business serving authentic, reasonably priced authentic Indian food, she is also a great Indian cookery teacher, here is a link to a recent Ramadan menu, give Spices and Aroma a try and do mention you heard about her through DoinDubai, thanks Monica.

If you would like to add your service to this post – contact me