Pantry Staples and Make Ahead preparations
Lifesavers is actually a category in my shopping list. The term came to existence ever since I realized that I need certain things as must haves in the kitchen. Each one of you who has been into cooking would have experienced the day when you wanted to cook some dish however ran out of 1 or 2 ingredients. These are the ingredients that seem unworthy of being listed on shopping trip but suddenly become a show stopper. To counter this challenge I started collecting and stocking up.
You would think she is talking about pantry staples ,things you must always stock up in a functional kitchen. Actually I classify Wheat flour APF Rice Potatoes Cooking Oil Sugar and Salt as staples and believe these are always stocked up especially for a party.
Life savers are ingredients that allow us quick fixes. Like...
- If your kabab or tikki is not coming together you need bread or cornflour to gather it back
- Something about your curry does not seem right no matter what, Kasoori Methi or Chat masala can cover up
- You run out of desserts Milk and custard can help you whip up a quick kheer
- Everything looks perfect but the cake looks too basic. Choco chips in buttercream or as it is on the top can save face
- Someone fusses about not being able to eat gravy or curry dish (spicy or plain uptight) instant curd raita or tomato salad with vinegar can help you come out.
Getting my point now?
Some life savers I buy whether I need them for the menu or not are listed below. These are stocked in sufficient quantities.

- Tomatoes
- Green chillies /red chillies /black pepper/chilli flakes/cayenne pepper
- Milk
- Colored vegetables
- Chocolate Chips
- Corn flour
- Chat Masala
- Cumin Seeds
- Plain Soda
- Vanilla Icecream
My kitchen sometimes functions like a japanese assembly line. There are threshold levels marked bottles and jars. The moment the ingredients reaches that level it is replenished with a new stock. (I may sound crazy to some but this has been really helpful especially now when time is luxury)
Quantity of a substance is also an issue of concern for many while shopping. You can follow the rule of thumb that was once shared by a caterer with me. 100gm of vegetable per person when there are 4 varieties and 125 gms when there are 3 varieties.
- for e.g. when you are planning Mix Vegetable for 10 people to eat then the combined vegetables before cooking should weight 1-1.25 Kgs. This includes onions tomatoes and potatoes.
-For rotis breads you have to use 3 for elders when served without rice dish or 2 with rice.
- For kids make 2 rotis or 1 roti each.
- For rice you have to count 1 small katori/bowl for 2 people as uncooked rice. This reduces further when you are adding vegetables to it.
- If you have good variety of starters then you have to reduce the rice quantity.
-For rotis breads you have to use 3 for elders when served without rice dish or 2 with rice.
- For kids make 2 rotis or 1 roti each.
- For rice you have to count 1 small katori/bowl for 2 people as uncooked rice. This reduces further when you are adding vegetables to it.
- If you have good variety of starters then you have to reduce the rice quantity.
- For starters & desserts count 1.5 servings per person as you will find people either opting or not for it in same numbers
Another important point while organizing a party is to reduce the D-day tasks to minimal. The key is trying to reduce it as much as possible. Make Ahead preparation help here
Assuming that all the shopping and organizing is done the previous days, the actual day would primarily focus on food preparations. No one wants to feed stale food to the guests. However there are still quite a few things that you can do in advance.
- Chopping vegetables
- Cleaning and separating stalks of herbs and leafy vegetables - Coriander Mint Fenugreek
- Tomato based gravy / sauces
- Cakes can be baked in advance
- Custards kheer pudding are perfectly okay to be cooked a day before. Stock in refrigerator
- Potatoes can be boiled and mashed if required
- Some snack and farsan items like aluwadi/patras can be made a day ahead and deep fried closer to the party time%
- Dips chutneys dressings are good be made in advance
- Based on my experience with various cuisines and menus I have often noticed that the last
- servings / desserts last course gravy etc are usually good to be made early on. The first
- second servings are the one’s that need to be cooked near the serving time like starters etc.
Tips for additional relief during the D-day
- Always de-clutter refrigerator as much as possible when you start cooking you do not want to spend time re-organizing things around
- Separate the serving dishes from the cookware in advance so that you do not spend time washing and cleaning dishes
- Mark your serving dish against each item before hand. This is part of planning.
- Mark your serving dish against each item before hand. This is part of planning.
- Experiments have to be done before the actual party day
- Write down the recipe and ingredient if possible ,so that you avoid blunders while cooking - even if you are a pro.
- Try not to use a new pack of salt as the saltiness varies from packet to packet. If you are using it then always taste the dish while seasoning.
- Write down the recipe and ingredient if possible ,so that you avoid blunders while cooking - even if you are a pro.
- Try not to use a new pack of salt as the saltiness varies from packet to packet. If you are using it then always taste the dish while seasoning.
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