What should we cook if we have visitors come over unannounced to our place suddenly? We all have faced this situation in our lives, haven’t we?

The important thing is not to panic! On the contrary, in our Indian culture, we consider our guests as God so we should try to serve the best we can and nothing less than a three-course meal.

First and foremost, it is best to start with a simple theme in mind: whether you want to prepare Indian, Chinese, Italian or continental or any regional cuisine. Having this clarity in your head makes it easier, less confusing and faster for you to quickly rustle up a tasty and scrumptious meal.

If we focus on Indian cuisine here, we should immediately welcome our guests with a quick welcome drink which can be as simple as nimbupani or a summer special aam panna.

Aam Panna – the perfect welcome drink

The easiest way is to boil raw mango in a pressure cooker for two whistles and let the cooker cool down. Now peel and add in blender with sugar and black salt, jeera powder and blend. Add ice and cold water and its ready to be served!

The delectable main course – Pulav and Raita

By the time the mango is boiling, prep for the main course: soak rice in water and quickly cut vegetables that are available in your fridge. Use the same cooker, add ghee and all chopped vegetables and a little bit of powdered masala available (like dhania powder, jeera powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder) and add the soaked rice and water which is double the quantity of rice. With just one whistle on high flame, it is done!  Again, by the time it is cooling down, you can whip up a quick raita to go with the pulav.

So our welcome drink and main course is ready with much fuss. Now for the dessert!

Kuch meetha ho jaye – Rabri garnished with nuts

We always have bread available at home so quickly blend few pieces of bread and milk to make a thin batter. Now cook it with a little bit of sugar and thicken it to make a rabri consistency. Let it cool in the fridge while you enjoy the welcome drink and dinner with your guests. When it is time for the dessert, serve the cooled rabri after garnishing it with nuts.

I am sure you will not miss the smile on the faces of your guests after offering them this hearty yet quickly-prepared enjoyable meal!