Sharing Delicious-ness…

2012 © COPYRIGHT KAJAL DHABALIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Sorry for being M.I.A for the past week and a half….I’ve been up to my ears in FOOD :)! Last weekend we had one of our most special meditation retreats of the year at Dhyanyoga Centers,  called Guru Purnima and then yesterday, Dhyanyoga Center’s hosted it’s first wedding on the center grounds…and they asked my mom and I to cater it…! The wedding turned out beautiful and catering it was a ball….we were all a little sore this morning :)…but in the best way possible :)!

Our annual Guru Purnima retreat celebrates the beautiful bond between the teacher-student…and the love and care the teacher has to share with his or her students….the weekend was full of a lots of great meditation, ceremonies, inspiring talks, kirtan and of course, FOOD. Our kitchen staff, like usual….cooked up a storm…breakfast, lunch and dinner….Friday night- Sunday afternoon.

Following that retreat, my mom and I went directly into prepping for our big wedding catering….Monday was a full day of grocery shopping. Tuesday, I spent half the morning finalizing our to-do list and then in the afternoon we began prepping. Wednesday our kitchen crew (our angels in disguise is what I like to call them) joined us for a full day of prepping from 8 am – 8 pm. We accomplished a lot!

Then the day of the wedding we started at 6 am…bright eyed and bushy tailed :)!

Setting Up!

The wedding menu included appetizers at 11 am and a full Indian feast at 2 pm.

Mango Lassi’s! YUM!

For those who have never really eaten Indian food….EVERYTHING is FRESH and HANDMANDE….for appetizers we rolled, stuffed and fried 400  Kachori’s (round balls that were stuffed with peas, mung dal and spices) and made homemade Mango Lassi (lassi is like a yogurt smoothie…really great on a hot day!). The Kachori’s were a hit….my mom used my Grandfather’s recipes that is so unique and de-lish…always leaving everyone who tries them wanting more.

Our Appetizer line-up!

For lunch we had….2 vegetable curries, 1 lentil curry, dokla (garbanzo bean sponge cakes), kadhi (yogurt soup), rice, puri (hand rolled Indian bread), Pineapple and Orange Shrikand (a homemade yogurt dessert that’s like a flavored version of greek yogurt, except thicker :)), followed by condiments like chutney, pickles and papad…..we hand rolled all the bread (400 puri’s!), used over 30 pounds of yogurt to make the sweet and over 50 lbs of fresh veggies between the two curries….

Lunch reception set up!

With grace, everything turned out AMAZING….I love cooking with my mom because I ALWAYS learn so many NEW dishes, tricks and trade secrets :).

Our Angels in Disguise were AWESOME….a great team to serve with….real troopers to work with.