Looking for a crowd-pleasing Indian Vegetarian Dinner/Lunch Party Menu Ideas? for a casual or festival occasion with family and friends, Here is a list of popular recipes for drinks, appetizers, entrees, and desserts with some tips to plan for your next party. Many of the recipes shared below are prepared in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker, Air fryer making life even easier.
Table of contents
What to Consider in Dinner Party Menu
A bit of planning is key to having everything under control. Gather the following information from your guests 8-10 days before the party:
- Keep it simple - do not try to experiment new dishes on the day of the party.
- Pick a date and inform atleast 7-10 days ahead to your guests.
- Make guests list, calculate total count of adults and kids including elderly people.
- In Advance politely check with your guests if they have any dietary restrictions (gluten-free, vegan, no onion- garlic for elderly people etc) or any food allergies.
- Also make sure if you are duplicating the same menu with the same set of people.
- Also decide what are items you are planning to cook by urself or plan to order some food from outside?
Indian Drinks Recipes (Pick 1 or 2)
Here are a few drink options to serve with a delicious Indian Meal. You can also serve soda/alcohol, make some cocktails/mocktails, and fruit juices for kids.
- Mango lassi
- Mango milkshake
- Strawberry Orange punch
- Strawberry lassi
- Lemonade
- Fresh Lime Soda
- Mango Mojito
- Masala Chai
- Coffee
- Masala Chaas
Indian Appetizers (Pick 2 or 3)
List of appetizers or snacks to choose from:
- Gobi Manchurian
- Paneer tikka
- Podi Idli
- Corn bhel
- Hakka Noodles
- Tandoori Gobi
- Makhana Chivda
- Bombay Potatoes
- Barbeque Nation Cajun Potatoes
- Spinach Corn Pakoda
- Air Fryer-roasted chickpeas
- Rava Dhokla
- Samosa
- Chili Paneer
You can also buy appetizers that are available in Indian grocery stores like cocktail samosas, kachori, vada. You can deep fry or air fry before serving.
Accompaniments
Many of the Indian finger food appetizers need dipping sauces or chutneys to go with them especially green chutney and tamarind chutney. While Indian meals are spicy, so you will need raita (yogurt dip) an accompaniment to cool off.
Chutneys for appetizers (Pick 1 or 2)
- Cilantro Mint chutney
- Tamarind chutney
Chutneys for a South Indian meal (Pick 1)
Raitas (Pick 1)
Also, check out the list of 12+ raita recipes for you to choose from my blog.
Salads (Pick 1)
- Simple chopped carrots, cucumbers, tomato and onions
- Kachumber
- Boiled Peanut salad
- Sprouts Salad
Indian Flatbreads (Pick 1)
- Rotis (homemade or storebought)
- Plain parathas
- Pooris
- Plain or garlic naan (storebought)
Curries (Pick 3-4)
Typically, I serve at least one dal (lentil) dish, one bean curry, and one paneer or vegetable side dish/curry.
Lentils based curries (Pick 1)
Bean based curries (Pick 1)
Paneer or vegetable side dishes/curries (Pick 1-2)
Here are some Indian Paneer and Vegetarian curries to pick from:
- Paneer Butter Masala
- Palak Paneer or Palak Tofu
- Matar Paneer
- Paneer Makhana Curry
- Paneer Jalfrezi
- Vegetable Kurma
- Aloo Gobi
- Aloo Matar
- Bombay Potato Sagu
Rice and Biryani (Pick 1-2)
Here are some Indian vegetarian rice and biryani recipes to pick from
- Basmati rice
- Jeera rice
- Vegetable Pulao Karnataka style
- Ghee Rice
- Peas Pulao
- Bisi Bele Bath
- Vegetarian Biryani
- Chickpea Biryani
Dessert (Pick 1-2)
Here are some Indian desserts to pick from
- Rice kheer
- Semiya kheer
- Badam Halwa
- Carrot halwa or Beetroot Halwa
- Shrikhand
- Besan Ladoo
- Instant Coconut Ladoo
- Gulab Jamun
You can also include storebought desserts like cakes, brownies, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream.
Indian Party Menu Ideas
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