Plan a romantic night in with these dinner for two recipes inspired by the flavors of India and the film, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The menu features an easy semi-homemade Nav Rattan Korma, served over basmati rice, onion chutney, Mango lassi and kheer rice pudding for dessert.
How about a date night and an exotic vacation all rolled into one — without ever leaving the house?
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My husband and I recently enjoyed an afternoon getaway to India, featuring international food and decor from World Market, and inspired by the sweetly romantic comedy, “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”
All in the middle of a snowstorm!
The original plan was to enjoy the meal we cooked together on the patio on a springy afternoon. But North Carolina’s crazy weather played a trick on us. So we brought the feast inside (patio table and all) and dined in front of the French doors in our living room.
Setting the Table
Before I move into the recipes, I want to talk about how I set the table for our date.
I was inspired by the beautiful scenery, jewel tones and Indian motifs from “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” which is in theaters March 6.
I absolutely adored the first movie, which was about embracing love, living fully and following your dreams at any age.
I’m really excited to see the sequel to and to catch up with all the characters. I can’t wait to see what happens when Sonny tries to open a second location of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel while planning his wedding to Sunaina and taking care of the hotel’s quirky guests. (Good thing he has Muriel helping him run the place!)
And there is the matter of the handsome new guest who is attracting the attention of the female residents.
I found everything I needed to turn my living room into Jaipur and the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at World Market.
I started out with the Cadiz Bistro Table and Peacock Blue Cadiz Chairs I bought for our back porch last year.
Next, I layered on a pair of yellow Khadi placemats. Since my table was small, I used the placemats as a runner.
For my place settings, I used two Nomad dinner plates, white Nomad elephant plates, oasis green buffet napkins, hammered flatware, amber Fez tumblers, aqua paisley Moroccan tea glasses and dainty Picardie juice glasses for dessert.
I used a large glass teal teardrop lantern as a vase for some seasonal flowers, and used tealight candles in smaller yellow and green teardrop lanterns.
The Menu
Now let’s talk about the food.
World Market has a wonderful selection of spices, sauces, ingredients and prepackaged Indian food. which makes it easy to prepare a restaurant-quality meal at home.
As much as I love Indian food, I’d never cooked it before because I didn’t think I could achieve that same complex blending and layering of flavors at home.
But our meal was as good as anything I’ve ever had in an Indian restaurant. It just takes the right ingredients.
For an appetizer, we began with fried puppodums (which are so cool to make!) served with assorted chutneys and relishes: Patak’s Mango Chutney, Patak’s Mixed Relish and homemade onion chutney. (Find the recipe at the end of this post.)
I recommend Taj Mahal lager (which I found in World Market’s beer section) as a great balance for the spicy chutney and relish.
Moving on to the main course, we had vegetable Navratan Korma (made with Tiger Tiger Kashmiri Korma sauce), basmati rice and garlic and coriader naan.
I used World Market’s hammered stainless steel Kadhai bowls (which are just like the ones from Indian restaurants) to serve the korma, rice and naan.
I used the mini square white tasting dishes I bought for my Oscars party and the Luna cocktail spoons to serve the chutney.
Since Indian food can be spicy (the spicier the better, in my opinion), we had cool mango lassi shakes with our meal.
We ended our feast with tiny servings of homemade kheer, a deliciously sweet rice pudding. The tiny juice glasses were just the right size.
Romantic Indian Dinner for Two Recipes
Easy Navratan Korma
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 5 cups chopped vegetables such as carrots cauliflower, baby corn, onions, green beans and potatoes
- ¼ cup golden raisins
- 1 jar Tiger Tiger Kashmiri Mild Korma Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons sliced almonds
- 2 Tablespoons chopped cashews
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Saute vegetables for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add korma sauce and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until vegetables are tender. (If using potatoes, you may want to parboil them first.)
- Add golden raisins and simmer for a minute more.
- Remove from heat and garnish with almonds and cashews.
- Serve over basmati rice.
Nutrition
Indian Kheer Rice Pudding
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Basmati rice
- 1 quart whole milk
- 6 Tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 Tablespoons almonds sliced
- 1 Tablespoon pistachios shelled and chopped
- ¼ cup golden raisins
Instructions
- Rinse basmati rice until water runs clear, then soak for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring quart of milk to a boil in a large sauce pan.
- Reduce heat to simmer.
- Drain and rinse the rice and add it to the milk. Then stir in the sugar.
- Simmer rice and milk mixture for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides to prevent sticking and to prevent lumps from forming.
- After the mixture has cooked for about 20 minutes, add ground cardamom, pistachios and almonds.
- Continue simmering for another 15 minutes, until the rice mixture has thickened and rice is cooked.
- Remove from heat and stir in golden raisins.
- You can serve the kheer rice pudding hot, but it's best chilled.
- Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Homemade Mango Lassi
Ingredients
- 8 ounces plain nonfat yogurt
- ½ cup milk
- 4 ounces frozen mango
- 2-3 teaspoons sugar optional
- dried mango slices
- nutmeg grated
Instructions
- In a blender, combine yogurt, milk and frozen mango.
- Blend until smooth.
- If necessary, add sugar to sweeten mixture.
- Pour into two glasses and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg and dried mango slices.
Nutrition
Homemade Onion Chutney
Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup red onion finely diced
- ½ cup tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Heat oil in a small sauce pan.
- Add tomato paste, spices, salt, sugar and garlic and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in onions.
- Refrigerate and serve with puppodums or naan.
Diane Williams
Wow. Great Indian recipes and decor! My sister loves all things India. Pinning this! Thanks for linking up at #PureBloglove link Party! The party begins again Thursday night at 8 p.m. EST. i’m hosting at http://www.homemadefoodjunkie.com. i’d love to see more of your ideas!
Lou Lou Girls
Oh my…so delicious! I’m always get so excited to see what you have brought to the party! Pinned and tweeted. Thank you for being part of our party. I hope to see you on tonight at 7. Lou Lou Girls
Atta Girl Amy
Aww, you are too sweet! Thanks for being such a great hostess every week.
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life
I could definitely go for a date night like this! I love Indian food. Thanks for sharing this with us at #FoodieFriDIY!
Atta Girl Amy
It eas delicious!
Kyla @HouseOfHipsters
Sounds sooo good! Thanks for linking up at Found & Foraged!
Katherines Corner
What a wonderful idea to have a themed dinner for two. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. watch for your feature on Monday xo
Erica
Thanks for the post, your table is GORGEOUS! Thanks for linking up to Wordless Wednesday!
Erica
All that's Jas
WOW! This is so impressive, from the table setting to the menu! And how special must your husband be and what a blessing you are to him to arrange such an amazing date! Thanks for linking up at Thursday Favorite Things. Can’t wait to see what you’ll share next week! Btw, I LOVED the first movie too and am looking forward to see this one. XO
Atta Girl Amy
Thanks so much for hosting. And yep, my husband is pretty special, and he enjoyed helping cook (and eat) this feast!
Melissa
This all looks so amazing! I love Indian food, and I am looking forward to trying some of these recipes!