Brunches are an easy and fun excuse to get your family and friends together with amazing food. If the idea of throwing a brunch overwhelms you, try following these simple tips on how to host your very own desi brunch without costing you a fortune.

First step, set your budget and stick to it

It’s important to establish a budget before throwing any kind of event or party. Write down everything you need and divide everything accordingly. While you may love spending money on fancy decor, you can find almost all decorations around your house and it won’t cost you a single rupee. You don’t need extravagant meat cuts or fresh bread from the most expensive bakery.

Plan your menu

When it comes to brunch, there’s a lot of versatility. You can serve breakfast dishes, lunch dishes, and snacks all in one. You can have fruit salads, pastries, salans, and a variety of eggs. Choose all of your dishes according to the amount that you have dedicated to food items in your budget.

Definitely feed your guests some eggs

This doesn’t have to be customized omelettes for every guest, which can end up being costly and very time consuming. You can go for scrambled eggs, khagina, quiches, deviled eggs, or even a shakshuka.

Add loads of sweetness

There must be something sweet to balance out the savory items. Waffles, pancakes, crepes, or french toast would be great options. Make the batter the night before so you can quickly put them on your griddle or waffle maker early in the morning. Pancakes are an easy and budget friendly option – the batter for 50 people will cost you less than 500 rupees.

Don’t forget the Halwa Puri

You can’t have a desi brunch without halwa puri – its just not possible. Get your halwa puri catered to save time and money. Making it yourself will actually turn out more costly than getting it from your nearest desi takeaway. If you’re feeling experimental – follow this recipe.

Drinks

If you’re doing a summertime brunch go with fruity and refreshing drinks like mango milkshakes, lassi, or fresh juices. If you’re hosting during the winter go for warm drinks like kashmiri chai or masala chai. Making the drinks yourself will save you money. Regardless of the season you know everyone is going to have a steaming cup of chai no matter what so make sure you have that brewing.

And the tandoor has to be well lit

Us desi’s cannot live without carbs. Make sure you’re offering your guests a variety of fresh breads, naans, and parathas. You can go for garlic naan – which goes great with the gravy dishes. Visit your nearest tandoor earlier in the morning for fresh naan and warm them in an oven before serving.

Mains

Now it comes to the good stuff. Two main entree dishes are more than enough – more than two if you have a smaller group would be a overwhelming and costly. If you’re on a tighter budget choose only one main. You can pick two of any of the following – making them yourself will save you money if the group is smaller (follow the attached recipes), however if you have more guests it may be more affordable to get the mains catered from your favorite restaurant.

Fruit

Cut up seasonal fruit and toss it in a salad for fresh flavor. You could go for a fruit chaat, or even serve cut fruit on a platter. If you’re already over budget then skip this this step.

Themes and Decorations

Pick a palette for your brunch. It could be an all white theme, with white centerpieces and tablecloths. If you choose a colorful theme – go with pastels that will look sophisticated. You can put up decorations if you still have room in your budget – go with greens and yellows to keep it elegant and simple. Using paper decorations can save you a lot of money  – like streamer backgrounds that you can make yourself that are cute and affordable. Look around your house for vases you can use for the table and fill them with flowers from your garden. If you still have some cash left in your budget – invest in vases and candles.

Try out these simple tips and try hosting a brunch this weekend!