Be it Diwali, Holi, or any Indian festival, it is all about good food, meeting your family and friends and having a wonderful time with them. If you are the host then you might get overwhelmed. But I want to share all the tips and tricks to serve your guests and also enjoy and not get stressed out.
It is a wonderful idea to arrange an Indian platter or an Indian charcuterie board to serve your guests. The word charcuterie is mainly referred to meat but this is a vegetarian Indian snack board. You can be as creative as you want and I have just given a guidance of how to plan and setup a delightful snack board.
You can change the food items you plan to serve and it will depend on the cheeseboard you have and that will mainly determine how you will arrange it. I hope you find this useful and take tips from this and setup an mouth watering cheeseboard for your family and friends for your next party.
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Ingredients
For an Indian vegetarian snack board, I like to use a combination of homemade as well as store bought food. This way you will not get overwhelmed and exhausted and can enjoy a good time with your family and friends.
There are a variety of options that can go on the desi cheese board and I have used these below items.
- Frozen snacks - frozen samosa, kachori, aloo tikki, and pattice are a perfect choice for quick, easy, and filling appetizers. They are delicious, easy to cook in the air fryer, and all your guests will love them.
- Chutneys - to accompany the appetizers, Indian chutneys like cilantro chutney, tamarind and date chutney, and tomato ketchup are a must. You can easily prepare them a few days ahead of time or use the store bought one.
- Paneer tikka - it will be incomplete to not include a paneer dish on the board. I like to marinate paneer tikka in advance and air fry it at 400°F for 10-12 minutes just before arranging the board.
- Chaat - depending on your cheese board, if you have space then it is a wonderful idea to include a chaat like sev puri. It is very easy to make and indeed a crowd pleaser!
- Dried snacks - there is a plethora of options for store bought dried snacks like spicy sev, bhakharwadi, chakli, banana chips, potato mixture, khatta meetha namkeen, shakkar para, mathri, and more.
- Dried fruit - I like to add some nuts like almonds, roasted peanuts, pistachios, and roasted cashews to munch on.
- Sweets - this can be store-bought or homemade as time permits. I like to serve kaju katli, motichoor laddu, peda, or barfi as they are easy to manage and dry in texture.
- Desserts - desserts like basundi shots, rasmalai, or rasgulla can be served in individual servings on the side. If you prefer fruit desserts, fruit chaat, fruit custard, and fruit cream are great choices.
Instructions
On the day of the event, a few hours ahead of time, prepare the marinade for paneer tikka and boil few potatoes for sev puri.
I like to arrange the cheese board just before the event and with the food items that don't need any heating.
Step 1: Arrange all the dry snacks in a tray or separate bowls.
Step 2: Serve chutneys and ketchup in bowls.
If there is a separate snack tray with your cheese board, put all the dried snacks like banana chips, spicy sev, potato mix, bhakharwadi, and chakli. They can also be served in bowls if there is no separate tray.
Serve the nuts in the bowls and chutneys in chutney bowls. The Smirly cheeseboard has multiple trays and bowls along with the main board to serve desserts and dips.
Step 3: Air fry frozen snacks.
Step 4: Arrange the desserts like kaju katli and laddu.
Now it is a good time to prepare the frozen snacks. I like to air fry them instead of deep frying. But it is absolutely a personal choice. Arrange the kachori, samosa, pattice, and aloo tikki along the sides of the board.
Air fry the paneer tikka at 400°F for 10-12 minutes and then arrange them at the center of the board. If you have a slate or marble slat in the board which comes off easily then it is best to server it on it.
While the frozen snacks is being air fried, arrange the desserts like kaju katli and laddu.
Step 5: Make sev puri chaat.
Step 6: Make and arrange paneer tikka.
While the paneer tikka is being cooked in the air fryer, make the sev puri chaat, it will only take a few minutes in assembling it.
Now everything is ready, arrange the air fryer samosas, kachori and other snacks around the sides of the board. Place the paneer tikka skewers in the center on the slate board.
You are now all set to enjoy the event with your friends.
Substitutions
Serving the Indian snack board is easy and you can easily serve food of your choice.
- Frozen snack - instead of frozen samosas and kachoris, you can serve fresh ones. Other options are hara bhara kebab, sabudana vada, dal vada, and veg cutlets.
- Nuts - serve salt roasted or spicy nuts of choice.
- Sweets - a variety of sweets including peda, kalakand, and barfi can be served.
Equipment
How you will serve an Indian snack or appetizer platter will very much depend on the type of cheese board or large trays you have and how many sections it has.
After a lot of comparison between various types of cheese boards available in the market, I nailed down to this amazing Smirly cheeseboard. It has one large cheeseboard with a removable slate. Additionally it has 2 wooden trays with smaller serving plates.
It also comes with a round tray which can be used to serve fruits or dry snacks. Additional bowls are also included for condiments.
The removable plates is what adds convenience as it make cleaning very easy and your cheeseboard will not get messy.
Apart from the cheese board and air fryer is very useful to air fry frozen snacks and paneer tikka.
Planning ahead
Serving an Indian snack board is more about planning, so I like to first come up with the items that I want to serve. I like to keep things simple and spend time with my guests so planning ahead is essential.
Indian chutneys are a must and they are easy to make a day or two in advance. If you already have it stored then nothing like it, it reduces your task :).
Also while planning ahead, I like to decide and buy the frozen snack items, dried snack items, and all the ingredients for paneer tikka and sev puri chaat.
Top tip
Don't stress too much about making everything from scratch, use a combination of homemade and store bought food to make it easy and enjoy your time with your guests.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite drinks to serve with Indian snack board:
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📖 Recipe
Indian Charcuterie Board (Vegetarian)
Equipment
Ingredients
Frozen or store-bought snacks
- 20 piece Frozen snacks (samosa, kachori, pattice, aloo tikki)
Condiments
- â…“ cup Tamarind date chutney (more if needed)
- â…“ cup Cilantro chutney (more if needed)
- â…“ cup Ketchup
Dried snack
- ½ cup Spicy sev (sev, chips, farali mixture, chakli, etc.)
- ½ cup Chips (plantain chips)
- ½ cup Farali mixture (or khatta meetha namkeen)
- ½ cup Bhakharwadi
- 6-8 pieces Chakli
Sweets
- 8 - 10 pieces Kaju katli
- 8 - 10 pieces Laddu
Nuts
- ½ cup Nuts (salt roasted or spicy)
Sev puri
- 20 Puri (wheat crackers)
- ½ cup Bhel sev (thin gram noodles)
- 3 tablespoon Tamarind and date chutney
- 3 tablespoon Green chutney
- ½ teaspoon Chaat masala
- Salt (to taste)
- 1 medium Potato (boiled and mashed)
- ½ cup Onion (chopped)
- Cilantro (for garnishing)
Paneer tikka
- 1 cup Paneer (cubed)
- ½ cup Bell pepper (cubed)
- ½ cup Onion (cubed)
- â…“ cup Yogurt
- 1 teaspoon Ginger paste
- ½ teaspoon Garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon Cilantro (chopped)
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- â…› teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Tandoori masala
- 1 teaspoon Kasoori methi
- ¼ teaspoon Salt (to taste)
- â…› teaspoon Chaat masala (to taste)
Instructions
Marinate paneer tikka
- Add yogurt, oil, salt, and spices together in a mixing bowl and mix well using a whisk.⅓ cup Yogurt, 1 teaspoon Ginger paste, 1 teaspoon Oil, ⅛ teaspoon Turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon Tandoori masala, 1 teaspoon Kasoori methi, ¼ teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Garlic paste
- Add the cubed paneer, bell peppers, and onions and mix well to ensure it gets well coated by the mixture.1 cup Paneer, ½ cup Bell pepper, ½ cup Onion, 1 teaspoon Cilantro, ⅛ teaspoon Chaat masala
- Cover it and let it rest for about 2-3 hours.
Dry snacks
- Arrange the dried snacks in snack tray.½ cup Spicy sev, ½ cup Chips, ½ cup Farali mixture, ½ cup Bhakharwadi, 6-8 pieces Chakli
Condiments
- Arrange chutneys and tomato ketchup in dipping bowls.â…“ cup Tamarind date chutney, â…“ cup Ketchup, â…“ cup Cilantro chutney
Nuts
- Place dried nuts in bowls.½ cup Nuts
Sweets
- Arrange the sweets in trays.8 - 10 pieces Kaju katli, 8 - 10 pieces Laddu
Make Sev puri chaat
- Arrange the wheat crispies (puri) in a tray20 Puri (wheat crackers)
- On each puri, put a teaspoonful of mashed potatoes, chopped onions, green, and tamarind/date chutney. Sprinkle some salt and chaat masala.3 tablespoon Tamarind and date chutney, 3 tablespoon Green chutney, ½ teaspoon Chaat masala, Salt, 1 medium Potato, ½ cup Onion
- Put some thin gram noodles (sev) and garnish with chopped cilantro and optionally with a few drops of lime juice½ cup Bhel sev, Cilantro
Air fry frozen samosa and snacks
- Defrost the frozen snacks in the microwave.20 piece Frozen snacks
- Air fry defrosted frozen snacks in the air fryer for 8-12 minutes until golden brown.
- Arrange them along the sides of the main board.
Air fry paneer tikka.
- Arrange paneer tikka in small skewers and air fry for about 10 minutes at 400°F.
- Place paneer tikka at the center of the board on the slate.
Padma says
I never imagined that one could make this with Indian food. So creative!
Cindy says
Great suggestions and ideas! Everyone will love this snacking board!
Alpa Jain says
Hi Cindy,
I am glad you liked it!
Cheers,
Alpa