How to Host a Dawat on a Budget (Without It Looking Cheap)

A dawat in Pakistan is about generosity, and nobody wants guests to feel the host was counting rupees. But with meat, oil and milk prices where they are, a dinner for twenty people can easily cost more than a week’s groceries. The good news is that most of the cost comes from a few decisions, and changing those decisions saves far more than cutting corners everywhere.

1. The meat decision matters most

Meat is usually more than half the cost of a dawat. At the example prices in our cost calculator, mutton costs about four times as much per kilo as chicken. For twenty guests, a mutton qorma needs around 3.3 kg of meat. Making it with chicken instead saves roughly Rs 6,500 at those prices, more than the cost of all the rice, oil and spices put together.

You don’t have to give up mutton completely. A popular approach is one mutton or beef dish and one chicken dish, rather than two mutton dishes. Beef is also much cheaper than mutton and works beautifully in qorma, nihari and kebabs.

2. One rice dish, one salan

The classic dawat combination is a rice dish and a salan, and it’s enough. A chicken biryani with a chicken qorma, or a pulao with a good meat curry, feeds a crowd well. Adding a third and fourth main dish increases cost and work but rarely makes guests happier. Put that effort into making the two dishes excellent.

3. Add cheap dishes guests actually love

Some of the most popular dishes at any dawat are inexpensive:

• Chana or daal: a pot of chana masala or daal costs little and fills plates.
• Salad and raita: kachumber and raita make the meal feel complete.
• Fresh roti or naan: from the local tandoor, cheaper than making extra rice.
• Shami kebabs: a little meat stretched with chana daal, and they can be made days ahead and frozen.

4. Make dessert at home

Bakery mithai and ice cream add up fast. A big pot of kheer, zarda or suji halwa costs a fraction of shop-bought sweets and is often what guests remember. Kheer and firni can be made the day before.

5. Skip the soft drinks

Bottled soft drinks are expensive for a crowd. A large jug of shikanjvi, rooh afza or lassi costs much less and feels more special. In winter, finish with doodh patti or qehwa.

6. Shop smart

• Buy meat from a butcher you trust, and order it a day ahead, cut how you need it.
• Buy rice, oil and spices in bulk from a wholesale market if you host often.
• Buy vegetables in the morning from the sabzi mandi or a weekly bazaar.
• Use what’s in season. Seasonal vegetables and fruit are always cheaper.

7. Cook the right amount

Leftover food is wasted money. Our dawat planner works out quantities for the number of guests and lets you choose a small, normal or generous portion size. It also adds up the cost, using example prices that you can change to match your local market. Our dawat menu planning guide has more on portions.

8. Make it look generous

How food is served matters as much as what’s served. Use big platters, garnish rice with fried onions and boiled eggs, add lemon wedges, green chillies and fresh coriander, and keep dishes topped up. A well-presented table of three or four dishes looks more generous than a crowded table of half-empty bowls.

A sample budget menu for 20

• Chicken biryani
• Beef or chicken qorma
• Chana masala
• Kachumber salad and raita
• Naan from the tandoor
• Kheer
• Shikanjvi, then chai

Put it into the planner with your local prices and you’ll see exactly where the money goes, and where you can save.