A breakfast party is ideal for a holiday or a Sunday and can be a light informal affair.

All you need to make are a couple of light dishes, along with some fruit and coffee or tea. A sweet ending is not really necessary, but we Indians miss no chance to indulge our sweet tooth. So you could have a dry sweet like barfi or milk cakes. Jalebis are an ideal morning sweet or you could even opt for rasgollas.

Toast and eggs (scrambled or omelet), upma (a semolina preparation), poha (made with flattened rice), a saboodana pulao, or even fried rice with lots of vegetables would do quite well.

For fruits you could serve melon, watermelon, papaya or grapefruit cut into bite-sized cubes. You could serve a mixed fruit-salad too along with these fruits or add chopped apples, sliced bananas, pomegranate seeds, cubed cucumbers and wedges of tomatoes.

Coffee or tea (lots of it) would wrap up the meal. If there are children, make sure you also have milk or fruit juice for them.

Personally, I find a Sunday brunch a most relaxing meal. Since guests are not expected to have had breakfast and will not be having lunch, the menu for this mid-morning must be a little heavier. You would need to plan two or three items, along with fruits, salad and tea/coffee/juice.

A Dosa-Idli menu is a great favorite. With accompaniments such as Sambhar and coconut chutney, it is a very substantial meal indeed. But unless you have help, be prepared to spend long hours at the kitchen frying hot, crisp dosas.

Another favorite is Chhola-Bhatura. The Chhola can be made ahead and re-heated. The dough for the Bhatura can be kneaded the previous night and kept in a cool place to rise. But yes, you will have to roll them out and fry hot batches. So try this only if you have help in the kitchen. Otherwise you can always substitute bhaturas with parathas.

A stuffed paratha brunch is also a welcome treat, especially during winter, when the market is flooded with a whole lot of appetizing vegetables. Grated cauliflower or radishes (Gobi or Mooli parathas), boiled and mashed potatoes (Aloo paratha), crumbled cottage cheese (Paneer paratha), or parathas stuffed with minced meat (Kheema paratha) make wonderful dishes for a holiday brunch. You can have an assorted range, so that guests can sample a variety of tastes. Serve the parathas with yogurt seasoned with salt, pepper, green chilies and chopped cilantro.

Another Bengali favorite is Puri-Aloo. The Aloo-sabji - a dry and spicy potato preparation can be made earlier and served with crisp puris.

Pav-Bhaji also makes for a good brunch idea. Bhaji – a spicy mix of vegetables all boiled, mashed and swimming in thick gravy – is mopped up with the ‘pav’ - a small bun.