We had a few people over for New Year's Eve: Mike, Robert, Sara, Willis and his friend Patrick, and James. We cleaned the house and made some food and had some drinks and saw 311 and Three Doors Down and Dick Clark and the robo-Bangles on TV.

Dumplings
1 pkg spinach potsticker wrappers (the round kind)

About 1 cup pea sprouts (about 1/3 of a bag)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch chives
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp sugar
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in a little water
1 egg

1/2 bag frozen Morningstar Farms veggie meat crumbles

Chop all filling ingredients except the meat crumbles in a food processor. Stir in the crumbles. Drain the filling in a strainer, then use it to fill the wrappers, sealing the edge of each dumpling with water. Deep-fry in batches in about 1/2 inch oil. We had a few wrappers left over; we filled these with cream cheese.

Dipping Sauce
Add a bit of each, to taste:
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Sriracha sauce
Sugar
Rice wine vinegar
Hot chili flakes

Bhel puri
Mix together:
2 cups or so puffed rice (not Rice Krispies)
1 medium Roma tomato, seeded and chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped very finely
1 small sprig mint, chopped
About 1/2 tsp cumin
Salt
Pepper
Hot chili flakes

Dressing:
About 1 Tbsp tamarind molasses
About 2-3 Tbsp sugar
About 3 Tbsp water
Mix together until the mixture is tangy but not overpoweringly sour or strong.

Pour the dressing over the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Eat right away or it will get soggy. If it does get soggy, mix with some more fresh puffed rice just before eating, so you have something crunchy in the mixture.

We also made some pizzas with TJ's pizza dough and pizza sauce, fresh herbs (basil and oregano), mozzarella, and toppings including caramelized onions, black olives, and fake Italian sausage.

As for store-bought foods, we also served grapes, chocolate chip meringues, broccoli and baby carrots with hummus, and crackers with brie and chevre. Robert brought some wonderful ice cream, Willis brought some wonderful chocolates. We had lots of drinks. I made batter for mustard seed dosas, but Rahul said I shouldn't make them for the party, so I guess I'll have them later.

Mustard Seed Dosas (from Madhur Jaffrey)
1 cup rice flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup plain yogurt (sour is better)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut (we used frozen)
1 tsp salt (I don't remember the exact amount)
1 tsp pepper (ditto)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (ditto)
some hot pepper flakes or fresh hot pepper

Blend the above ingredients in the food processor until completely smooth.

Fry 1 tsp mustard seeds (?) in 4 Tbsp (?) oil until they pop, then stir them into the batter.

Fry the dosas in a pan, smoothing them down with the back of a spoon until they are very thin.