WHEN I throw a party, the world lands up at my door! It's always been that way. I like to think they're coming because of my food. But a lot of people come out of curiosity to see my home and studio. It's an ancient East Indian home, the architecture is colonial Portuguese (I think!), and I have the most exquisite artefacts and furniture lying about the place. I'm besieged by advertising people who want to shoot here. They come, they shift everything around, they paint the walls to suit their commercials, then when they finish, I get them to repaint everything to a colour of my choice! Next time you come, you won't recognise the place! I entertain at least once a month. My guest list can be from five to 200. I do all the cooking. And I can cook anything. I invite whoever is around in my life, whoever is in touch with me at that month. My guest list can be from five to 200. I do all the cooking. And I can cook anything. I invite whoever is around in my life, whoever is in touch with me at that time. Plus I have about 10 favourite friends. I'm very lucky to have so many. Cooking is the easy part.

Decorating the home is the difficult thing. For today's luncheon, I struck a deal with a florist and got 200 orchids at 10 rupees each. A steal, you're telling me! And Colette, you know Colette Austin of Lintas (she's such an unbelievable painter!), comes to help in this work. She's damn creative. She can turn her hand to anything.

I make everybody help in the kitchen! Mum, Dad, my sisters, niece, the 14 tailors I have who carry out my design work, and Shiolin. Shiolin Shiesh is an amazing woman. She has reorganised my life. And what a brilliant Chinese chef! Thanks to her, I never have to leave my home. Shiolin goes to the markets to get the produce. And this is done for a big party at least three days in advance because marinations take time if you want the food to be good. So everything comes home to me. Then we are in the kitchen for days. Slogging!

I've always cooked with alcohol. I love alcohol. I think matured spirits add a flavour to food. A zing! And I try to use only Indian spirits. Who can afford foreign booze! I've no palate for them as well. A whisky is a whisky to me, RC and Scotch don't make a difference, as long as it gets me drunk! I don't care for wines, either. Never developed a taste for them. I smoke too much for my tongue to be sensitive to the finer tastes of good wine. But I will drink wine in Paris, Italy or London. The weather there is conducive. Here it's too hot. I don't even drink champagne. But beer, yes! I will insist on having beer even at formal sit-down dinners. I get the organisers mad!

Right from the start, people have raved about my food. And the start was when I was 21. My gosh, that's so many years ago! I was staying by myself in a flat at Bandra because I used to work nearby at a boutique called First Lady & Bada Saab. I began cooking to entertain friends. No day-to-day cooking for me. Ten years I lived alone, I had a party every Saturday night. I'd invite 25, and 200 would come! One bedroom would be for the food, another for the booze. The third bedroom, the hall and dining room, would be the party place. And the party would spill out onto the terrace. I still get people I don't know from Adam coming upto me and saying they had a great time at one of my parties. My God, I must have been very high then!

If you have an artistic eye, then nothing is beyond you. You can design, write, paint, decorate, do interiors, and even cook. It's that way with me. I started by baking rum and raisin biscuits. The biscuits were such a hit that I began taking orders. I had learnt some cooking at home by helping my mother, sisters and the maids in the kitchen. I used to do the sweets. Good cooking runs in the family. My aunt was a caterer and my grandfather used to manage the British dining cars for the railways. My mother's an amazing East Indian cook. I never learnt East Indian cooking. It's too complicated! I picked up what I know from friends and books. I refer to the Cheap Eats From Sydney. Then add my own touch. I love talking food and exchanging recipes. I'm neither gourmet nor gourmand. I'll eat dal and pickle with as much relish as a five-star meal. I hate going to restaurants. I don't like their food. And the prices! I've had an Oberoi Gourmet Card for three years but have not been there once. I go abroad to eat. I adore Greek, Lebanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Hungarian, German and Korean food. What's my favourite restaurant? Anant Ashram next door! It's 75 years old. The food's Karwari. It's cooked over wood-fires. And the seating's one table, one chair. What an unpretentious place! They actually threw out the New York Times food critic because he wanted to shoot photographs! I call for their Mutton Curry and have it at home with rice or chapatis. It's so deliciously spicy, I sweat like a pig. So I must eat alone... making a mess!

My cooking methods are simple. I bake, do a lot of steaming, shallow-frying and some deep-frying. The spices I use are red chilli, garlic, ginger, green chilli, mixed herbs, black pepper, and East Indian bottle masala. My Mum makes the masala once a year. It's like a garam masala. The funny thing is that my cooking is like my fashion designing. I love everything while I'm doing it. Then I hate it after that! I can't stand my fashion collections after the first week. And I can't eat my food after it is cooked and laid out. I'll join my guests in a drink, instead. I make an awesome punch! One bottle of Marquise de Pompadour, one-third bottle of Peach Schnapps, one-and-half bottle Citra, the juice of two limes, and crushed ice. It hits you!

What alcohols do I use with my food? Hmnn, for today's luncheon, I've made starters of asparagus in orange-lemon sauce deep-fried in golden batter and marinated with Grand Mariner. There's marinated spring onions filled with oyster and prawn cocktail in black bean sauce and tofu dressing, the marination's white wine. And I have pate with black orange and hardboiled eggs stuffed with penne and white sauce. What have I used here? Brandy!

There are salads, Chinese tossed greens with garlic and bamboo shoot, there's no alcohol here... Shiolin made it! But I've made a smoked capsicum and baby corn salad with tequila dressing. And olive and tofu with spring onions, sprouted beans, baby tomatoes and vodka dressing. I've made mushroom rice and French bread to go with the food. And my Mum's made foogias, these are sweet, East Indian breads made with a little dash of toddy!

Main courses are orange chicken with parma ham and beer. Veal escalopes wrapped around prawn in bechamel and tomato sauce, marinated in white wine. Lamb chops marinated with apricots, red chillies, black pepper and rum. Veg pie in khara biscuit and vodka. Carrot and cashew croquettes in Grand Mariner. The dessert's something! It's liquor dunked fruit on skewers with melted chocolate and nuts. There's mango in feni with star anise flower, kiwi fruit with vodka, oranges in Grand Mariner, lichees in vodka, strawberries and cherries in brandy. Oh dear, no wonder my friends say, at James Ferreria's place, if you don't get high on the booze, you will on the food!