Hasan Minhaj takes research for his projects very seriously. Full-on-disguise seriously. “Baseball cap, COVID mask, super thick parka, hood on,” says Minhaj, the comedian, writer, and former Daily Show correspondent, about the days he spent in the stands of Bollywood dance competitions while writing his latest film, Best of the Best. 

Minhaj’s covert operations began after reminiscing about college with his co-writer, Prashanth Venkataramanujam. “At both of our universities, they had competitive collegiate Bollywood dance teams. We were both cracking up about when we would go to the competitions or to the culture shows,” says Minhaj. “They were filled with such intense drama, but it was also very intense comedy. This group of premed students, engineers, and future investment bankers was taking competitive collegiate Bollywood dance so seriously.”

The duo, whose collaboration on Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj earned a Peabody award, set out to pen a script that would celebrate the growing pains of young adulthood in the world of Bollywood fusion dance. With director Lena Khan and actors Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia on board, the world they crafted on the page dances to life. “This is a love letter to the seminal moment when many people from the South Asian community go to college and have a coming-of-age experience in which, not only is their culture celebrated, but there’s a specific type of homage to Bollywood dance,” says Minhaj. 

In the spirit of celebrating culture, Minhaj shares here his dream dinner party, complete with a table of storytellers and a colorful plate of home-cooked deliciousness. 

If I’m hosting, we’re doing it at our place. But it’s not because of me. It’s because my wife, Beena, is an incredible host. A dinner party is a conduit to great food, but you need great conversation too. And that’s only really possible at someone’s house. Our house is the party house. Every major event happens at our place. Summer evenings are the best for it, because it really doesn’t matter what part of North America you're in; summer nights are pretty fantastic. A nice, cool, let’s say between 66 degrees and 71 degrees summer evening. Oh my God, chef’s kiss.

For a great dinner party, you certainly want great conversationalists, so nobody can be a dud. You have to be able to carry your own. So, that means you’re funny, you have great stories, you’re extroverted, you're not a Debbie Downer, and you’re not going to do something weird or insane. So Ronny Chieng is definitely out. He will not be included, nor invited. He’s getting a Paperless Post that’s already on “not attending.” There’s no, "Yes, I will attend."

Michelle Buteau could co-host. She’s a supernova of pure joy and hilarity and love. She makes everyone feel so good about themselves. Ilana Glazer—not only is she just silly, funny, and hilarious, but she’ll dive into politics. Let’s chat it up about that. Ramy Youssef would probably bring Basha, his dog. Basha and Ramy kind of look the same, and that’s really adorable and cute. Trevor Noah is just charming, and we could talk about soccer, and that’d be really fun. Someone like Dennis Rodman would be interesting to ask, “What’s cool? What’s happening? What was North Korea like?” And Mindy Kaling — South Asian, comedic genius, icon. She’s the best. We don’t get to spend a ton of time together, so this would be a really fun opportunity to hang with her. Oh, and Michelle Obama. She's so down-to-earth, incredibly knowledgeable. She has this maternal wisdom to her. She’s seen every part of the roller-coaster ride of life. Bruce Lee would be great. A cultural film icon that we lost far too soon. Obviously, the movies that he made in Hong Kong were incredible, and they have influenced American cinema for such a long time. It’d be such a great conversation. Also, it would make Ronnie really jealous, because it’s someone he would want to meet. And I would hold this over his head, the fact that I got to hang out with the spirit of Bruce Lee and he didn’t.

I have a theory that Mexican food is the best food ever. Growing up, in both my house and Beena’s, our parents would make really special enchiladas. Beena makes these green and red enchiladas, which are just pound-for-pound incredible. We would have both of those types of enchiladas, and then the corresponding accouterments that come with your enchilada plate are just fantastic. So that means you have chips, guac, salsa, and sour cream.

It's also a very egalitarian dish; everybody has an access point to it. It’s a burrito, a taco, and it's kind of like a soup all at once. You get this gooeyness. With the chips, you get the crunch of a taco. It really doesn’t need an appetizer. If we were going to do an appetizer, a piping-hot tortilla soup is pretty fantastic. And then in terms of drinks, Beena makes these pretty great mint mojito mocktails. I love something that’s crisp and refreshing. We grow mint leaves in our backyard. So our kids love just picking them, and we put them in meals. Take those fresh mint leaves from the backyard and add a little bit of lime and sugar. Go light on the syrup. The club soda is great for the bubbliness. We have a very specific ice machine that makes nugget ice, so add those in too.

The last party we did — I mean, this is going to sound really basic — we did a hot sundae bar, and it was awesome. I go pretty hardcore with the ice cream. I will get different specialty ice creams. In Connecticut, where we live, there’s a local spot called Gopher Ice Cream. Then I’ll ship in ice cream. I’ll get Mitchell's ice cream from Ohio. And Jeni’s. Jeni’s is pretty great. I like to bring out flavors that respect everyone’s age. So, obviously, our younger audience is more of a sweeter sherbet type of energy. As I get older, I’ve found I’m slowly becoming my father: Pecan is, for some reason, one of my favorite flavors. Such is life. The big three toppings for me are chocolate fudge, hot caramel, and sliced almonds. It’s got to be sliced. It’s a texture thing. I don’t do crushed. We do crushed peanuts, but sliced almonds. And then store-bought whip. 

When we do enchilada night at the house and invite people over they ask, “What should I bring?” You can have them bring a side, so they can showcase their ability to put together a pico de gallo or a guacamole; a real reflection of your taste profile. How salty is your guac? How lemony is it? 

People always say, “Oh, you should try my salsa.” But it’s like, “Well, how hot is it?” You can have a thicker vegetable-y cubed up pico de gallo, or sometimes people will straight up get this liquid, magma, volcano-lava level stuff. Beena grew up in San Jose, which is famous for a super hot orange salsa at La Vic’s burritos. I’ll do a super hot salsa, but then I’ll mix it with sour cream to cut the heat. Let’s not create any gastrointestinal issues later in the evening.