Summer is undoubtedly the party season, and with summer soon to be on its way out, it's time to start planning the perfect party! It's easy to do – first decide on a theme (I'm going with Indian - great food, cocktails and decorations). Then make a guest list, pick out some delicious dishes, hit the $2 shops or your local emporium for some cheap decorations, and don't forget the cocktail ingredients!

Any backyard can be transformed into the perfect party setting. India is known for its vibrant colours, so wow your guests by turning your backyard into an Indian wonderland. Drape brightly coloured saris (or colourful fabric) around the place, and hang exotic lanterns all over the backyard. These can be made by cutting out designs in old tin cans and placing tealight candles inside them, otherwise check out local emporiums, craft stores and $2 shops. Create an amazing table centrepiece - an easy but effective idea is to take a glass bowl, put glass beads or marbles in it, fill it with water and float tealight candles or flowers in it. Also consider carefully placing a few incense sticks around the yard, and don't forget the soundtrack - think Bollywood!

Now for the food - one of the most important aspects of any good party. With Indian food, there is so much to choose from. Start with finger food - one of my favourite recipes is sweet potato kofta (please note that there are many variations to this recipe).

Ingredients:
500 g sweet potato, 2-3 finely cut Thai green chillies, 2 tbsp rice flour, 2 tsp anardana powder, pinch of grated nutmeg, 100 g soft paneer, oil (for frying), salt, pepper.

Method:
First, boil the sweet potatoes until tender, then peel and mash them when cool. Add the chillies, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Then, add the paneer and anardana powder and mix well. Now, add the rice flour (a little bit at a time) until the mixture thickens. Then form golf ball-sized balls. To cook, add oil to a skillet or wok (enough to shallow-fry the koftas). Add a few koftas at a time, and fry them on all sides until they are golden brown. Drain well and leave to cool down. Now they are ready to serve.

Other options for finger foods include kebabs, prawns rava fry, chicken tikka, baida roti and samosas. For the main course, curries are the way to go – butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, and palak paneer are great, to name a few. Plus, make sure you have plenty of naan bread.

Finally, what's a summer party without some fabulous cocktails? There are plenty of Indian-inspired cocktails out there (please note, there are also many variations of these cocktails), but here are two that I bet will go down a treat:

Indian Summer:
30 ml white rum, 30 ml dark rum, 60 ml pineapple juice, 30 ml grapefruit juice, 15 ml blackcurrent syrup, 1 splash of sprite.
In a tall glass, mix all of the ingredients together. Add ice, and then serve.

Mango Cosmopolitan:
60 ml mango infused rum, 30 ml Triple Sec, 30 ml cranberry juice, 15 ml mango juice, crushed ice, fresh mint leaves.

Add all ingredients (aside from mint leaves) to a shaker, shake well and pour into a cocktail glass. Garnish with fresh mint leaves before serving.