WASHINGTON (AP) — Plant-based courses of millet and stuffed mushrooms are on the menu for some 400 guests invited to Thursday's fancy White House state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi is a vegetarian and first lady Jill Biden enlisted California-based chef Nancy Curtis, whose specializes in plant-based cooking, to help in the kitchen. Biden previewed the menu and decor for the news media on Wednesday after she returned from an outing with the prime minister.
Guests will dine on a salad of marinated millet, corn and compressed watermelon, stuffed Portobello mushrooms and risotto, and a strawberry shortcake infused with rose and cardamom. A fish course will be available for guests who prefer that option.
Earlier Wednesday, the first lady and the Indian leader visited the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia, for an event highlighting workforce training programs. He flew in from New York, where earlier in the day he performed backbends and corpse poses during a yoga session with a multinational crowd on the lawn of the United Nations.
“Our universities are partnering together, leading research, creating apprenticeships and internships that span the ocean," Biden said at the event. "And as we’ve seen here, students from both countries are learning and growing alongside of each other, discovering the people they want to become and building a better world together.”
Modi spoke about the emphasis India has placed on education, integrating learning and training. “Our goal is to make this decade a ‘tech decade’ or ‘tech-ade,’” the prime minister said, speaking in Hindi.
President Joe Biden, who invited Modi for the state visit, was flying back from California after spending Monday and Tuesday there raising money for his reelection campaign. The president returned to Washington later Wednesday, and he and the first lady were hosting Modi at the White House for a more intimate dinner before Thursday's splashier affair.
Despite deep differences with India over its record on human rights and its approach to Russia's war in Ukraine, Biden nevertheless extended to Modi the administration's third invitation for a state visit. With all the pomp and attention being paid to Modi, Biden hopes to firm up his relationship with the leader of a country the U.S. believes will be a pivotal force in Asia for decades to come.
In a warmup of sorts to Thursday, the first lady arranged the science foundation visit for Modi, who leads one of the world's largest democracies with an estimated 1.4 billion people. She typically takes the spouse of a visiting leader on an outing in the Washington area, but Modi was traveling alone.
Afterward, the first lady returned to the White House to unveil the decor and menu for Thursday's state dinner, which is being held in a temporary pavilion erected on the South Grounds of the White House.
American violinist Joshua Bell; Penn Masala, a South Asian a cappella group; and the U.S. Marine Band will entertain guests after dinner.
