Even before the state guest Singh and more than 300 other invitees were served some of the Indian delicacies at the huge tent pitched at the South Lawns of the White House, Obama set the tone by greeting in Hindi 'Aaapka Swagat Hai' (You are welcome).

Some of the dishes were prepared by the White House chef from the kitchen garden of the First Lady, Michelle Obama.

To begin with, the guests were served 'Potato and Eggplant Salad, White House Arugula With Onion Seed Vinaigrette', followed by 'Red Lentil Soup with Fresh Cheese.'

Then the guests were treated to 'Roasted Potato Dumplings With Tomato Chutney Chick Peas and Okra', 'Green Curry Prawns Caramelized Salsify with Smoked Collard Greens' and 'Coconut Aged Basmati'.

'Pumpkin Pie Tart Pear Tatin Whipped Cream and Caramel Sauce' was on their desert; and finally they were served 'Petits Fours and Coffee Cashew Brittle Pecan Pralines Passion Fruit and Vanilla Gelees Chocolate-Dipped Fruit.'

THE GUEST LIST:

According to the 'Washington Post', the guests list at the dinner includes Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, famed Hollywood director Steven Speilberg, Gayle King, Dr Sanjay Gupta and David Geffen.

Among the others that attended the White House veggie garden spoils hosted by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife Dr. Jill Biden Congressman Gary Ackerman, Indian-American hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, Deputy Chairman of the Indian Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, David Axelrod and his wife Susan Axelrod, Congressman Howard Berman and his wife Jane Berman, Robert O Blake, Jr., Assistant Secretaryof State for South and Central Asian Affairs, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Deputy National Security Advisor for Counter-terrorism, Homeland Security Council.

William Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, General James E Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Senator Bob Casey, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Senator Satveer Chaudhry, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Swati Dandekar, Senator Chris Dodd, White House Chief of Staff Rahm

Emanuel, New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman, Dr. Ashok S Ganguly, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Attorney General Eric Holder, Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, National Security Adviser General James Jones, Senator John Kerry, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri, US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke etc, also attended the dinner.