Enjoying a massive Indian takeaway feast on a Friday night is surely one of life’s biggest pleasures. Well, do you know what? Making it yourself is actually even better; it’s healthier, tastier, cheaper and your pals will massively appreciate all your effort. Honest.
It’s a myth that Indian food is hard to cook too. Just get yourself a few store-cupboard staples and raid that spice rack and you need never open your Hungry House app again. We’ve rounded up a few of our favourite curry house staples that you can 100% do yourself, plus we’ve thrown in a recipe for samosas at the end for the truly committed amongst you (if you pop to the shops for some instead we won’t tell!). Knock yourselves out with this little lot: our’s is a Cobra, thanks. Pass the naan.
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1. Prawn Saag
A quick, super easy Indian dish that looks more impressive than it is.
You will need:
About 6 pucks of frozen spinach
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 puck frozen ginger (gamechanger)
1 green chilli
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbdp garam masala
200g prawns
Ghee
What to do:
Defrost your spinach and squeeze as much water out as you can. Set it aside. Cook the onion and garlic down with the ginger, chilli, turmeric and garam masala in a good tablespoon of ghee until the onions are soft. Add the spinach and prawns, mixing it all in well. The dish is cooked once the prawns are pink throughout. Season well with plenty of salt. Some people like to add a dash of cream at the end too, it’s up to you depending on how wet you like your saag.
2. Chicken Shashlik
Easy-peasy Indian chicken kebabs. Leave them to marinate as long as possible for best results.
You will need:
400g chicken thigh fillets or diced thigh
2 peppers, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 puck frozen ginger (defrosted)
Plenty of garlic, chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp hot chilli powder
80g natural yoghurt
8 bamboo skewers
What to do:
Mix together the ginger, garlic, yoghurt and spices in a large bowl, then add in the chicken and veg chunks. Cover and refrigerate for 1-24 hours. Soak your bamboo skewers in water until they are needed. When you’re ready to start cooking, preheat your grill and start threading the chicken and veggies onto the skewers, shaking off any excess marinade as you go. Place on a foil lined baking tray and grill for around 15 minutes, turning halfway – don’t be afraid of a little charring, it will make it taste even better. Serve hot.
3. Tarka daal
A delicious side dish that we can almost pretend is healthy. Make loads and freeze it for lazy days.
You will need:
200g chana daal
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp turmeric
A few curry leaves
Coconut oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 red chilli
2 cloves garlic, chopped
What to do:
Soak the daal in cold water for half an hour or so. Rinse and place in a saucepan, covering with water so that there is an extra inch or so above the lentils. Add the turmeric, cinnamon stick and curry leaves and leave to simmer away for around 40 minutes, adding more water if it looks dry. Once youhave the consistency and texture you like, take it off the heat and make the ‘tarka’ part. All this means is gently frying some spices in oil to release their flavour. We suggest a good two tablespoons of coconut oil, gently heated to fry the mustard seeds, garlic, chilli and cumin, but you can use any spice you like. Once it starts to smell fabulous, take it off the heat and pour all over the daal to serve.
4. Samosas
These are incredibly simple, but do require a little bit of work. However, we guarantee once you’ve
made your own, you’ll never look back.
You will need:
250g lamb mince
1 small onion, chopped
80g peas
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 puck frozen ginger
Plenty of garlic
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 green chilli
Tortilla wraps
Sunflower oil
1 egg or 1 tbsp flour
**What to do: **
Start by making the filling, cooking down the lamb mince and onion with garlic, cumin, chilli, garam masala and ginger. Once its fully browned and the onions are softening, add the potatoes, peas and 200 ml water. Cover and leave to simmer until the water is fully absorbed and the potatoes are soft. Leave to cool slightly. Now, take a medium sized saucepan and half fill with oil. Gently heat over a medium flame (do take care, hot oil is very dangerous!). Meanwhile, assemble your samosas by cutting the tortilla wraps into quarters. Take one quarter, place a generous spoonful of lamb mix in the centre and brush all around the edges with either egg or a flour/water mix to form a paste. Fold and seal, just like a samosa. It is so important that the edges are sealed, otherwise the filling will seep out of the samosa during frying. Repeat until you have no filling left. Fry the samosas in batches of three or four, making sure you don’t leave the pan unattended. They’ll take a minute or two each side, then lift them out using a slotted spoon and drain onto kitchen towel. Eat hot.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.