Made this for dinner, doubled everything listed as “to taste”, added ½ tsp no-salt, and added one bunch of non-baby spinach chopped up to the curry at the end. Served it over leftover rice for hubby and just had it as a soup myself, sprinkled with chopped cilantro and a little unsweetened coconut, then added a sprinkle of lime juice, which just brought the rest of it together.
Also, if you have access to it from Indian grocery stores or even British food emporiums, get yourself a jar of garlic ginger paste; it makes step one of most Indian foods and other ethnicities curries much easier to prep for and speeds everything up than much more.
Got extremely high marks from hubby, is very healthy, and if you make it with frozen spinach, is straight up pantry ingredients. Also very cheap stuff, and if you pay attention when buying your red curry paste and don’t get one with fish ingredients and don’t swap in bone broth for vegetable broth, the whole thing is vegan and a great
Might try swapping the tomato paste for a chopped tomato next time.
I made this for dinner last night. It really does come together quickly, and has minimal work. I have had consistent good luck with picking up italian sausage on markdown, so I’m always on the lookout for good recipes using it. This recipe is also single dish, so cleanup is about as easy as could be too! I had some leftover fresh herbs, so I tossed in a few sprigs of thyme, chopped fresh rosemary, and fresh oregano. I’m pretty sure that a good shake of italian seasoning would normally be a good idea. Overall, a good recipe I’ll add to my usual rotation.
BTW for recipes like this, you can swap the white wine for white grape juice or just more broth if you don’t have it or someone’s avoiding alcohol, and since the chicken is added back on at the end, you could leave out the chicken or cook it in a separate pan and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and the pasta will be vegetarian.
the new york times has such a great series of elevated butter noodles, if you ever want a super fast easy dinner that still feels grown up and you can emulsify pasta water + butter together basically the sky is your limit
ya got
gochujang butter noodles
peanut butter noodles
chili crisp fettuccine alfredo
miso butter noodles
any one of these + a bag of salad or whatever vegetable side you find easiest/cheapest, and you've got yourself a full meal that tastes far above the effort you put in.
Chicken tikka masala is a popular curried dish made with boneless chicken, ground spices, onions, tomatoes, cream and herbs
Holy shit this is good.
Yes get mustard oil, yes it will probably have a disclaimer on it about being for external use only but that’s a dumb American legal bullshit thing that gave us canola oil so don’t worry about that.
Use an air fryer for the chicken if you have one. Line it with foil for easy cleanup. I gotta use a coffee grinder on the cashews next time as that was the only real issue. I used Fage yoghurt and it worked well.
(sorry these recipes are going to be written in a stupid way). also i do use my instant pot a LOT so this may not be helpful if you don't have an instant pot
so my #1 most cooked food is an ultra-basic daal.
in the instant pot, heat up a few tbsp of ghee and fry 1tsp cumin seeds and 1/2tsp mustard seeds (this isn't authentic northern indian but w/e i like them in this) until they start popping. add in 1-2 diced onions and 1/4 tsp hing. fry until onions are golden brown. add 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tbsp chili powder (i use cayenne), 1 tbsp turmeric, salt or MSG (to taste), and fry until spices are aromatic. add 1-2" finely diced ginger, an equal amount of finely diced garlic, and (optional) a handful of diced small green chilis. fry for another minute. add 1-2 cups of dried beans (rinsed clean beforehand), either red lentils, toor daal (split pigeon peas), or chana daal (split chickpeas). if you're using chana daal you probably want to soak for an hour or so beforehand. for each cup of dried beans, add 2-3 cups water. optionally, drop in a bullion cube or use vegetable stock instead of water. pressure cook on high for 15 minutes (less for lentils), then natural release the pressure for 10 minutes. stir in 1 tsp of garam masala, 1 tbsp kasuri methi, lemon juice, and additional salt as needed. serve with rice and yogurt.
this keeps extremely well in the fridge all week.
i also recently made a carrot and lentil soup that was extremely good and follows... basically the exact same principles as above
in the instant pot, to a few tbsp of ghee, add 2 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp mustard seeds. fry until they sputter. add 2 chopped onions and 1/4 tsp hing, cook until onion is golden brown. add 2-3 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 cayenne powder (optional), and salt. cook until fragrant. add 1" ginger and several cloves of garlic, both chopped fine, and cook for another minute. add in ~1kg of chopped carrots, 1 cup dried lentils, and enough water or vegetable stock to cover (depends on your desired thickness, but you can always add more water later, so i'd err on the side of putting in less). pressure cook on high for 10 mins, allow to natural release. use a stick blender to blend the soup smooth. you can pass it through a fine mesh strainer if you want but i didn't-- it got smooth enough for me with just the stick blender. add 1-2tsp of garam masala and 1 tbsp kasuri methi. taste for salt. garnish [optionally] with a big spoonful of brown sugar in every bowl. you could also stir in cream/coconut milk/yogurt here for creaminess but tbh i just serve it with a dollop of yogurt at the end
i also really like to cook butter paneer but it's a bit more involved so i don't know the recipe for it off the top of my head. and also way less healthy so probably for the best that i have not memorized the recipe lmao. even more involved is malai kofta which also tastes really good-- i did write down my recipe for that one.
oh and and not a meal prep because it does not keep at all, but fried okra is unbelievably good. basic recipe
in a small amount of neutral oil, fry frozen okra pieces over medium heat until crispy (~10 mins). do not overcrowd the pan. when the okra is cooked, stir in 1tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp cayenne powder, [optional] garam masala, and salt to taste. serve immediately.
anyway all of this is adjust to taste + i am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. but i do make that daal recipe like once a week lmao
@st-just gonna throw my hat in the ring here too: my go-to “easy vegetarian fridge meal” is thai curry. This hinges entirely on you having access to decent thai curry paste, which IME means Mae Ploy:
NEVER BUY THAI KITCHEN CURRY PASTE. You can find this at more non-specialty groceries, but as soon as you mix it into any dish, it will taste like nothing.
For each type of curry, there are recipes you can follow, with specific vegetables and seasonings typically associated with each type. But at the most basic level, you can make a tasty and freezer-friendly meal by simply stir-frying some cubed tofu and whatever vegetables you have in curry paste and oil, adding canned coconut milk to taste, and serving over rice. If you put the curry (no rice—make that fresh or keep separate in fridge) in individual portions, it holds up great in the fridge and decently in the freezer, depending on the vegetables used and your tolerance for weird textures. :P
Fish sauce, brown sugar, and lime juice can all help level it up, and are easy to keep on hand. Check different curry recipes for amounts and ideas.
There’s a total of like 6 steps to stir fry and I just found like 8 ways I’ve been doing it less than ideally. Thank you for this! I’m definitely making stir fry this week and I’ll be using this to guide me.
My canonical The Beans recipe for the convenience of linking to people
Original recipe is here: https://www.wearesovegan.com/creamy-miso-coconut-butter-beans but the modified version in this post is betterrrr:
Ingredience:
olive oil
1 onion, peeled + sliced
1 can of cannellini beans*
1 can of chickpeas*
1 can of full-fat coconut milk
2 tbsp white miso paste
salt + pepper
100g (3.5oz) baby spinach
1 handful of fresh dill or parsley (I usually use parsley; The Beans are still delicious even with dried herbs, but use less)
1/2 lemon, juice only
some tasty fresh fuckin BREAD
*When I make a double batch (and I always make a double batch, you should too at least if you're cooking for a group) I do 3 cans cannellini beans and 1 can chickpeas-- I think this is the ideal ratio but it's not very practical to do in a single batch
Steps:
Drizzle a splash of olive oil in a large pan or pot on a low-medium heat. Next add the onion and cook for 6-8 minutes or until the onion turns translucent (you don’t want to brown the onion).
Add the beans - including all the juices from the tins - into the pan. Then turn the heat up and cook for 5-8 minutes or until some of the liquid has reduced.
While you're waiting, here's some prep you can do in anticipation of later steps:
A. Put the miso paste into a small bowl and ladle a bit of the hot liquid in. Stir it around to dissolve. (This saves you from intractable undissolved miso clumps in the final product later)
B. Chop the herbs if you got herbs that need to be chopped
Pour in the coconut milk. (You can reserve a few dollops of the cream for topping later if you want to be fancy, but I never bother).
Stir in the miso paste (dissolve it first if you haven't already!) and a generous pinch of pepper, then cook for a minute. Go a bit longer if the broth seems too runny, but it's probably fine.
Stir in the spinach and cook for another minute until it has wilted.
Chop most of the dill/parsley if you didn't already (save a few leaves for topping later if you want to be fancy) then add the chopped dill into the pan along with the lemon juice.
Give everything a good stir, then taste the sauce and season with salt and more pepper, if necessary.
Remove the pan from the heat (and if you chose the Fancy Life, top with the remaining dill leaves, a splash of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and dollops of the remaining coconut cream.)
Serve with toasted bread for dunking into the creamy beans oh my god do not neglect the bread dunking bread dunking is THE POINT.
Congratulations! You are now enjoying The Beans!
---
Doubled version of this recipe under the cut for my own benefit, so I can glance at it without having to remember to double everything:
THE BEANS DOUBLE DASH:
Ingredience:
olive oil
2 onions, peeled + sliced
3 cans of cannellini beans
1 can of chickpeas
2 cans of full-fat coconut milk
4 tbsp white miso paste
salt + pepper
200g (7oz) baby spinach
a whole bunch (double handful?) of fresh dill or parsley (I usually use parsley; The Beans are still delicious even with dried herbs, but use less)
1 lemon, juice only
some tasty fresh fuckin BREAD
Steps:
Drizzle a splash of olive oil in a large pan or pot on a low-medium heat. Next add the onion and cook for 6-8 minutes or until the onion turns translucent (you don’t want to brown the onion).
Add the beans - including all the juices from the tins - into the pan. Then turn the heat up and cook for 7-10 minutes or until some of the liquid has reduced.
While you're waiting, here's some prep you can do in anticipation of later steps:
A. Put the miso paste into a small bowl and ladle a bit of the hot liquid in. Stir it around to dissolve. (This saves you from intractable undissolved miso clumps in the final product later)
B. Chop the herbs if you got herbs that need to be chopped
Pour in the coconut milk. (You can reserve a few dollops of the cream for topping later if you want to be fancy, but I never bother).
Stir in the miso paste (dissolve it first if you haven't already!) and a generous pinch of pepper, then cook for a minute. Go a bit longer if the broth seems too runny, but it's probably fine.
Stir in the spinach and cook for another minute until it has wilted.
Chop most of the dill/parsley if you didn't already (save a few leaves for topping later if you want to be fancy) then add the chopped dill into the pan along with the lemon juice.
Give everything a good stir, then taste the sauce and season with salt and more pepper, if necessary.
Remove the pan from the heat (and if you chose the Fancy Life, top with the remaining dill leaves, a splash of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and dollops of the remaining coconut cream.)
Serve with toasted bread for dunking into the creamy beans oh my god do not neglect the bread dunking bread dunking is THE POINT.
Congratulations!! You are now enjoying The Beans but twice as much!!
eng subs requested, however as this is an instructional video please take it with a grain of salt as i cant promise a perfect translation! if you spot any mistakes please lmk~
Boil eggs (starting from hot but not rapidly boiling water) for 6 mins on med heat, then put in cold water and let cool. Then peel. (eggs shouldn't be too hard, they should feel a little soft)
put eggs and rest of ingredients in a large container with a lid. Mix well, then refrigerate overnight, eggs should be resting in the sauce, so don't choose an overly large container.
once soaked, eat within 3 days
(bonus recipe too:
1 tbsp sesame paste + 2-3 tablespoons of the egg sauce, while mixing, until it becomes thin and creamy. Add half a spoonful of Zhenjiang vinegar (from the notes, video says balsamic instead) and half a spoonful of chili oil. Add cooked noodles and cucumber strips, mix. Add one of the eggs, sliced, and garnish with white sesame
Srishti’s enthusiasm would have anyone heading to the kitchen. There’s a definite Bollywood vibe to her performance. :-D
It’s like the way I often cook for myself nowadays, and not just curries. “Chuck it in, mix it up and let it do its thing” works for chilli, goulash, tajine, eintopf - in fact most stew-ish dishes whatever their nationality. They’re meant to be low-maintenance, that’s the whole point.
Much practice means I’ve got the knack of knowing what / how much spices / seasonings work with what meat, fish, chicken, veg, pulses…
Put crushed caraway seeds in goulash, a chunk of plain chocolate or sprinkle of cocoa in chilli, a big pinch of cinnamon and a dash of lemon juice in chicken with tomatoes… That kind of thing.
Then there was the time I made a “we’re-out-of-tamarind?” fake-out for a green lentil & brown basmati khichri. The fake involved HP sauce, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and crossed fingers, and worked far better than expected - but then HP sauce has tamarind in it already and IMO thanks to the Raj there’s some much older Indian relish in its ancestry.
Don’t worry about forgetting salt: add it later - that’s what ”taste and adjust seasoning” means - and if you know the people at table salt their food before they try it anyway (as so many do) don’t bother. Not enough salt is easy to fix, too much salt is there for keeps.
Cultural diff means I’m okay with beef, also pork.
AFAIK pork mostly belongs in Keralan and Goan cuisine, especially pork vindaloo, though proper vindaloo is far more subtle than the Brit curry-house standard. I read somewhere years ago that the old Imperial Mughals were at ease with wild boar, treating it as clean “game” not unclean “pork”, but don’t quote me. Lamb, mutton and goat also really go well with Indian spicing.
Lentils, chickpeas, beans etc. (dhal - it’s a class of lentil dishes, but AFAIK also just means “pulses”) didn’t get mentioned, but you can sub them for meat in anything, so long as you cook them properly.
If you do add cubed meat or paneer (pressed curd cheese), then depending on proportions of ingredients that lentil-rice khichri from earlier becomes a sort of dhansak, biryani or pilau. For this sort of cooking the names don’t matter, the tastes do, and the tastes are good.
Dried lentils and dried split peas will cook in a masala (spiced veg base) in about 1 - 1½ hours without advance work; just add a bit more water for them to absorb. Chickpeas / kidney beans need soaked overnight to get them cooking-ready; do lots, drain, divide into recipe amounts, bag and freeze. If you use tinned; drain and rinse them to get rid of excess salt / sugar in the packing water.
The finished food freezes fine (ah, alliteration!) and if your takeaway delivers in those little plastic containers with snap-on lids, stop chucking them out because you’ve got portion-size freezer boxes right there.
Use one for the main and another for the starch (rice, couscous, pasta, noodles, mashed spuds, pommes dauphinoise*, whatever): defrost and nuke one of each and you have a light meal for two or a solid meal for one.
(*NB, must do something about my Firefox spellchecker: “pommies diaphanous” isn’t a side dish I recognise, but conjures up some very odd mental images…)
But for now I’m going to watch that video again. :-D
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