A Healthy Indian Fakeaway!

When ordering a takeaway the bliss element is that you have a very convenient and easy meal full of yummy food for the family. The down side is the cost and, often, the calories. So… I have created (probably not terribly authentically so but it’s delicious all the same) a family feast of Indian food which is healthy, easy AND offers that selection of picky bits you usually only get with a takeaway. My Indian fakeaway is actually really good, maybe even better than a takeaway according to my husband and though it LOOKS faffy it really isn’t. The trick is to prepare some of the elements in advance and then it’s plain sailing to dinner!

The preparation in advance of the naan bread, onion bajis, daal and salad only adds to the flavour and the assembly time is a totally very minimal. So… Happy Indian dining and hope you like my recipes which are ones I’ve sort of adapted over the years from making each element and made my own but originally cane inspired from Gousto and Jamie Oliver mainly and little bits I’ve picked up along the way! The only things which are shop bought are the poppadoms and mango chutney which I just haven’t found the skills for yet but everything else is created from scratch and I assure you, you won’t regret making it all!

Indian-Spiced Chicken Tray Bake and Home-Made Raita

This is a dish we originally tried from a Gousto box and the original recipe is here. It’s SUPER easy to make and all in one dish which is helpful while it takes no time at all. I’ve made some adaptions in that I don’t bother marinating the chicken as I rarely find I have time. I just spoon the yogurt mixture over the top coating the chicken but also pouring it all over the top. I also add in some ground cumin and coriander to the yogurt mixture and use all the yogurt required rather than saving some for a dip. I make a different raita yogurt dip which I make in advance by grinding coriander seeds, cumin seeds, garam masala and a few chilli flakes then mixing them into thick and creamy Greek yogurt with a drizzle of olive oil and the zest and juice of half a lemon before adding in small cubes of cucumber.

You can also make this with boneless chicken thighs but my children won’t eat dark meat so we stick with the breast and the volume of yogurt means they stay super tender.

Spicy Coconut Daal

My other main dish is my creamy, coconut and chilli daal which again, like everything else is ridiculously easy and compared to the 8taste it seems impossible to have been made with such little fuss and time. Now this dish is my own but only because I’ve followed so many recipes for different daal that I’ve managed to incorporate them all using my favourite elements.

I chop 3 red onions very finely, grate 4 or 5 garlic cloves and slice a red chilli with seeds in tact before flying them in a little oil to soften. Next I add a mixture of one tbs curry powder, mustard seeds, cumin and ground coriander (1 tsp each) and fry for a minute before adding 300g or fed lentils, 600ml of vegetable stock and a can of coconut milk. Simmer for 25 minutes and serve with fresh red chillies, sliced spring onion and coriander on the top. You can make this a day in advance and it almost tastes even better if you do! Just heat it up before serving!

Home-Made Naan Bread

This is so simple and yet more delicious than any shop bought, or indeed, takeaway naan bread. I use this Jamie Oliver recipe and then often sub in garlic butter to brush over them with chopped coriander if I don’t fancy the normal melted butter and Nigella seeds. A top tip for this one is to make the dough in the morning and then dry fry them later. Another is to fry them and keep them in the oven before the butter brush (I use a silicon brush) which I do just before serving!

Onion Baji

Another little side which is way better home-made and yet isn’t half as much hassle as you might think. I follow this BBC Good Food recipe but I don’t pat the onions dry I just drain them and then add slightly less water to the batter, I use a mixture of red and shallot onions and I use a red chilli pepper if I don’t have a green, without depending but I like a bit of spice. I make it well in advance so the mixture is just good to go. If you want round ones you need a deep pan of oil but I just do flat ones in about half a CM of oil which has GOT to be healthier and is a lot easier in both cooking AND cleaning up!

Indian Salad

I make this salad for Mexican food too only then I omit the spices – it’s yummy so I make loads. Finely sliced red onions chopped a bit after slicing mixed with lime juice and zest as well as very small cubes of tomato (or baby tomatoes cut into quarters) a tiny amount of salt and pepper, a teaspoon mix of cumin and ground coriander and a glug of extra virgin olive oil. Finish it off with some chopped coriander and it’s delicious with shop bought mango chutney and poppadoms!

And that’s it. It seems a lot but with the bread, baji, daal, tray bake, salad and raita all are very able to be mainly made in advance and just final touches at the end are to be cooked while guests wait. It makes for quite a simple to put together, yet impressive meal to serve up for lots of people! And it’s super tasty AND healthy too!