Challenge: Part 3 of 3 in Dinner for six for under £30

For instalment three in my Dinner for six for under £30 challenge, I turned to my friend V for a lesson in Indian cookery. I love Indian food but it is emphatically not something I know how to cook at even a basic level.

As our party included a few vegetarians, V suggested a non-meat menu (thus ramping up the frugal factor even more). Our veggie feast included lentil dhal, curried courgettes, potatoes and peppers, basmati rice and, of course, plenty of naan bread.

V’s first tip to making Indian cookery relatively simple is to cook dishes at the same time and in the same way. By varying spices and other ingredients, you end up with very different dishes, but with a minimum of fuss.

A second tip is to make the dishes a day ahead and then just heat them on the night – the curry tastes just as good, if not better, and you have plenty of time to socialise.

The evening before… time to cook

First, we sliced 5 courgettes into coins, tossed with salt and set in a strainer.

Salted courgette slices draining before cooking

We then rinsed 2 cups lentils in cold water and then put them on to boil in at least 4 cups of water.

Boiling the lentils

Next step is to chop onions – 3 chopped finely for the lentils, 2 ½ into slices for the courgettes, and 2 ½ chopped finely for the potatoes.

Chopping the onions

Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil and a shake of salt in three pans, and then throw the onions in on medium heat. Voila, you now have a pot for each dish.

Three pots of onions... three curry dishes

From here, it’s all easy step-by-step stuff with slight variations for each dish…

To the dhal pot and to the courgettes pot, add a tablespoon each of cumin and mustard seeds; to the potatoes and pepper pot add 1 ½ teaspoon of each. Cook each dish over medium heat, stirring often, until the onions are brown – about 10 minutes.

Browning the onions, cumin and mustard seeds

Add 4 cloves minced garlic and the same amount grated ginger to each pot.

Grating the garlic and ginger

Now come the chilis. We added one whole birds eye chili to the dhal pot and just  ½ chili to the other pots. Make sure the chilis are finely chopped and be sure to include the seeds… and if you like it hotter, add more!

Keep cooking the onions and spices, stirring often, as they turn a deeper colour. When the mixture in each pot is looking very brown, add a generous teaspoon of turmeric – enough so it looks a deep, golden orange. Then add a generous teaspoon of garam masala. The photo below gives you an indication of the colour you’re going for.

This is the deep colour you're after

Cook further still, until the onions caramelise. It’s ok if the mixtures in the courgettes pot and the potatoes and peppers pot sticks to the bottom, as you’re about to add liquid.

Now each dish goes off in its own direction…

For the dhal: add ½ teaspoon paprika and ½ teaspoon coriander seeds to the dhal pot, plus a little hot water if the mixture sticks. Then pour this mixture into the lentils and water. Give it a stir and after five or so minutes add 1 tablespoon butter. After another ten or so minutes, add a handful of chopped fresh coriander.

Boil until the lentils are very well cooked and the mixture is thick and adheres together – you may need to add more water. Before you serve, taste and add more salt or chilli.

For the courgettes: add ¼ cup chopped tinned tomatoes and ¼ cup water to the caramelised mixture and cook until tomatoes are all broken up.

Rinse the courgettes to remove salt, shake off excess water and add to curry mixture. Then add in ½ teaspoon paprika and ½ teaspoon coriander seeds and cook, stirring gently, until courgettes are done (depends on how well cooked you like them).

The courgette curry, ready to serve

For the potatoes and peppers: add 4 cups boiling water and 2 large potatoes, chopped into medium-sized pieces. Follow this with ½ teaspoon paprika and ½ teaspoon coriander seeds and simmer over medium heat.

When the potatoes feel about halfway cooked, add 6 peppers (red, orange and yellow are nicest but green is ok too), each washed, seeded and chopped into quarters. Add more water, so everything is covered, then cook and reduce the dish down.

The evening of… time to eat

Heat each dish over low to medium heat, ladle into serving bowls and garnish with more fresh coriander. Serve with basmati rice, warm naan bread (we bought ours at the supermarket; you’ve got to draw the line somewhere!), yoghurt, chutney and, if you like, a salad.

Here’s the meal, ready to serve our six guests, each of whom arrived armed with an appetite and a bottle of wine.

Indian feast, ready to eat

Spent – £24.26 on lentils, rice, vegetables, chutney, naan, yoghurt and some spices – we already had a few in the cupboard.

Saved – the last Indian takeaway I ordered was around £18 for two people. Multiply that by three and you’ve got dinner for six for around £54. We saved £29.74 on this cost, plus our meal was reasonably healthy in addition to being rather tasty indeed.