No matter how much the cost of convenience food rises, the idea that it’s still cheaper than cooking fresh food at home somehow refuses to go away. People can fool themselves as much as they like. But it’s (overpriced) pie in the sky.
To be economical, choose chicken thighs over breast; lamb shoulder over leg. Veg offcuts such as broccoli stalk (for soups) and ginger peel (to flavour Asian stock). Leftovers for egg fried rice. Stale bread for croutons. The freezer is your friend: not just for peas and berries, but spinach and an ice cube tray of leftover wine for cooking too. Oxo over refrigerated supermarket stock; Bird’s over fresh custard; lard over butter.
It’s handy to also use ingredients that don’t differ wildly between basic and premium versions. Despite a trend for upmarket jars, a bag of dried lentils from the supermarket or ethnic store often tastes as good as the fancier deli varieties.
Employing this principle, try making this easy and warming Indian daal. Priced at Tesco, a batch serving one person for five dinners came to £4.67. That price excludes the spices I had already (eschew Schwartz and buy instead in kilo bags from an ethnic store. So long as stored in airtight jars they will last for years).
Serve with basmati rice (again, much cheaper bought in 5-10kg bags from ethnic stores – Tilda or Laila are good brands). If you want to keep the cost and calories down, the additions of butter and bay leaves in the rice are optional, as is the coriander (which tends to divide opinion). You can leave out the spinach but I find it is a great way of getting some greens in. It is a moderately spiced daal and is done all in one pan for ease, rather than making a separate tempered oil as is traditional.
Once you’ve mastered the formula, you can substitute in any lentils, legumes, veg or meat. As a quick, nutritious and, above all, low-cost way of feeding yourself – or others – it takes some beating.
Makes five portions
What you need
- 250g red lentils (‘masoor daal’). (You can alternatively use split chickpeas/‘chana daal’, or a combination. Natco is a reliable brand but any will do.) You can soak the lentils for half an hour before, but it’s not necessary
- 3 tablespoons of flavourless oil (or ghee if you prefer)
- 2 teaspoons each of cumin seeds and black mustard seeds
- 2 dried red chillies, whole (optional) (or fresh green chillies if you prefer)
- 1 red onion (optional), finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- Thumb (about 2in) of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- A big handful of coriander, finely chopped (optional)
- A can of good quality chopped tinned tomatoes (e.g. Napolina or Cirio) or half a bottle of passata (or even a can of Heinz cream of tomato soup)
- 1½ teaspoons each of salt, turmeric, cumin and coriander powders
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1.3 litres of water
- 8-10 pucks of frozen spinach (about 350g)
- 1½ teaspoons of garam masala powder
- Half a lime or lemon
- A mug of basmati rice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 generous tablespoon of salted butter
- 3 fresh bay leaves (very easy to grow, for a lifetime of elevated rice)
What to do
- In a large saucepan heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and dried red chillies, and fry until the seeds sizzle (about 30 seconds), then add the finely chopped garlic and ginger, and onion if using (you may find it easiest to whizz them up in a little food processor – you want tiny pieces, not a paste). Fry it all for a few minutes, stirring regularly so nothing burns.
- Add the tinned tomato, the salt and all the powdered spices (except the garam masala). Let the sauce simmer away gently on a low heat for five minutes to cook out the raw flavour of the spices, stirring regularly.
- Put the lentils in a sieve and rinse under some running water. Add them to the pan, along with the water (boiling, from the kettle, to speed things up). Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the frozen spinach and cook for a further ten minutes.
- Meanwhile make the accompanying rice. Take a mug of rice and wash off the excess starch (the easiest way is putting it into a saucepan and massaging with your fingers under running water before draining). Add two mugs of boiling water to the pan (i.e. one part rice to two parts water). Add the salt, the butter and bay leaves, scrunched up to release their flavour. Cook, lid-on, on a very low heat for 11-12 minutes until fluffy (or a rice cooker works well).
- When the daal had had its 25 minutes of total cooking, turn off the heat and add the garam masala and fresh coriander (stalks and all), reserving a little for garnishing. Give it a good stir. Check the seasoning – you may need a touch more salt – and add some more water if you like a looser consistency.
- Serve in a bowl atop the rice with a sprinkling more of fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.
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