indian chicken curry in balti dish
Some individuals never do a lot of cooking, even once they become adults. They might order pizza and other delivery options a lot, or they frequent McDonald’s, Burger King, and other fast-food restaurants. They might purchase lots of microwaveable meals at the grocery store.
If this sounds familiar to you, now might be the time to start cooking more of your own meals. Cooking can relax you, as it’s an activity you can enjoy on the weekends or a weeknight if you’re not too busy with other tasks. More importantly, it’s healthier and often cheaper if you cook your meals.
Getting food delivered is expensive, and things like pizza, burgers, and fried chicken aren’t exactly healthy in most instances. If you make your own food, you know exactly what goes into it, and you can make sure you get protein, fiber, and vitamins while staying away from too much saturated fat, sodium, and harmful additives.
With that in mind, let’s look at curry, a fantastic, versatile option you can frequently enjoy.
What’s So Great About Curry?
The summer is coming on, and that’s a busy time for many people. In addition to your usual work routine, you might have at-home projects to do as well. You may need a pro to check your gutters if you’ve got leaf debris clogging them, and you’ll need to mow your lawn often to keep it from looking overgrown.
The meals you prepare in your kitchen should not take very long, and they shouldn’t be too much of a challenge if you’re a neophyte cook. One of the nice things about curry is that you can make it pretty easily, and it’s relatively foolproof.
Several cultures have used and loved curry for centuries. There are both Indian and Thai versions. You can use many different ingredients if you want to make a pot of it, so you can often get some going without making any extra grocery store trips.
What’s a Basic Curry Recipe?
There are dozens of different curry styles, as you’ll see if you look at any Thai or Indian menu. You can get cream-based ones or ones that feature white vinegar as the main ingredient.
As one example, though, you can purchase a curry base that comes conveniently in a packet. The company Kitchens of India makes a very good one. You can locate them in grocery stores, or you can buy them on Amazon.
You can use either a regular pot on the stove, or else you can utilize an instant pot on the pressurized mode, which will cook the curry even faster. You can use lamb cubes as a base, cut up pieces of chicken breast or thigh meat, or you can use fish or pork. If you’re using pork, you can cut up boneless pieces from chops or loin.
Add the uncooked meat or fish pieces to the regular or instant pot. Then, cut up raw potato chunks if you have any. You can leave the potato skins on for extra fiber. Just make sure to wash them thoroughly beforehand.
You might also go with a bag of frozen peas, or you can cut up some carrots into small chunks. You can use beans as well, such as dark red kidney beans if you have a couple of cans.
What’s Next?
Next up, you will open the curry base and add it to the pot. Then, cover the ingredients with just enough water to submerge them. Stir the ingredients up thoroughly and turn on the fire.
If you’re using an instant pot on the high-pressure mode, you can set it for 30 minutes or so. The lid will lock in place, and you don’t need to do anything else for as long as the curry is cooking. If you’re using the regular pot, you should lower the heat once it boils. Stir it every 15 minutes, and it should be ready in a little over an hour.
Once you’ve cooked the veggies and meat all the way through, you can stir again vigorously, and your curry is ready to go. Make sure it cools first.
You have a satisfying dish that your family should love, which has all of the nutrients you need. It’s very low in fat and sodium. You can keep a few curry packets in your kitchen to make this frequently.
It won’t take long before you understand why curry has become such a staple for countries worldwide.
