Curry in 30 minutes? You must be joking! It takes forever.
You are a trained cook – that’s why you can do it – not a normal person!
Indian food takes forever to cook, there is too much to prep … there are too many ingredients … there are too many steps.
And so it goes on! This is what people have been telling me for ages. Some of these sentiments I sympathise with and some I think are said out of a lack of knowledge.
So, I am on a mission to entice you all to cook a curry in under 30 minutes. In my book, 30 Minute Curries, I have thrown all the ‘chef processes’ out of the window and taken a practical and easy approach to Indian food.
Here’s how to make to work for you.
Freeze the basics
I take the pain out of cooking by pre-preparing a few things like onion paste, garlic paste and ginger-garlic paste, and in many recipes, I have used tomato paste in place of fresh tomatoes. This not only helps halve the cooking time, but also makes cooking these recipes even more fun.
I recommend making the pastes in a large enough batch to fit into zip-up freezer bags, and freezing them flat in the freezer to maximise space. Alternatively, I suggest you buy an ice cube tray (and use it specifically for the pastes or your ice cubes might taste funny) and freeze the pastes in tablespoon or teaspoon portions. Once frozen, tip the cubes into a freezer bag and store, and when you need a paste, as directed in the recipes, you can just take the amount you need and use it straight from frozen.
I recommend you freeze the ginger-garlic paste and onion paste in tablespoon portions and the garlic paste in teaspoon portions.
A healthier take
In writing the book the most beautiful thing happened and I have ended up with a rich variety of recipes that I have always wanted to write; the kind of recipes a parent would cook for their children at home. They are healthy, fun and creative, and will encourage you to experiment more. I cooked some of the recipes with my kids, and they absolutely loved it.
I wish every child were a foodie like my princess – Amisha! Little Arjun is a bit of a challenge for his mum and gran when they cook vegetarian meals at home. To beat his understanding of soggy, soupy vegetable preparations, I kept the vegetables in these recipes crunchy, zingy and sometimes leafy to tickle his palate with textures and win him over with gentle spice flavours. It worked incredibly well on him.
Source: Bloomsbury / Mike Cooper
I haven’t used any deep-frying at all in this entire book, and I have purposely kept the number of red meat dishes to a minimum, partly because some of the cuts are challenging to cook within 30 minutes and also because I wanted to take a healthy approach. I have also used low-fat yoghurt, almost no cream or cheese (other than paneer) and I have included turmeric in many recipes as it is universally seen as a superfood.
This is an edited extract from (Bloomsbury, hb, $39.99). is the Indian-born, British-based chef behind the Michelin-starred restaurant, Benares, in London. He is also involved in restaurants in Mumbai, Madrid and Dubai. Find him on , and .
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Cook the Book
This recipe is from Tamil Nadu, where they use peppers in every possible form, from black pepper to chilli peppers. What I love about food from this part of the world is that cooks balance hot spices like red chilli and black pepper with cooling spices like cinnamon, fennel and star anise.
Pepper chicken curry Source: Bloomsbury / Mike Cooper
Hailing from the coast of Bengal, this curry brings the best of tropical Indian flavours to your dinner table.
Prawn and coconut curry Source: Bloomsbury / Mike Cooper
The key to quick and easy curries, these pastes can be batch-made and frozen for your next curry craving!
Atul Kochhar's garlic and onion pastes Source: Bloomsbury / Mike Cooper
