skint 'takeaways'
I've put three early posts I wrote on how to make cheap Indian, chip shop and pizza 'takeaways' at home here on the one page.
no 1: masala lamb chops, dal + naan bread
Although it pained him to do so, Huey, AKA @BambuniNunhead, pointed out to me the other day that my photos are a bag of shite. He's right of course. I can't even blame the camera, cheap though it is. I just haven't got a scooby. So I'm sorry if the one above lacks the 'wow' factor. Because 'wow' is definitely what is called for here.
This is kind of my default takeaway order but, especially as any order for free home delivery usually has to hit the £12-£14 mark, it's something of a rare treat. So I thought I'd make it at home.
I made the dal and marinaded the cutlets the night before I ate and the naan dough at noon on the day. Of course, you could always just buy the naan's if you haven't got time, but they wouldn't be as nice.
The ingredients I had to buy specifically for this meal were: lamb cutlets, fresh yeast, ginger garlic paste, green chilli paste, coriander, turmeric, lime, onion, tomato, chillies, ginger and garam masala - the rest I already had.
I bought the eight lamb cutlets from United Meats, the yeast from Ayres and the rest from Khan's. The total cost was £10.50 (Khan's, with patrician disdain, threw in the pathetic bag of two chillies and the one tiny lime for nothing). The lamb cutlets cost £4. The same day, a rack of six cutlets from William Rose was £9 - three times as expensive. I know what you're going to say, but I like United Meats and their lamb is very tasty. (Incidentally, they have a Southwark Scores on the Doors rating of 4/5. William Rose have 5/5 but their East Dulwich Grove branch has only 1/5. As does East Dulwich Deli.)
If you removed the £3.96 cost of the pastes and spices, which will be in the cupboard for a goodly while now, and added in the price of the flour, yoghurt and eggs, the cost of this for two people would be almost exactly a tenner - much cheaper than picking up the phone and laying out £24 or so. Add £1 for DVD rental from Peckham library and you're hot to trot.
I bought the eight lamb cutlets from United Meats, the yeast from Ayres and the rest from Khan's. The total cost was £10.50 (Khan's, with patrician disdain, threw in the pathetic bag of two chillies and the one tiny lime for nothing). The lamb cutlets cost £4. The same day, a rack of six cutlets from William Rose was £9 - three times as expensive. I know what you're going to say, but I like United Meats and their lamb is very tasty. (Incidentally, they have a Southwark Scores on the Doors rating of 4/5. William Rose have 5/5 but their East Dulwich Grove branch has only 1/5. As does East Dulwich Deli.)
If you removed the £3.96 cost of the pastes and spices, which will be in the cupboard for a goodly while now, and added in the price of the flour, yoghurt and eggs, the cost of this for two people would be almost exactly a tenner - much cheaper than picking up the phone and laying out £24 or so. Add £1 for DVD rental from Peckham library and you're hot to trot.
masala lamb cutlets
Different recipes call for different methods of cooking the cutlets - some favour griddling over a fairly high heat, some a slower cooking in a frying pan and some suggest an oven method. I wanted the charring you get from a griddle, so that's the route I went. There isn't much chilli heat to these (though there is enough for me in the dal), just that from the green chilli paste; so if you're a chilli-hound you may want to add some.
serves 2
8-10 lamb cutlets
3 tbsps plain/greek yoghurt
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp green chilli paste
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp ground cumin
a pinch of ground cloves
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
½ lime, juiced
a pinch of salt
vegetable oil
2 quarters of a lime
Mix everything together, except the lamb, oil and the second ½ lime, in a large bowl. Add the cutlets, making sure each one is well coated. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge for 4-24 hours. Remove from the fridge an hour before cooking. Drizzle a little oil over the top of the cutlets and place them that side down on a smoking hot griddle/frying pan. Grill the cutlets for 3-4 minutes, drizzle some more oil over and flip. Cook for 3-4 minutes more. This should get you a charred exterior, but with a little pink in the middle still. You may prefer to cook them a minute or two longer. Serve with the lime quarters.
serves 2
8-10 lamb cutlets
3 tbsps plain/greek yoghurt
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp green chilli paste
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp ground cumin
a pinch of ground cloves
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
½ lime, juiced
a pinch of salt
vegetable oil
2 quarters of a lime
Mix everything together, except the lamb, oil and the second ½ lime, in a large bowl. Add the cutlets, making sure each one is well coated. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge for 4-24 hours. Remove from the fridge an hour before cooking. Drizzle a little oil over the top of the cutlets and place them that side down on a smoking hot griddle/frying pan. Grill the cutlets for 3-4 minutes, drizzle some more oil over and flip. Cook for 3-4 minutes more. This should get you a charred exterior, but with a little pink in the middle still. You may prefer to cook them a minute or two longer. Serve with the lime quarters.
dal
This is a recipe from Anjum Anand, adapted slightly and the amounts altered to serve two people. It was absolutely delicious.
serves 2
125g chana dal (or yellow split peas)
500ml water
2 dsps vegetable oil
1 dsp cumin seeds
½ onion, thinly sliced (original recipe specifies chopped - up to you)
2 whole green chillies, pricked with a knife
10ml piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into very thin strips
2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
1 tomato, chopped
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
salt + black pepper
a handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Put the lentils and water in a pan, stir well and bring to the boil. Skim off the froth that comes to the surface. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 35-40 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.
Remove the pan from the heat, drain off about 100ml of liquid - to use as necessary later - and beat with a wooden spoon to break down the lentils. Allow the mixture to cool.
Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, and fry for 30 seconds or so. Add the onion, chillies and ginger, and fry until golden brown.
Blitz the garlic and tomatoes in a processor (I've got one of those little mini ones). Add the purée to the pan, and stir. Add the turmeric, garam masala, coriander, and a splash of the dal liquid and stir again. Season to taste, cover with a lid, slightly askew, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Add the cooked lentils to the sauce, and stir well, adding more dal liquid as necessary to loosen the mixture. Bring to a boil and check for seasoning. Stir in the chopped coriander just before serving.
serves 2
125g chana dal (or yellow split peas)
500ml water
2 dsps vegetable oil
1 dsp cumin seeds
½ onion, thinly sliced (original recipe specifies chopped - up to you)
2 whole green chillies, pricked with a knife
10ml piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into very thin strips
2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
1 tomato, chopped
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
salt + black pepper
a handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Put the lentils and water in a pan, stir well and bring to the boil. Skim off the froth that comes to the surface. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 35-40 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.
Remove the pan from the heat, drain off about 100ml of liquid - to use as necessary later - and beat with a wooden spoon to break down the lentils. Allow the mixture to cool.
Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, and fry for 30 seconds or so. Add the onion, chillies and ginger, and fry until golden brown.
Blitz the garlic and tomatoes in a processor (I've got one of those little mini ones). Add the purée to the pan, and stir. Add the turmeric, garam masala, coriander, and a splash of the dal liquid and stir again. Season to taste, cover with a lid, slightly askew, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Add the cooked lentils to the sauce, and stir well, adding more dal liquid as necessary to loosen the mixture. Bring to a boil and check for seasoning. Stir in the chopped coriander just before serving.
stove top naan bread
This recipe is from the website of The Curry Guy (there's a video there of yer man making one, which I found useful) and makes, I guess, about 16 frying pan-sized breads. I made the full amount, cooked four naan's on the night and put the dough I didn't use in the freezer in individual portions (not sure how that will turn out, but I do it with pizza dough so...). Next time I'll make a third of the amount and see how that works out.
300ml milk
50g fresh yeast
2 tbsps sugar
a scant 1 tbsp salt
900g plain white flour
2 tbsps baking powder
300ml plain greek yoghurt
3 eggs
extra flour for dusting
3 tbsps melted butter
Heat the milk in a jug in the microwave or on the hob until it is hand hot. Crumble in the fresh yeast, sugar and salt and whisk it all together. Cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place for about 20 minutes. Now sift the flour into a large bowl and add the baking powder. Lightly beat the eggs and yoghurt and add to the flour.
When the yeast/milk mixture has bubbled up, pour it into the bowl and mix everything to combine. At this point it will be quite wet and sticky. Dump it onto a floured work surface and knead for about ten minutes, sprinkling more flour on the dough and your hands as necessary, until you have a soft and still slightly sticky dough ball.
Place the naan dough back in the bowl and allow to rise for at least one hour and up to 24 hours. The longer the better.
When you're ready, heat a dry frying pan over a high heat. Tear off a chunk of dough about the size of a tennis ball. Roll the dough out into a flat circular disc that is nice and thin and will fit into your pan. Place onto the hot pan.
The naan will begin to cook on the underside and then bubble on the top. Check the bottom regularly to ensure it doesn’t burn. If it begins to get too dark, turn the naan over to get a bit of colour on the top. Spoon a little melted butter over the bubbly top of the naan.
Each naan should take you no more than a couple of minutes to make. Keep them warm while making the next by wrapping loosely in tin foil and placing in a very low oven.
no. 2: fish, chips + mushy peas
This 260g piece of coley cost me £2.07 (from Soper's).
There are many wonderful dishes made around the world using dried peas in a variety of ingenious ways. Britain's contribution is to soak marrowfat peas overnight, boil the little buggers into a gloopy slop, add salt and colour them a lurid, radioactive green. There should be no earthly reason why any one would ever willingly eat this; yet if I'm having fish and chips they simply have to be accompanied by mushy peas.
I was going to include a recipe for them but, really, what's the point? You're only going to go and buy a tin of the stuff. And, quite frankly, so am I. In the supermarket, dried marrowfat peas were £1.96/kg. An own label tin of mushy peas was 57p/kg. I went the deluxe route and bought a tin from Harry Ramsden's for 45p. I should declare that I foppishly enlivened the peas with mint, lemon juice and black pepper. This is dangerously close to the other option - a purée, using frozen peas or petit pois. There's a story that a man in Lancashire once served this to a group of family and close friends. I understand he now lives in Bangkok. I include his recipe - serve it at your peril.
I've also included a 'cheat's' recipe for tartare sauce using a good quality bought mayonnaise (which is a long-winded way of saying 'Hellmann's').
The last time I went to a chip shop I had haddock, chips and mushy peas and it cost me £10.50 (I ate in; a takeaway would have been £8.50). The meal was dire - the chips were dry and undercooked and the batter was translucent and flabby. The meal here, including allowances for each and every ingredient (assuming the oil is re-used a few times) cost about £3.50 for one person. And was delicious.
fish in batter
serves one
1 coley fillet
salt + black pepper
75g plain flour, plus some for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
a good pinch of salt
about 100-125ml ice-cold water (you can use sparkling water or soda water if you want)
about 1.5 litres of sunflower oil
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Whisk in water until you have a thick, smooth batter. Heat the oil to 185C (I'd definitely recommend using a thermometer here). Season the fish fillet, dust with flour and dip into the batter, making sure it is evenly coated. Fry for approximately 4-6 minutes, until wonderfully golden. Drain on kitchen paper.
1 coley fillet
salt + black pepper
75g plain flour, plus some for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
a good pinch of salt
about 100-125ml ice-cold water (you can use sparkling water or soda water if you want)
about 1.5 litres of sunflower oil
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Whisk in water until you have a thick, smooth batter. Heat the oil to 185C (I'd definitely recommend using a thermometer here). Season the fish fillet, dust with flour and dip into the batter, making sure it is evenly coated. Fry for approximately 4-6 minutes, until wonderfully golden. Drain on kitchen paper.
oven chips
large king edward or maris piper potatoes olive or groundnut oil
coarse sea salt
Peel or not - it's up to you. Cut each potato into 8 to 12 wedges, depending on the size of the potato and how chunky you want your chips to be. You want the curved edges still just wide enough so they'll stand up in the roasting tin. Put in a colander and steam over boiling water, covered, for about 10 minutes. Remove and leave to dry. If you think the chips are robust enough, shake the colander to fluff them up a bit. Other wise, scrape gently with the tines of a fork. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C. Brush the bottom of a roasting tray with oil; put the potato wedges in curved side down and drizzle with more oil. A few will break up during cooking/turning. No matter - more crispy bits. Roast for about 40 minutes, turning a couple of times. If they are not golden and crisp by this time, whack up the oven to its hottest setting for a few minutes. Season with sea salt.
coarse sea salt
Peel or not - it's up to you. Cut each potato into 8 to 12 wedges, depending on the size of the potato and how chunky you want your chips to be. You want the curved edges still just wide enough so they'll stand up in the roasting tin. Put in a colander and steam over boiling water, covered, for about 10 minutes. Remove and leave to dry. If you think the chips are robust enough, shake the colander to fluff them up a bit. Other wise, scrape gently with the tines of a fork. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C. Brush the bottom of a roasting tray with oil; put the potato wedges in curved side down and drizzle with more oil. A few will break up during cooking/turning. No matter - more crispy bits. Roast for about 40 minutes, turning a couple of times. If they are not golden and crisp by this time, whack up the oven to its hottest setting for a few minutes. Season with sea salt.
southern jessy mushy peas
serves one
150ml chicken stock
100g frozen peas or petit pois
10g butter
1 dsp chopped mint
salt + black pepper
Simmer the peas in the stock until tender. Drain and mash or blitz the peas. Beat in the butter, season and stir in the mint.
150ml chicken stock
100g frozen peas or petit pois
10g butter
1 dsp chopped mint
salt + black pepper
Simmer the peas in the stock until tender. Drain and mash or blitz the peas. Beat in the butter, season and stir in the mint.
tartare sauce
serves one
3 tbsps mayonnaise
1 dsp capers, rinsed and finely chopped
1 dsp finely chopped gherkin
1 spring onion, finely chopped
a drop or two of dijon mustard
a little squeeze of lemon juice
black pepper
Mix the first five ingredients together. Add lemon juice to taste and season with black pepper.
3 tbsps mayonnaise
1 dsp capers, rinsed and finely chopped
1 dsp finely chopped gherkin
1 spring onion, finely chopped
a drop or two of dijon mustard
a little squeeze of lemon juice
black pepper
Mix the first five ingredients together. Add lemon juice to taste and season with black pepper.
no. 3: chorizo, mozzarella, roasted peppers + spinach pizza
I was intending to use spianata piccante for this pizza, keeping it Italian as it were, but my local deli didn't have any, so I went with a few slices of cured chorizo instead.
This 23cm (9") pizza cost £3.12. It would be £2.50 without the chorizo. That's for everything except the sugar and salt, the cost of which I couldn't be arsed to work out. A small takeaway pizza will cost you around £12.99. You can buy cheaper pizzas at the supermarket (if you're partial to cardboard) but neither option will come anywhere near the glorious taste of a home-made pizza.
For this one I used 400g of tipo '00' flour and 100g of polenta. But you can use all '00', or all strong bread flour, or 50% strong bread flour and 50% plain flour.
Mary Contini (of Valvona & Crolla fame) suggests a water temperature of 30C in the summer and 40C in the winter. If you haven't got a thermometer then two parts tap water to one part boiling water gets you there or thereabouts.
You can, of course, make the dough in a processor. I always used to do so but have just gone back to making it by hand. It's somehow more satisfying.
You want to whack your oven up to its highest setting, which in my case is (almost) 250C fan, and, ideally, leave a pizza stone in there for 20-30 minutes to heat up. If you haven't got a stone use a large baking tray instead.
I keep meaning to buy a pizza paddle for transferring the assembled pizza into the oven but haven't got around to it yet. So I use an upturned baking tray.
In my oven, a pizza usually takes about 8-9 minutes to bake.
the dough
makes enough for four pizzas
500g flour (see above)
1 heaped tsp fine sea salt
1 7g sachet dried yeast
1 heaped tsp caster sugar
2 tbsps olive oil
325ml warm water (see above)
more flour for the kneading process, as required
polenta for dusting the pizza stone/baking tray
Mix the yeast, sugar, olive oil and water together and leave for a minute or two. Pour the flour and salt into a large bowl. Gradually pour in the yeast/water mixture into the the bowl and mix, dusting your hands and the dough with more flour as necessary, until all the yeast/water mixture is used up. Turn the dough onto a floured worktop. Knead by pushing it down and away from you with the palm of your hand, followed by a quarter turn of the dough, for about ten minutes - until you have a smooth and pliant dough. Form into a ball.
Clean out the bowl and dust with more flour. Place the dough in it and dust the top. Cover with a damp cloth and leave until the dough has doubled in size. Dough needs a warm, draught-free room in order to rise - I left the bowl on a chair near to a radiator for an hour and a half.
Clean your worktop and dust again with flour. Turn out the dough onto the worktop and knead a couple of times to knock out the air from the dough. Divide into four balls. Use straight away, or wrap in cling film and keep in the fridge or the freezer for later.
500g flour (see above)
1 heaped tsp fine sea salt
1 7g sachet dried yeast
1 heaped tsp caster sugar
2 tbsps olive oil
325ml warm water (see above)
more flour for the kneading process, as required
polenta for dusting the pizza stone/baking tray
Mix the yeast, sugar, olive oil and water together and leave for a minute or two. Pour the flour and salt into a large bowl. Gradually pour in the yeast/water mixture into the the bowl and mix, dusting your hands and the dough with more flour as necessary, until all the yeast/water mixture is used up. Turn the dough onto a floured worktop. Knead by pushing it down and away from you with the palm of your hand, followed by a quarter turn of the dough, for about ten minutes - until you have a smooth and pliant dough. Form into a ball.
Clean out the bowl and dust with more flour. Place the dough in it and dust the top. Cover with a damp cloth and leave until the dough has doubled in size. Dough needs a warm, draught-free room in order to rise - I left the bowl on a chair near to a radiator for an hour and a half.
Clean your worktop and dust again with flour. Turn out the dough onto the worktop and knead a couple of times to knock out the air from the dough. Divide into four balls. Use straight away, or wrap in cling film and keep in the fridge or the freezer for later.
the sauce
You need a really good quality tin of tomatoes for this. Cheap tins contain too much juice and their tomatoes are watery. I used a tin of pomodorini di Collina - cherry tomatoes with their skin still on.
2 tbsps olive oil
1 400g tin of tomatoes, drained of their juices
2 garlic cloves, crushed.
a splash of balsamic vinegar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of black pepper
a pinch of thyme leaves
Mix all the ingredients together in a roasting tray and roast in a 180C/160C fan oven for 30 minutes or so or until the tomatoes are just beginning to caramelise and the juices are nicely concentrated. Blitz in a processor or mash by hand. You should end up with about 6-8 tablespoons of concentrated tomatoey, garlicky deliciousness.
2 tbsps olive oil
1 400g tin of tomatoes, drained of their juices
2 garlic cloves, crushed.
a splash of balsamic vinegar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of black pepper
a pinch of thyme leaves
Mix all the ingredients together in a roasting tray and roast in a 180C/160C fan oven for 30 minutes or so or until the tomatoes are just beginning to caramelise and the juices are nicely concentrated. Blitz in a processor or mash by hand. You should end up with about 6-8 tablespoons of concentrated tomatoey, garlicky deliciousness.
the pizza
makes one
1 individual portion of pizza dough
2 tbsps tomato sauce
100g baby spinach, wilted
½ roasted red pepper, cut into strips
50-60g mozzarella (½ a ball)
8 slices of cured chorizo
olive oil
salt + black pepper
On a floured worktop roll out the dough to about 23cm in diameter (about 4-5mm thick). Transfer onto an upturned baking tray or similar flat surface which you have dusted with polenta. Smear the sauce onto the base, then arrange the rest of the ingredients on top. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Transfer onto your heated stone/tray as quickly as possible. Check after 7-8 minutes to see if it's done. When it is baked to your liking, remove from the oven, season, and serve straight away.
Here are a few more suggestions for toppings; and do give this potato pizza a try sometime - I love it.
1 individual portion of pizza dough
2 tbsps tomato sauce
100g baby spinach, wilted
½ roasted red pepper, cut into strips
50-60g mozzarella (½ a ball)
8 slices of cured chorizo
olive oil
salt + black pepper
On a floured worktop roll out the dough to about 23cm in diameter (about 4-5mm thick). Transfer onto an upturned baking tray or similar flat surface which you have dusted with polenta. Smear the sauce onto the base, then arrange the rest of the ingredients on top. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Transfer onto your heated stone/tray as quickly as possible. Check after 7-8 minutes to see if it's done. When it is baked to your liking, remove from the oven, season, and serve straight away.
Here are a few more suggestions for toppings; and do give this potato pizza a try sometime - I love it.
