Prawn Curry in a Hurry

Takes: 15 minutes

Multitasking level: Low

Feeds: 4

Ingredient	Price	Notes
1 pack pre-cooked prawns	£2.50	These were just in the fridge. Use any pre-cooked leftover meat to cut down on cooking time.
1 handful green beans	30p	Or any green veg that’s on the cheap
1 orange bell pepper	30p	Any colour except green, as green bell peppers are the devil of all vegetation
1 large white onion	10p
1 inch ginger	5p
2 cloves garlic	10p
1 lemon	25p	Always use lemon where there’s a tomato based sauce, or it feels really bogged down
Enough rice for 4 people	30p	There’s a post on this if you can’t remember how to measure it all
Various spices	Steal from parents’ cupboards ~30p's worth here	1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon cumin, 2 tablespoons dessicated coconut, 2 tsp chopped chilli
1 carton chopped tomatoes	38p	Sainsbury’s value are the best for juiciness, consistency and colour- Tesco’s ones look a bit mutant

                                              Total: £4.28
                                               Or £1.07 each

     1.      Sort rice

a.      Measure: Put some rice in the saucepan. Remember that it will expand to double its size, so work out how much you're likely to eat

b.      Wash: Put cold water in the rice pan and swirl it around with your hand until the water turns cloudy. Block the rice with your hand and drain the water out. Repeat these steps until your water turns clear- about 5-7 times

c.       Water: Place your finger so the tip just touches the rice. Fill the pan with water until it reaches the first joint on this finger. That’s the right amount of water.

d.      Cook: Put on full heat until it boils. Don’t take the lid off, at all. Turn right down to the lowest heat for 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Start cooking the curry now. After ten minutes, take off the heat WITHOUT TAKING THE LID OFF and leave it to steam itself off the bottom of the pan until you’re ready to eat

2.       Make curry

a.        Slice the onion and fry on a medium heat in 1tbsp oil until soft

b.       Add all the spice, the green beans, chopped ginger and the chopped garlic

c.        Add the chopped tomato, the prawns and the bell pepper- stir for 3 minutes

d.       Add the juice of half a lemon- taste it, if it's too hot, add a little yoghurt

3.       Plate up

a.        Fluff up the rice with a fork and pop some on the plate

b.       Pile curry on top in a hopefully appealing way, remembering that curry always looks like a mess

c.        If you’re trying to make an effort with your presentation because your blog is starting to make you money, garnish with a somewhat arbitrary bit of parsley

The compulsion to take cheerful pictures of my food means I have not eaten a piping hot dinner in quite a while

Quick Post: Guessing portions for grains

Cheesy picture courtesy of tilda.com

While cooking:

Rice and quinoa will double in size 

Couscous will almost triple

Pasta will "soften up", and in doing so grow by up to 20%

Put the [X] in a pan, imagine it [Y] times the size and ask "Is that going to be a bit too much?"

Having said that, don't forget that you can always put them in the fridge for tomorrow's bento/future meals:

• Rice is the most difficult to keep for long in my opinion: it goes hard in the fridge and can become tasteless and dry. If reheating, blitz to oblivion in the microwave because otherwise spores will kill you or somesuch. I generally make leftover rice into makeshift Onigiri while still hot, put them in the door of the fridge (try to keep them away from the cooling element) and eat within half a week
• Quinoa is delicious cold, and makes for good salads, especially if you cook it in chopped tomatoes (recipe soon). If it dries up too much, it can be revived with a tiny bit of olive oil (put in some lemon juice to up freshen, too)
• Couscous can end up in hard clumps if kept in the fridge for long. Don't pack it too tightly when you put it away, and try to eat it quickly. Again, small amounts of olive oil can revive, but too much will make it taste like one of those Tesco couscous salads
• Pasta is best revived in a pan of boiling water after spending time in the fridge. While it's still hot, be sure to put a teeny bit of oil on it to prevent it from forming solid bricks when it's cooled. Don't use butter, or it'll solidify and you'll get a greasy solid brick of pasta- super delicious(!)

Frugal fish supper for two

Ready in: Around 30 minutes

Multi-tasking level: Medium

Ingredient	Price	Notes
A whole rainbow trout	~£2.00	This will work with other fish- check the fresh fish counter for stuff that’s reduced to clear. As long as the eyes aren’t cloudy, it’ll taste great.
1 Onion	10p
3 handfuls of any raw veg	£1.00	Search Reduced To Clear section for nice things
Rice	1.39 per kilo- probably using about 40p worth here	Not the boil in the bag stuff, that stuff is weird and expensive.
1 lemon	23p
1 inch fresh ginger	15p
Splash of Mirin	10p	Mirin is sweet rice wine vinegar. It tastes like pudding wine, and you put it in things to make them delicious.
Splash of Soy sauce	10p	Get a big bottle of it in a Chinese supermarket. Cheaper and better quality than buying it in western supermarkets in tiny little bottles.

                                 £4.03
                                 Or about £2.00 each[1]

Utensils:

·       Small saucepan with lid for rice

·       Large pan with steamer (bamboo steamers are less than a fiver at Chinese supermarkets and can cook anything to perfection)

·       Chopping board and knife

Method

1.       Rice

a.        Measure: Put some rice in the saucepan. Remember that it will expand to double its size, so work out how much you and your gal are likely to eat.

b.       Wash: Put cold water in the rice pan and swirl it around with your hand until the water turns cloudy. Block the rice with your hand and drain the water out. Repeat these steps until your water turns clear- about 5-7 times.[2]

c.        Water: Place your finger so the tip just touches the rice. Fill the pan with water until it reaches the first joint on this finger. That’s the right amount of water.

d.       Flavour: Cut up some slices of lemon and put them on the rice/water, along with some slices of peeled ginger if you’re feeling fancy.

e.       Cook: Put on full heat until it boils. Don’t take the lid off, at all. Turn right down to the lowest heat for 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Start the fish prep now. After ten minutes, take off the heat WITHOUT TAKING THE LID OFF and leave it to steam itself off the bottom of the pan until you’re ready to eat.

2.       Veg and fish

a.        Put boiling water in the pan and put it on the hob with the steamer on top to get previous smells off it.

b.       Prep the fish: Don’t be a pussy about this. Take the fish out of the packet.

                                                                                                  i.       It will be slimy, and you want all that slime off. Run it under cold water and scrape it lightly with your knife and the slime will come right off

                                                                                                ii.       Open up the fish and look inside. Get rid of any red stuff, especially near the base of the tail- run over it with your knife under a tap.

                                                                                              iii.       Cut the head/tail off if it won’t fit in the steamer whole. Also possibly the fins if they freak you out.

                                                                                              iv.       Cut slits in the flesh on each side to make the fish cook better. Shove finely chopped garlic and ginger in them, and put slices of lemon inside the fish.

c.        Put things in the steamer

                                                                                                  i.       Make little plates of tinfoil about two inches smaller than the bamboo steamer and put them in both

                                                                                                ii.       Put your veg in the bottom one, and your lovely prepped fish in the top. Add whatever’s left of the lemon, ginger and garlic to the veg tray, with a splash of soy sauce.

d.       Cook: Ten minutes and your fish will be done. Check it with a fork- it should be flakey. The veg will also be fine. Your kitchen will smell delicious.

3.       Plate up

a.        Finally open up the rice- it will smell great but might need a little more liquid. Put in a splash of mirin and mix it in with chopping movements.

b.       Get the sides of the fish off the spine with a spatula. Watch out for bones.

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[1] If this sounds like a lot, think how much you’d pay for this in a restaurant

[2] This is washing the starch out of the rice. The starch is what makes the rice taste mushy and slimy at the end. Your rice is going to be excellent.