Curry Night Ideas & Recipes

A fiery (or not so fiery, for those with more sensitive taste buds) home-made aromatic curry; a selection of tasty sides to share; a cold beer, perhaps; and a gathering of your favourite people. If that’s not the recipe for a perfect evening, then we don’t know what is.

The Basic Theory

“But how do I make my home-made curries taste as good as the ones in my local Indian restaurant?” Good question. Well, with the help of spices for a start.

All you have to do to make a basic curry is:

1. Chop and fry onions, garlic and ginger until softened.
2. Add a couple of teaspoons per person of your chosen spice, along with tomatoes, stock or coconut milk.
3. Throw in your meat, fish or veg and cook to your liking.
4. Dish up and devour with rice, poppadoms, bhajis, pakoras… pass the lime pickle.

Why not use our Reusable Bouquet Garni Bags that are just the ticket for infusing flavour into your curry. Made from 100% cotton, they can be washed and used time and time again, and are perfect for adding your own fragrant herbs and spices to recipes. For those avid gardeners out there, these bags are a wonderful way to incorporate freshly grown herbs and spices into your cooking, and have a drawstring closure so all the lovely flavours come out but the leaves and stalks stay safely inside.

Rice and easy

So now you’ve decided on your main course, you need to think about the rice. You could make your rice in a pan, but it’s all too easy to end up with a mushy mound of white slop or a pan-ruining burnt-bottomed mess. Instead, take away the guesswork (and crushing disappointment) by using a made-for-the-job rice cooker – like the Lakeland Digital Rice Cooker. It turns out fluffy perfection every time – and without you having to watch over it or crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.

Side hustle

An Indian feast isn’t complete without one or two side dishes or starters, and you can’t get much more classic than a gently spiced, belly-warming samosa. Our simple recipe for vegetable samosas can be made in advance and stored in your freezer until curry night comes around.

Or perhaps a mini pakora or three will do the business? It’s so simple to whip up a batch in our Silicone Cake Pop Mould. These bite-sized treats will keep hunger pains at bay until the main event. You can find the recipe here.

Recipes

Imagine a chicken korma, simmered to mouth-watering deliciousness, spooned over perfectly cooked fluffy rice. How about vegetarian tandoori masala for those who don’t eat meat – and those who do? Try our host of recipies and we’re sure you’ll find something you like.

Fancy a creamy Thai red chicken curry cooked in our 3.5 Litre Slow Cooker?– you can find the crowd-pleasing recipe here.

Try our Chicken, Lentil & Pumpkin Curry recipe if you fancy something a little different.

What about Chris Bavin’s Chicken Katsu Curry – a favourite of ours.

And there’s lots more spicy inspiration to fire your imagination here.