If you’re looking for some new curry ideas for your family, here are five delicious recipes that I recently prepared as part of my meal prep.
Curries are a regular part of our family meals because there are so many different variations you can make. They’re also brilliant for meal prepping and batch cooking.
In this post I’m sharing the full recipes for:
- Chicken Palak – Chicken & Spinach Curry
- Aloo Gobi – Potato & Cauliflower Curry
- Lamb Karahi
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Keema Matar – Minced Meat & Pea Curry
They all turned out absolutely delicious, mashaAllah, so let’s get cooking!
1. Chicken Palak – Chicken & Spinach Curry
Chicken palak is a lovely comforting curry made with chicken and plenty of fresh spinach.
Ingredients
- ½ cup sunflower oil
- 7 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 4 tomatoes, chopped
- ½ tbsp salt
- 1 heaped tsp garam masala
- 1 heaped tsp cumin powder
- 1 heaped tsp coriander powder
- 1 heaped tsp turmeric powder
- 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1kg whole chicken, skin removed and cut into pieces
- 480g baby spinach
- Approximately 300ml water
- 1 green chilli, sliced
Method
Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan over a medium heat.
Add the grated garlic and ginger and fry until they turn a lovely golden brown.
Add the chopped onions and sauté until softened.
Next, add the chopped tomatoes and continue cooking until everything has softened into a nice curry base. If the mixture becomes a little dry, add a splash of water.
Add the salt, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, cumin seeds and chilli powder.
Give everything a good stir and cook the spices for another minute or two.
Add the chicken pieces and stir until they’re completely coated in the curry base.
Continue cooking until the outside of the chicken has turned white.
Now it’s time for the spinach. It will look like an enormous amount at first, but it quickly reduces as it cooks!
Add some of the spinach and allow it to wilt before adding the rest.
Pour in approximately 300ml of water and add the sliced green chilli.
Bring the curry to the boil, cover the pan and reduce to a low heat.
Allow it to simmer for approximately 30 minutes, or until the chicken is completely cooked through.
If you’d prefer a drier curry, remove the lid and increase the heat towards the end to allow some of the excess liquid to evaporate.
2. Aloo Gobi – Potato & Cauliflower Curry
Aloo gobi is a simple vegetarian curry made with potatoes and cauliflower.
It’s a great option for adding a meat-free meal to your weekly meal plan.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup sunflower oil
- 7 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 4 tomatoes, chopped
- ½ tbsp salt
- 1 heaped tsp garam masala
- 1 heaped tsp cumin powder
- 1 heaped tsp coriander powder
- 1 heaped tsp turmeric powder
- 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
- 1 heaped tsp paprika
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 650g cauliflower, chopped
- 650g potatoes, peeled and chopped
- Approximately 500ml water
- 1 green chilli, sliced
Method
Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan over a medium heat.
Add the grated garlic and ginger and fry until golden brown.
Add the chopped onions and sauté until soft.
Next, add the tomatoes and continue cooking until everything is nicely softened. Add a little water if the mixture becomes too dry.
Add the salt and spices and cook for another minute or two.
Add the cauliflower and potatoes and stir until the vegetables are thoroughly coated in the curry base.
Pour in approximately 500ml of water and add the sliced green chilli.
Bring everything to the boil.
Cover the pan, reduce to a low heat and cook for approximately 30 minutes, or until the cauliflower is cooked and the potatoes are beautifully soft.
You can leave a little sauce in the curry or remove the lid and allow it to reduce further if you prefer your aloo gobi drier.
3. Lamb Karahi
This lamb karahi takes a little longer because I cook the lamb first, but doing this gives you lovely tender meat.
It also gives us some homemade lamb stock which we’re going to use in the curry rather than letting all that flavour go to waste!
Ingredients
To cook the lamb
- 600g lamb pieces
- 7 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger
- Cold water, enough to cover the lamb
For the karahi
- ½ cup sunflower oil
- 7 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 4 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 3 tsp cumin powder
- 3 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp red chilli powder
- Cooked lamb pieces
- Approximately 3 cups reserved lamb stock
- 1 green chilli, sliced
- Fresh coriander, to garnish
Method
Start by placing the lamb pieces into a pan along with the garlic and ginger.
Cover the meat with cold water and bring everything to the boil.
Once boiling, reduce the heat and allow the lamb to simmer for approximately one hour, or longer if necessary, until the meat is tender.
Allow it to cool slightly and then separate the lamb from the liquid using a sieve.
Don’t throw the liquid away!
Keep the lamb stock because we’ll be adding it back into the curry.
Now heat the sunflower oil in a karahi, wok or other large open pan.
Add the grated garlic and ginger and fry until golden.
Unlike the previous curries, add the chopped tomatoes before the onions.
Cook the tomatoes until they’re lovely and soft.
Add the thinly sliced onions and sauté.
Next, add the salt, paprika, cumin powder, coriander powder, cumin seeds and chilli powder.
Stir well and cook for another minute or two.
Add the cooked lamb pieces and stir until everything is combined.
Pour in approximately 3 cups of your reserved lamb stock and bring the curry to the boil.
Because we’ve already cooked the lamb until tender, you only need to cook the curry for approximately another 10 minutes.
Finish with a sliced green chilli and plenty of fresh coriander.
4. Chicken Tikka Masala
This was one of my favourites from the five curries.
The combination of marinated chicken, passata and double cream creates a lovely rich and creamy curry.
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade
- 600g chicken breast, cubed
- ½ cup Greek yoghurt
- 1 heaped tbsp tandoori masala
- 1 heaped tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
For the curry
- ¼ cup sunflower oil
- Garlic, grated
- Fresh ginger, grated
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped or blended
- Marinated chicken
- 300g passata
- 300ml double cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ¼ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 green chilli, sliced
- Fresh coriander, to garnish
Method
Start by preparing your chicken marinade.
Add the Greek yoghurt, tandoori masala, paprika, garam masala, salt, chilli powder and lemon juice to a bowl.
Whisk everything together until smooth.
Add the cubed chicken breast and thoroughly coat it in the marinade.
If you have time, leave the chicken to marinate for approximately 30 minutes.
Finely chop or blend the onions.
Heat the sunflower oil in a pan and add the garlic and ginger.
Add the finely chopped onions and cook until they begin to brown.
Next, add the marinated chicken.
Cook over a medium heat until the chicken has turned white and is cooking through. Depending on the size of the chicken pieces, this should take roughly 10–15 minutes.
Pour in the passata followed by the double cream and give everything a good stir.
Add the salt, paprika, turmeric, cumin powder and chilli powder.
Continue cooking, stirring everything together as the sauce comes towards the boil and the chicken cooks completely through.
Finish with a sliced green chilli and plenty of fresh coriander.
Serve with rice, naan or chapatis for a delicious family meal.
5. Keema Matar – Minced Meat & Pea Curry
Finally, we have a really simple keema matar – minced meat cooked with peas in a spiced sauce.
This is another great family meal and doesn’t require a complicated method.
Ingredients
- 650g lamb mince
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- Garlic, finely chopped
- Fresh ginger, finely chopped
- ½ tbsp salt
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp red chilli powder
- 370g garden peas
- Approximately 200g passata
- 2 heaped tbsp Greek yoghurt
- Approximately 300ml water or stock
Method
Add the lamb mince to a large pan and brown thoroughly.
If there’s excess liquid, you can either drain it away or continue cooking until the excess moisture has evaporated.
Add the finely chopped onions and cook until softened.
Next, add the garlic and ginger.
Add the salt, garam masala, coriander powder, turmeric, cumin powder, cumin seeds and chilli powder.
Stir everything together and allow the spices to cook briefly.
Add the garden peas and stir them through the mince.
Pour in approximately 200g of passata followed by two heaped tablespoons of Greek yoghurt.
Stir everything together until well combined.
Finally, add approximately 300ml of water or stock.
I actually had some lamb stock left over, so I used that rather than wasting it – and it adds some extra flavour too.
Bring everything to the boil before reducing to a low heat.
Allow the keema matar to simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
And that’s it!
Five Easy Curries for Your Family Meal Plan
And there we have five different family curry recipes!
I love that there’s so much variety between them. You have:
Chicken Palak if you want something packed with spinach.
Aloo Gobi for a simple meat-free dinner.
Lamb Karahi for a delicious lamb curry.
Chicken Tikka Masala when you’re in the mood for something creamy.
And Keema Matar for a simple minced meat curry.
You can serve any of these with rice, chapatis, naan or your family’s favourite sides.
They’re also great recipes to incorporate into your weekly meal prep. You could prepare one or two ahead of time, or even make several different curries during one batch-cooking session.
I hope these recipes give you some inspiration for your next family dinner. Enjoy!
