Gourmet Dinners: Not Home-Made, but Faux-Made

Gourmet flavors on a not-so-gourmet budget. That’s what tickles our tastebuds here at the Borrowed Abode.

Ryan and I both love the pre-made Indian meals that come in cardboard boxes.  But yowza, we don’t love the prices.  At $3.50 a box, it would cost $7 or more to feed us one dinner, especially now that we’re avoiding carbs like rice most of the time.

Tuesday I experimented with using the prepackaged meal as a base, and building upon it with some other ingredients.  Guess what?  It worked!  Ryan and I enjoyed a tasty Indian meal, chock full of fresh veggies and lean proteins, for about $4 per person.  What was on the menu?  Chicken vegetable Biryani and Palak Paneer.

The two dishes cost about $19 to create, but provided two dinners for us each, as well as lunch for me.  That’s a total of $3. 80 per person, per meal. The best part?  It took me less than 30 minutes to prepare this fabulosity.

Here’s how I did it:

Jane’s Home Faux-Made Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes Palak Paneer
• 1 pound fresh spinach
• 1 cup re-hydrated chick peas

Directions:

1.  Chop 1 pound fresh spinach into smaller pieces.

2.  Dump pre-made Palak Paneer into a large pot.

3.  Add the chick peas and fresh chopped spinach.

4.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the fresh spinach has wilted.

Jane’s Semi-HomeMade Chicken Veggie Biryani

Ingredients:

• 1/2 jar Patak’s Biryani Curry Paste
• 1 pound chicken, chopped into small chunks (I buy free-range, pastured, local chicken.  You could substitute Tofu.)
• 1 small can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 cup re-hydrated chick peas
• Fresh string beans, chopped

Directions:

1.  Dice the onion.

2.  Sautee the onion in olive oil over medium heat.

3.  Add the chicken and sear on med-high heat for 1-2 minutes.

4.  Add the can of tomatoes, including juice.

5.  When mixture is simmering, add 1/2 can of Patak’s Biryani Curry Paste.  Stir until dissolved in the mixture.

6.  Add fresh string beans and chick peas. Stir to mix.

7.  Simmer for 15 or so minutes.  You can’t really simmer it too long.

Random tips:

I don’t follow recipes when I make these sorts of things.  Me and recipes, well we just don’t seem to get along.  With the above Indian pastes, you can pretty much mix them with anything, in my opinion.  Take whatever leftover veggies and proteins you have in your fridge.

We like chick peas because they absorb so many flavors well, and because they’re cheaper than meat.

Speaking of chick peas, we buy them (and other beans) dried at Whole Foods, and then rehydrate them by leaving them in water in a slow cooker on low for about 12-14 hours. Then we  drain them and portion them into jars or ziploc bags and freeze them until they’re needed. It’s much cheaper and healthier than buying canned beans.   Have you seen the sodium count in canned beans??? Ick.

Well that’s it for me.  Have you made any good kitchen experiments lately?  What’s your fave way to get gourmet flavor on a not-so-gourmet budget?

**Psst:  I’m linking this up to the What I Ate Wednesday party hosted by the Ab-Fab Jenn of Peas and Crayons.

***UPDATE:  I totally forgot that Jenn did this a few weeks ago with Chana Masala – check it out!!!