home made alternatives to takeaways

chardonnay_2

wondered if anyone has any good recipes for takeaway food at home.

eg indian / chinese

does anyone know how to make chicken pakora at home?

any ideas how to make the dip to go with it?

Lillibet_2

Not homemade I'm afraid but I tend to buy bits & peices of supermarket chinese/indian/mexican meals as they are reduced & save them up in my freezer until I have enough for a "takeaway blow out". I find cooking chinese properly is very fiddly & involves lots of washing up, hardly the point of a take away, this way I still get all the pleasure without any of the work at a fraction of the price ;D.
Sorry, not what you asked for I know, but maybe an occasional alternitive?

16011996

i do the same as lillibet, but also buy cheap naan breads etc, which freze well.

mink35

I always make my own Indian. Don't know how to make chicken pakora cos never done it. Make bhajis and samosas myself and curry. Get Indian friends to make chart and pakora!

Vary with Chinese cos they never taste the same when you make them at home so often buy them

Yoga_Girl

This seems quite a good site for recipes

http://www.curryfrenzy.com

Sometimes we order a take-away then freeze half of it for the following weekend. We've also (when I say we I mean husband!) made our own take-aways, if you've got any local chinese supermarkets or asian shops nearby you can get some good sauces, a lot cheaper than supermarkets sell them. They're also a good place to get spices etc.

VickyA_2

We have an awful lot of stir fries - either with noodles or rice (plain boiled). They're so quick and easy to do. It also forces my boyfriend to eat veggies that he wouldn't normally do - especially broccoli and mushrooms. You can just throw anything into the wok/pan with the sauce that you can get in the supermarkets. We vary the ingredients every time, and you can use any meat. Not quite a whole takeaway, but a healthy version!

By the way, we normally have the noodles or rice on the side, but if you're wanting to recreate the "chow mein" style, bung the boiled noodles in for the last minute of cooking into your wok of goodies!

Galtizz

I seem to remember somebody on here saying that lemon/ pinapple/ orange chicken etc. was simply lemon/ pinapple/ orange squash mixed with cornflour poured over chicken. Tried to find the thread but it's dissapeared in the changes.

Try THIS thread for chicken in batter (you could probably use any meat) add some chopped chillies and some sweet chilli sauce and you've got crispy chilli chicken.

chardonnay_2

cheers for the replies.

we do make a lot of stuff at home like stir-fry's & curries

mainly using jars of sauce etc.

r.mac_2

dishes like egg fried rice and singapore noodles are very easy ans cheap to make at home. I can't remember exactly everything as I don't have my cookbook handy but the jist is;

Special Egg fried Rice

chop some meat (I use bacon) and fry off until crispy. While doing this cook some rice - any kind works.
Add chopped onion (spring or normal) to meat.
Add chopped pepper/beansprouts/anything you like
and stirfry briefly.

Crack an egg into the pan and push around the pan to break up the yolk and cook faster.

Add the drained, cooked rice and stir
Add soy sauce to taste. I also like to add a little toasted sesame oil for flavour. Very quick and easy and can be adapted for all tastes.

Singapore Noodles

cook thin egg or rice vemicelli (sp?) noodles as instructed on the packet.
stir fry a selection of meat and prawns quickly, until cooked - use what you have or leave out if vegetarian. I usually use a little chicken and a couple of prawns. Bacon, pork, and duck all work well too.
Add some veggies and stirfry.
Add a little soysauce, curry powder and the drained noodles and stirfry. Serve immediately.

I hope that this helps. Basically quantities can be made up as you go along - I usually just add what I have/feel like.

Rx

RICHYG_2

I did a 10 weeks Chinese cookery class at evening school.
Very enjoyable and learned a few tips and techniques.

For meats : always marinade in - 2 tps oil, 1 tsp cornflour, halp tsp white pepper , half tsp ginger , 1tbs soy sauce.

If you always do this for 30 minutes the meat is really tender.

Easy recipe for chicken and sweetcorn soup which is a good staple that eveyone loves.

Chicken breast cut up or chicken strips - marinaded as above.
1 pint hot water and chicken stock cube.
1 can cream of sweetcorn.

Throw it all in together boil gently for 10 minutes - and then off the heat stir in a whisked whole egg with a fork.

Serve

Yumm.

VickyA_2

That's an excellent tip Richyg. I'll have to try that one - alternatively get my hot shot stir fry expert onto it! ;D