Day 2: Lamb and butternut squash curry

So it's post two this week - and this time I've made lamb and butternut squash curry (rogan josh style) for dinner. Just because lamb is a more expensive meat doesn't mean you can't have it on the menu, and the homemade sauce (made with tinned tomatoes and spices) tastes way more authentic than the jarred sauces or ready meal versions. I have to admit this is the first time I've personally cooked with butternut squash - my family recently discovered it at a restaurant - but I was really pleased with the overall taste of the dish - it adds some nice texture and flavours to the curry sauce. The recipe and method for the curry are below - this will serve two so if you're serving less/more people, just halve/double the recipe accordingly. Just a heads up - this dish takes two hours' cooking in the oven to get the meat just right so start cooking long before you're hungry!

*Serves 2 - £1.90 per person*

1 pack diced lamb

1 onion

1/3 of large butternut squash, peeled

3-4 cloves garlic

1 fresh chilli
1 large fresh tomato (to add in the final 10mins cooking time)

1/2 carton chopped tomatoes

1tbsp tomato puree

1/2 cup water
3tbsp olive oil

2 large tsp garam masala

1 large tsp ground cumin

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp turmeric

1tsp mustard seeds (optional)

Salt/pepper

Rice/naan (both if you're feeling greedy!) to serve alongside

Fresh coriander is great chopped and sprinkled on top of your curry when serving

1. Preheat your oven to 200'. Take your butternut squash and cut circular 1-inch slices off of the long, narrow end of the veg. This makes the next stage easier - taking these wedges of veg and cutting the thick, hard peel from the edge so that you're only left with the bright orange flesh. Cut into 1-inch cubes before placing the veg onto a baking tray, pouring over about 1tbsp of olive oil and seasoning with salt and pepper. Peel 3-4 garlic cloves, squish with a knife and add to the squash tray. Place in the oven for 30-35mins.

2. When your squash has only 10mins cooking time left, chop an onion and your chilli (and a little bit of ginger if you have it) before throwing into a saucepan on a medium heat. Add 3tbsp olive oil, mustard seeds, and all your spices to the saucepan with the onion/chilli at this point, stirring well. Now add your diced lamb to the pan, cutting excess fat off if necessary.

3. By the time your lamb is browned, your squash should be ready to take out of the oven. (Turn the oven's heat down to about 150', leaving it on ready to put your curry in to cook) Add the squash and garlic to the lamb/onion/spices before adding your tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, and water. Mix well and allow to reach boiling point before transferring to an ovenproof dish and placing in the oven. Leave to cook for around 2hrs to get really tender meat.

4. Once the curry has cooked for 1hr 50mins, slice a tomato and add this to the sauce for the last 10mins of cooking time. Serve with rice and/or naan. Hope you enjoy!

Overall cost of £6.67 for ingredients including rice and naan but minus spices (these vary for between 45p-£1 for a pot - which last at least 8 portions in each). Per portion here, you're looking at a price of about £1.90 with sides included - an incredibly reasonable cost when considering that you're using lots of fresh ingredients and that lamb is one of the most expensive meats to buy. The supermarket ready meal equivalent of lamb rogan josh curry, rice (ready-prepared), and naan comes in almost £6 more expensive.

Tomorrow's meal is a homemade beef mince and butternut squash lasagne (the second real taste test for my squash!) topped with cheese sauce with a twist. Hope you've enjoyed reading!

Food and money: day one

 For a long while now I've been wanting to write a blog about the "student" budget (any budget) to show people that you really can eat very well, very cheaply. I hear so many people complaining about the price of food, and agree that buying healthy food can be costly - but supermarket ready meals really aren't the answer. They're great if you've got a busy week ahead but for day-to-day living, face it, they're not the healthiest or even the nicest food. The recent horsemeat issue has made this even clearer to the public, although I'm willing to bet the meals still tasted fine - horse is a perfectly acceptable and edible meat in some parts of the world.

Anyway, this week my plan is to give you day-to-day updates as a food diary of sorts, looking at seven meals I've prepared and what they cost to make. Obviously I can't compare exact calorie counts etc. versus ready meal versions, but I'm pretty darn sure they are all much healthier - and tastier too. The issue of people living on a tight budget - we're all in a recession - and wanting to create good food on a daily basis is something that I feel very strongly about. As those close to me will know, I love eating out and I love shiny new cookbooks, often released by celebrity chefs, but I find it incredibly frustrating that hardly anything is being done by these kinds of people - who are mostly very wealthy - in terms of helping create awareness, recipes, or ideas in response to the public's demand for tasty and healthy food that is affordable on a budget.

 Because let's be honest - food can be expensive. If you want the latest fad brand, a high-end supermarket product, or popular items like parmesan cheese or fresh salmon, you're going to have to shell out. It's understandable that when you see a basic-brand ready meal - i.e. low-cost lasagne at 75p - and compare the price to a long list of ingredients to make it yourself, it seems the obvious solution. But you can overcome these problems by just a little budgeting and meal planning, and DIY cooking is so worth it - tastewise, nutritionally, and even financially. I'm hoping this blog will help you see that cooking fresh, good food on a budget is entirely possible.

So let me start with today's meal -

*Day 1: Spaghetti Carbonara - £1.80 per person*

 To serve one you will need 2-3 rashers of bacon, 80g pasta, a dollop of creme fraiche, about a handful of grated cheese, 2 mushrooms, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 a fresh chilli.

Find the full recipe (note it is for two portions) and method at http://acreativespell.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/carbonara-two-ways.html - you're looking for recipe number two.

When buying these ingredients instore (I shop mostly at Sainsburys', if you're interested) in their packaging, you're looking at about £7.50 costs. When considering that you're not using all of the food you've purchased (i.e. a 10-rasher pack of bacon will serve you easily 3x, and a 500g pack of pasta can serve you about 7 times), the individual meal price comes in at only £1.80. Of course if you make this dish for more than one person and raise the ingredients appropriately, the cost becomes even cheaper.

The middle-standard ready meal carbonara from the supermarket is not only more expensive and less nutritious (no veg) but has significantly less meat and a very high fat content due to the substantial amount of cream within its sauce. Why not make the real thing instead? It takes no time at all and tastes gorgeous.

I'll be back tomorrow with a new recipe - my homemade lamb and butternut squash curry - and its price.

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PS: Just an addition to the post - I was lucky enough to eat at La Trappiste, Cafe du Soleil, and The Ancient Raj (all three based in Canterbury city centre) a few weeks ago when my parents visited for a couple of days. Honestly can't fault any of them for their food - all three provided incredible - and different - meals. I'll review them soon for you - and even took some cheeky pictures of the meals - so look forward to it!

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PPS: Had to include this photo - a yummy smoked salmon/rocket/olive bread (etc.) salad made while at home last week - making the most of the ingredients I can't afford whilst here at uni!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to get in touch. :-)