Hey Fresto! we have a wide range of Indian ready meals, which are just as tasty as your favourite takeaway. But the taste isn’t the only reason to choose a ready meal over take out. In this post, we are sharing our top 6 reasons to choose Indian ready meals over an Indian takeaway.

Can Indian Ready Meals Save You Money?

Takeaways are not a cheap option for dinner and are often considered a treat or an occasion. Switching to Indian ready meals can save you a huge amount of money, and you will still have a delicious curry with zero effort. An average Chicken Tikka Masala from a restaurant could set you back more than £9, whereas a Chicken Tikka Masala from Hey Fresto! is just 50% of that.

No Waiting Around For Deliveries

Ordering an Indian takeaway is a bit of a waiting game. Depending on where you live and where you order from, you could be waiting over an hour for your dinner to arrive at your door. With Indian ready meals, you can have them ready and waiting in your freezer, and they can be on your plate in less than 10 minutes. Our Lamb Dhansak can be cooked in the microwave in just 7 minutes, so you can enjoy your scrumptious curry as soon as you start feeling peckish!

You Know What You’re Eating

When you order from a takeaway, you never know precisely what you are going to get. You can’t be sure exactly what is being put into your curry, and every restaurant and takeaway will have a slightly different recipe. With Indian ready meals, you can see a full list of every ingredient, as well as allergy advice and nutritional information.

Are Indian Ready Meals A Healthier Option?

Whether you are watching your weight or not, there is no doubt that Indian ready meals are a healthier alternative to takeaways. Curries from a restaurant are often packed full of calorific butter and cream, whereas ready meals are flavourful without being too overindulgent. For example, our Goan Style Piri Piri Prawn Curry has just 303 calories per serving.

A More Sustainable Option

There is more focus on sustainability in food than ever before, and Indian ready meals are certainly better for the planet than takeaways. Firstly, ready meals use far less packaging than an Indian takeaway, which often pack their meals in plastic boxes, bags and more. Secondly, takeaways generally have more food miles than a ready meal, especially when you consider the additional miles used for every delivery their drivers make.  

An Option For Everyone

If you are trying to order a takeaway for your family or a group of friends, finding something for everyone can be a struggle. If there is one picky eater or someone who isn’t keen on Indian, it often means your whole group has to choose a different cuisine. With ready meals, some of you can enjoy a curry, while others could dine on a tasty Mediterranean dish or some traditional British fayre.

Worried about the jargon in Food packaging? Check out our helpful blog that explains the jargon behind food packaging!

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Indian-style curry is one of the mainstays of British mealtimes – and it seems we are developing quite the taste for hotter curries nowadays.

While chicken tikka masala – an English invention – has long been a favourite dish of British diners, more people are eating rogan josh (an aromatic and spicy curry that hails from Kashmir), madras and even vindaloo.

But eating curry isn’t meant to be an endurance event. It’s not about eating the hottest thing on the menu: curries from the Indian subcontinent have a huge range of flavours, from creamy and mild to hot and aromatic and everything in between.

Complex flavours come from spices such as cumin, coriander seed, cardamom and turmeric, while herbs such as mint, asafetida, fenugreek and coriander leaf add freshness. The robust ginger brings a tangy dimension to many dishes, tamarind adds sourness and sweetness comes from tomatoes and coconut.

With so many curries to enjoy, it’s no wonder they are so popular.

Celebrating the curry

Did you know it is National Curry Week from October 4-10, 2021? This annual celebration of curry is in its 23rd year and honours the nation’s most-loved meal. Whether you visit your local restaurant to eat in or take away, rustle up your favourite dish at home, or buy an Indian ready meal, there’s no better time to raise a glass of beer (or lassi) to this fantastic cuisine.

According to a survey carried out last year, to celebrate National Curry Week 2020, Brits are enjoying a wider range of curries. The survey found that the top 10 curries in this country are:

Tikka masala
Korma
Rogan Josh
Madras
Jalfrezi
Vindaloo
Balti
Bhuna
Pasanda
Dopiaza.

Make it authentic

If you don’t have time to prepare your own curry, then our range of frozen Indian meals will make your life that little bit easier.

Made from the highest quality ingredients, these ready-made curries are great for when you want a tasty and nutritious meal without all the prep and a stack of washing up.

We’ve been inspired by dishes from across the whole of the Indian subcontinent, and that means a huge range of flavours. Our delicious chicken saffron korma is fragrant and creamy, thanks to the coconut sauce that is infused with delicate seasoning saffron.

Take the heat up a notch and you can enjoy the flavours from across the Indian subcontinent, from Goa to Kerala and Kolkata to Delhi.

Our Goan-style piri piri prawn curry is fragrant, with succulent king prawns in a spicy tomato sauce, flavoured with mustard seeds, chilli and coconut, while lamb dhansak is prepared with tender diced lamb and is mixed with lentils and spinach before being mixed with a medium spicy sauce flavoured with cardamom and garlic.

Head to Northern India and enjoy our delicious murgh makhani, also known as butter chicken. Lovingly prepared marinated chicken breast is served in a rich and creamy sauce made from authentic ghee (clarified butter), lentils and creamy cashew nuts.

We’ve not forgotten vegans and vegetarians, either. When more than 20% of the Indian population does not eat meat, there are plenty of dishes to choose from.

Our Keralan red pepper and cauliflower curry is vegan – but we bet any meat-eater would love it, too. And for vegetarians, our paneer and palak curry is a classic combination of paneer and spinach.

Add a side dish of plain rice or Tadka pilau rice and you’re good to go!

Like all of our frozen ready meals, our delicious curries are delivered and can be stored until you are ready for them – simply pop in the oven or microwave, according to the instructions, and you’ll be enjoying a delicious, nutritious meal in just a few minutes without any hassle.
You can order individual portions and some of our dishes are available for two or four people, meaning you can feed family and friends quickly and easily.

What herbs and spices should I have?

If you are building up a herbs and spices cupboard and want to make sure you have a range of ingredients to make an Indian curry, make sure you have these dried herbs and spices in your store cupboard:

Cardamom seeds
Cumin seeds
Coriander seeds
Turmeric
Dried red chillies
Cinnamon sticks
Curry leaves
Fenugreek
Garam masala
Mustard seeds

If you have any questions about our range of curries – or any of our delicious ready meals – don’t hesitate to contact us. 

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No curry is complete without a side of rice, which is why we’re giving you more for your money this National Curry Week with free rice sides when ordering our curries!

Curry Week Promo Codes

This week, enjoy free rice sides when ordering our Indian curries. Use the relevant promo code when checking out and enjoy.

Use the promo code ‘curryweek2’ when spending over £9 on Indian curry dishes for 2 free sides.

Use the promo code ‘curryweek3’ when spending over £13.50 on Indian curry dishes for 3 free sides.

Use the promo code ‘curryweek4’ when spending over £18 on Indian curry dishes for 4 free sides.

If you have any questions about our range of curries – or any of our delicious ready meals – get in touch with us.

Read more at Hey Fresto

Steeped in a past of imperialism, spice trading and merchant sailors, the historical identity of this popular British food is complex, not least in the fact its name is an anglicised catch-all for Indian cuisine. 

So where to begin in our exploration of this nationally-adored food? 

Who is responsible for introducing the Brits to the Indian palate, and how did the UK’s menu of curries evolve from the archaic tastes which define the Asian subcontinent’s culinary fare? 

A saga of spice

Probe to the core of South Asian cookery and you will find spices, a lot of them, and some so old, they outdate the beginning of the Roman empire by a gargantuan two and half thousand years.

Pinning the use of ginger and turmeric in Indian cooking back to 2500 BC, two archaeologists revealed in 2013 how they had discovered the ingredients within fragmented cooking pots and human teeth, taken from the ancient archeological site of Farmana. 

Utilising a method of identifying plant residue called starch grain analysis, archaeologists Arunima Kashyap and Steve Weber were able to distinguish a connection between modern and 4,500 year-old recipes through the presence of spice.  

With such aged roots entrenching the use of numerous spices in Indian cooking, it is no wonder many find the basic jars of curry powder and curry paste which frequent Britain’s supermarket shelves to be so reductive. 

“Walk into a grocery store in India and you find that the singular curry powder does not exist, neither as material nor idea. In India, we use endless varieties of spice mixes instead,” wrote Sucharita Kanjilal in Quartz India. 

Whilst it’s fair to say the Brits have not entirely mastered the intricate art of Indian food, our acquaintance with spices does surprisingly date back to the age of the Crusades in the 11th century. 

Yet it wasn’t until the end of the 15th century that demand for spices in the West really boomed following Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s forgery of a new trading route from Europe to South East Asia. 

Demonstrating this sudden desire for spice, authors of The Road to Vindaloo David Burnett and Helen Saberi note the rising popularity for spiced food in Britain at the end of 16th century, evident particularly in London’s thriving Eastern spice market.  

But this now readily available crop came with a high cost. 

Harvested in tropical terrain and shipped nearly 5,000 miles across the planet, the value of spices was astronomical, the price increasing with every hand that sold them on.

According to Jack Turner, author of Spice: The History of a Temptation, the price of spice had inflated 1,000 percent by the time they reached the markets of Venice, Bruges, and London. 

Nowadays though, the likes of turmeric, cumin, ginger, cardamom and more are omnipresent in Western supermarket aisles. 

The trick is how to use them. 

• Chicken Tikka Masala£5.25 – £17.85Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 1customer rating
• Keralan Red Pepper & Cauliflower Curry£5.25 – £8.90Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 1customer rating
• Paneer & Palak Curry£5.25 – £8.90Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 1customer rating

Brief history of British curry 

Etymology

Copied from Portuguese colonisers of India and adopted into the English language, the word curry is not recognised by any of India’s official languages or 1600 dialects. 

Originating from the Tamil word ‘kaṟi’ or ‘கறி’, curry is as nonspecific as gravy or sauce, author of 600 Curries, Raghavan Iyer outlined. In many countries, curry was a word to simplify what colonisers saw as foreign cuisine.

Patrick West outlines, the word is as much a generalisation of Indian cuisine as pasta is an oversimplification of tagliatelle or spaghetti. 

Terminology aside for now though, let us uncover how curries became such a favourite with the British public. 

Seafarers 

Established in 1600, the British East India Company was founded to transport cargoes of goods from the Indian subcontinent to Britain. 

Over 250 years later, the Company had collapsed and Britain had turned to exporting vast quantities of tea from India and Bangladesh for profit. 

Travelling across these tea trading routes, sailors from the city of Sylhet in Bangladesh arrived in London at cheap guest houses, eating spiced stews in the places which were to become today’s curry houses. 

Nowadays, approximately 90 percent of current curry venues in Britain are owned and managed by descendants of the Sylheti seafarers. 

Glasse and Mahomed 

Using fowl or rabbit, Hannah Glasse’s book ‘The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy’ was the first curry recipe to be published in Britain. Distributed in 1747, the first edition contained three Indian pilau recipes. 

Very different from the tikka masala and saag aloo recipes popular in the UK today, Glasse’s recipe stewed the aforementioned game meats with peppercorns, coriander seeds, onions, butter and water. 

It wasn’t until 26 years later though that curry was included on a British menu in 1773, at the Norris Street Coffee House, London. 

Soon after, the cuisine became a regular speciality in the capital’s Piccadilly and in 1810, Bengali entrepreneur and traveller Sake Dean Mahomed opened Britain’s first, exclusively Indian restaurant. 

Situated in Mayfair, the Hindoostane Coffee House was Mahomed’s plan to capitalize on the nation’s growing love of spicy food and appeal to both the British people and Indian aristocracy. 

Unfortunately, Mahomed’s business venture went bankrupt in 1812, failing to entice the Indian aristocracy who had cooks serving more authentic meals at home. 

Still, despite his loss, Mahomed is remembered as the UK’s founding father of modern curry restaurants. 

Birmingham and the balti 

Concocted in the mid ‘70s as a means of creating a lighter, healthier curry, the Birmingham balti was invented by the Pakistani and Kashmiri communities in the southeastern area of the city.

Requiring all the meat to be off the bone and the chefs to use vegetable oil instead of ghee, the bali is made in a thin, pressed steel wok which heats up very quickly. 

Meaning bucket in Urdu, the word balti refers to the deep utensil it is cooked and served in. Traditionally, the meal is served with naan to scoop up the delicious sauce. 

Just three miles outside Birmingham’s city centre, the Balti Triangle is a flavour-fuelled hub of Asian food and where the balti was born. 

Find an official Birmingham balti recipe below! 

Traditional Birmingham balti recipe

(Courtesy of The Birmingham Balti Co.) 

Balti sauce ingredients 

• 3x Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
• 4x Chopped Onions
• 2cm length piece of peeled and grated fresh ginger
• l large crushed and peeled garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon The Birmingham Balti Garam Masala
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1tsp chilli powder
• 1 large grated tomato
• 1 teaspoon of salt 
• Handful of chopped coriander  
• 300ml water

Balti sauce method 

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over a moderate heat then add the onions, ginger and garlic, stirring regularly until onions are translucent. 
2. Add the tomato and stir into the mixture, then add the water and all the other ingredients. 
3. Give it all a good stir and bring to the boil. 
4. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. 
5. Allow to cool completely then blitz in a food processor until smooth. 

Balti chicken recipe for one person 

Ingredients 

• 6 tbsp balti curry sauce or Base gravy
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 grated tomato
• 2 small finely chopped onions
• 2 diced chicken breasts (dice in smallish pieces to ensure speedy cooking)
• 2 small chopped chillies (take the seeds out if you prefer a milder taste) 
• 1 tsp of ginger paste
• 1 tsp of garlic paste 
• 2 pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon of The Birmingham Balti Garam Masala
• 4 teaspoons of The Birmingham Balti spice pot blend OR 1 tsp ground Paprika, 1tsp dried fenugreek leaves, 1 tsp ground cumin and 1 tsp ground turmeric.
• Water
• Fresh coriander to garnish

Method 

1. Heat oil in a balti bowl until sizzling. 
2. Add chopped onion and tomato and cook until onions are translucent. 
3. Add ginger, garlic purees, chillies and give it a quick stir, then add in 4 teaspoons of balti spice blend or individual spices and stir, adding a splash of water. 
4. Add chicken, cook for a few moments then add 1 tablespoon of Garam Masala and 2 pinches of salt. 
5. When the chicken is nearly cooked add in 6 tablespoons of your balti sauce. 
6. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with Naan bread.

• Chicken Tikka Masala£5.25 – £17.85
• Chicken Saffron Korma£5.25 – £8.90
• Chicken & Roasted Vegetable Jalfrezi£5.25 – £8.90
• Garlic Chilli Beef Madras£5.75 – £10.35
• Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)£5.25 – £8.90
• Lamb Dhansak£5.75 – £10.35
• Goan Style Piri Piri Prawn Curry£5.75 – £10.35
• Chicken Achari£5.25 – £8.90
• Keralan Red Pepper & Cauliflower Curry£5.25 – £8.90

Read more at Hey Fresto

• FISH PIE WITH SMOKED APPLEWOOD MASH 
• BLACK BEAN & BUTTERNUT SQUASH CHILLI 
• CHICKEN & LEEK IN A CREAMY TARRAGON SAUCE
• VEGETABLE PAELLA WITH CASHEW NUTS
• MUSHROOM RAMEN  
• CHICKEN ACHARI
• SQUASH, CRANBERRY & ROASTED ONION TAGINE 

Every three minutes in the UK, one person dies from a heart or circulatory disease – that’s more than 160,000 deaths in a year according to the British Heart Foundation. 

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the biggest killers globally and poses a greater threat to individuals as they age.  

One of the most common causes of this condition is a build up of fat deposits from cholesterol in the artery walls and blood vessels over time. 

Gloomy as this is to read, it is important to understand so you know how to decrease your risk of developing CVD. 

Cutting down on the amount of saturated fats you consume is one of the best ways of keeping your heart healthy as you get older; doing so reduces the amount of low-density lipoprotein, aka bad cholesterol, building up in the bloodstream. 

Normally, receptor cells in the liver will remove this cholesterol from the blood to be broken down. 

However, if a person is consuming too much saturated fat from their diet, these cells will not function as well, leading to a buildup of cholesterol. 

But taking care of your cardiovascular health does not have to mean hours of trawling the internet for healthy recipes and afternoons spent in the kitchen. 

In fact, it is as easy as our heart-healthy meals below.

Meals to boost the longevity of your heart and health 

FISH PIE WITH SMOKED APPLEWOOD MASH

Fish is an incredibly rich source of omega-3 – a sentence you will have heard many times but perhaps do not know the meaning of. 

In a nutshell, omega-3 fatty acids are a type of unsaturated fatty acids which contribute to the protection of your heart and blood vessels from disease. 

They come in 3 forms: 

• Alpha-linolenic acid (AHA) – Not made by our bodies and essential for our health, AHA is mainly found in seeds, vegetable oils and nuts. 
• Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) – Helping to reduce blood clots and inflammation, EPA is found in cold water fish and fish oil. 
• Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) – This fatty acid is also found in fish, fish oil or algae oil and is essential for the healthy functioning of the brain, skin and eyes. 

Omega-3 fatty acids facilitate improved cardiovascular health by lowering fat (triglycerides) entering the blood after food consumption, improving circulation, preventing blood clots, lowering blood pressure and maintaining a steady heart rhythm. 

Made with quality produce, our fish pie is high in omega-3 and partners deliciously with boiled new potatoes, crushed and combined with fresh dill and pepper. 

BLACK BEAN & BUTTERNUT SQUASH CHILLI

Pulses are probably one of the most nutritious and cheapest foods out there. We cannot recommend them enough. 

As a fabulous substitute for meat, pulses such as black beans and lentils are loaded with protein and fibre and reinforce heart strength by controlling your blood cholesterol. 

Did we also mention that pulses are so much better for the environment than meat? 

They don’t require much water or fertiliser and their cultivation even enriches the soil for other crops. 

If you’re stuck for something to cook which includes pulses, we recommend you try our black bean chilli, served with a side of rice and a little tzatziki. 

CHICKEN & LEEK IN A CREAMY TARRAGON SAUCE

Cooked right, chicken is a lean source of protein which does not skyrocket your fat consumption. (We do advise that you avoid processed chicken which has been linked to heart disease and cancers). 

Vastly versatile, chicken is brilliant to add to any meal from salads to pies to stews.

To double the goodness, we have also included leeks in the above dish, a viridescent veggie with a wealth of health. 

Beneficial for the wellbeing of your eyes and strong healthy bones, leeks contain an antioxidant called kaempferol which has been linked to protecting the heart from age-related diseases. 

VEGETABLE PAELLA WITH CASHEW NUTS

If you want to maintain a young heart, Mediterranean food might just be the way to achieve it. 

Based largely on vegetables, fresh fish, herbs and healthy oils, Mediterranean dishes are mouth-watering and heart-strengthening in equal measure. 

Including plenty of smoky roasted vegetables, our cashew nut paella takes inspiration from this cuisine. 

Additionally, this moreish meal is low in saturated fats but high in healthy unsaturated fats from the cashews which have been indicated in some studies to lower the risk of heart disease. 

MUSHROOM RAMEN  

Bursting with umami, mushroom ramen is a sensational dish and not just for its flavour. 

Due to being packed full of potassium, mushrooms are a natural regulator of blood pressure alongside their extensive nutritional value which includes: 

• High protein 
• Essential amino acids
• Fibre
• Vitamins B1, B2, B12, C, and D 
• The following minerals: Calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, copper, iron, manganese, sodium and selenium. 

The beauty of ramen is its versatility – you can add pretty much any ingredients you want to diversify this dish!

In our recipe, we include edamame beans (immature soybeans) which are high in protein and have been shown to lower heart cholesterol. 

CHICKEN ACHARI

Due to the inclusion of ghee (clarified butter) and coconut milk which both contain large amounts of saturated fats, Indian food is not notorious for its contribution to heart health.  

Raising your LDL cholesterol, a large consumption of ghee can contribute to a heightened risk of heart disease and stroke. 

But what if we told you that you could enjoy this cuisine’s flavours without the worry of cholesterol accumulating in your system? 

Made with a very small amount of ghee and largely based on vegetables, chickpeas, chilli and tomatoes, our chicken achari is savoury, succulent and scrumptious. 

Served up with jasmine rice or naan, this chicken dinner is a winner. 

SQUASH, CRANBERRY & ROASTED ONION TAGINE 

Similar to mushrooms, squash is high in potassium meaning it can help maintain a healthy blood pressure.

Technically a fruit and not a veggie, squash is full of carotenoids which have been shown to reduce the risk of developing heart problems in later life. 

Alongside this, squash’s fibrous nature has been indicated to a decrease in the likelihood of developing bowel cancer and type 2 diabetes. 

Infused with a fruity Moroccan flavour, our squash tagine is an enviable meal which does your insides a whole lot of good.

Read more at Hey Fresto