Sales of ingredients for making Indian and Chinese food are rocketing. Morrisons says chilli and curry powder sales are up 150% year on year. That’s a pretty steep climb, which the Telegraph (I swear it’s not my paper of choice – just it’s been doing some good frugal stuff lately) is putting it down to belt tightening. Just as we’ve stopped fine dining, it seems we’re dumping the takeaway menu, too.

I find this surprising. I thought Indian and Chinese food was a bit of a no-brainer – particularly as you can so often do your whole meal in a single pan by building up your flavours in turn.

But apparently it’s taken until now for the world at large to cotton on to that.

So anyhow, the Telegraph has talked to food writer Nell Nelson, who had three quick and easy recipes for easy takeaway-at-home cooking:

First, a red or green Thai-style curry using ready-made paste, tinned coconut milk, with vegetables (frozen are nutritionally just as good, explains Nelson) and meat of your choice. Second, Indian-style: sauté onion, garlic, coriander and cumin seed – the base of a curry sauce – and simply add lentils and tomatoes, and serve with rice. Third, a Chinese stir-fry, which requires only a large pan, soya sauce, plum sauce, cashew nuts and meat and vegetables.

They’re pretty slim on the advice, aren’t they. But that’s the point. This kind of cooking is easy, easy, easy, and if you’re using your own home-grown peppers, chillis and tomatoes, too, so much the better.

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