Mmmm…Indian food. There is just something so warm and comforting about the magical blend of spices in so many Indian dishes. The aroma is exotically enticing and never fails to make my mouth water and my tummy rumble. I can’t necessarily handle a lot of heat (being Canadian and all), but bring on the savoury curries and I’m butter (ghee?) in your hands. Give me a dish I can throw together in just one pan (or pot) and give me authentic Indian takeout taste without any tummy troubles (from dairy or other unknown ingredients), well…I can’t tell you what happens then. But I *can* (and will) share this easy, healthy recipe with you – no one will believe it’s dairy-free, either!  There’s even an option to make this grain-free, low-carb & Paleo!

In the same vein as my Simple Southwestern Chicken Skillet (but representing a different culture this time), this meal is also, in my humble opinion, delicious, nutritious, FAST, and family-pleasing.  You might need to do a little specialty store (or at least specialty section of the store) shopping to get all of the spices to really get the full depth of flavour for this dish, but after spices & olive oil (and who doesn’t have olive oil in the kitchen already? Ok, don’t answer that – just make sure you pick some up on your next grocery run) there are only FOUR ingredients in this dish (and guess what? Two of them can be the canned version and no one will ever be the wiser!).

You can, of course, use fresh ingredients to substitute for some or all of the canned items mentioned but you will need to have prepared these in advance or expect to spend more time in the kitchen getting this meal together – still faster than waiting for Indian food takeout delivery (at least in my neck of the woods), and infinitely more rewarding (right?).  I will be suitably impressed if you make your own coconut milk from a raw coconut fresh off of the tree! (Take a photo and tag #thegoldengrahamgirl on Instagram if you do, or get it to me in one of my other forms of social media contacts, below).

One of my healthy meal-prepping tips is to prepare several servings of versatile “base” ingredients on the weekend (or whatever day/time is most convenient for your schedule). For example, I will cook a large pot of brown rice on Sunday, and then measure individual servings into reusable containers to be stored in the fridge or freezer. I will also bake up to a dozen chicken breasts with various seasonings to be used in various meals throughout the week. And of course there is vegetable chopping if I’m really ambitious. Not coincidentally, brown rice and chicken breast both feature in the recipe. And while I’m not a fan of white Minute Rice, there ARE some good options out there for quick brown rice products (check out Uncle Ben’s Instant Brown Rice – note that even with “instant” in the name, it still takes about 10 minutes to prepare).  As a grain-free, low-carb, Paleo alternative, you can substitute cauliflower “rice” (lightly steam cauliflower florets and pulse in a food processor until you have a fine, rice-like texture).

OK? Prepped and ready to go? Ready or not, here it comes:

*Please note that I am currently NOT sponsored by or affiliated with any particular brand, company or product. Any ideas, comments or opinions are my own, as mentioned in my Product Review page. However, if you choose to purchase new-to-you products I recommend using the link(s) I provide, I can earn a small credit. More information on that is available here.