Ultimate Guide to INDIAN MEAL PREP | Budget friendly Easy Delicious & Unlimited Combinations

Meal prep is something that I do quite often. It really saves me time so that I can focus on other things. It also helps me to eat healthy during the weekdays and also saves me money. Hi, I'm Sharmi and today I'm sharing my Indian meal prep. So why Indian meal prep? I do other meal preps as well but I think Indian meal prep gives you lots of variety and flavor. Most importantly it is not boring and you don't have to eat the same meal again and again. So if you are doing a meal prep give this Indian meal prep a try. This Indian meal prep will be healthy, cheap and nutritious. Before we get started please subscribe to the channel and also press the notification icon. So this is the plan. I will make some rice, two proteins, some vegetables, dal with pumpkins and a chutney. This meal prep will be wholesome and it will easily last you for a week. I will be multitasking and making all these dishes together. You should easily be finishing this meal prep under two hours. So let's start with the rice. The easiest way to make rice is to use a rice cooker. I'm using six cups of rice. Wash the rice, add water to the desired level and cook it in your rice cooker. If you don't have a rice cooker you can also use a pot. If you're using a pot add double the water. For six cups use 12 cups of water. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and cover. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. Switch off the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes. Our rice is on the way. Now let's talk about the proteins. Today I'm making chicken tikka and masala fish. I'm using minimal oil and minimal spices. These will be high in protein and quite healthy. You can also add varieties to your protein every week by making curries and dishes like lamb bhuna which I made in my last video. You can make chicken curries, lamb curries, lentil curries or chickpea curries. You can also make tandoori chicken which will be quite healthy. If you want to make curries you can also make the base gravy in advance and freeze them. That way your curries will take less time to cook. I will have a link to all these recipes in the description below. For chicken tikka I'm using 800 grams of chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces. For the marination I'm using 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 4th cup of yogurt, 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste, 1 tablespoon of kashmiri red chilli powder. You can also replace this with paprika. Half teaspoon of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of dried fenugreek leaves, 2 teaspoon of lemon juice, salt to taste. Here I have one and a half teaspoon of salt. We are going to add everything into the chicken. Mix them well and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes or till we are ready to cook. For the masala fish I'm using 800 grams of fish fillets. You can use any fish of your choice. Because my fillets are big I will cut them into serving size pieces. For the masala I'm using 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste, 1 tablespoon of ketchup. Ketchup will give the sweetness and make it very flavorful. 1 tablespoon of kashmiri red chilli powder. You can replace this with paprika. Half a teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 2 tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves. If you don't like coriander you can also use parsley. Salt to taste. Here I have 1 teaspoon of salt and semolina. I'm using semolina for the coating but you can also use panko bread crumbs or flour. In India we like to use semolina. Add all the ingredients except the semolina into the fish. Coat the fish nicely with the spices. Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes or till we are ready to cook. While our proteins are marinating let's make our pumpkin dal. For pumpkin dal we need 2 cups of red lentil, 2 cups of pumpkin diced into cubes. You can also use potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots or vegetables like cauliflower, peas or beans. Half of a canned tomato, 1 medium sized onion finely chopped, 1 green chilli, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 inch of ginger all finely chopped. Half a teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 2 tablespoons of fresh coriander. You can also use parsley and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Wash the dal and let it soak. In the meantime let's start cooking. Heat up a pan. Keep the heat on medium. Once the pan is hot add 1 tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is hot add the cumin. Let it splatter. Then add the ginger, garlic and green chillies and onions. Fry them till the onions are translucent. My pan is really hot. I'm reducing the heat. This will take around 5 minutes. Onions are ready. Now I will add the turmeric. Give a good mix and then add the pumpkins. Fry for 1 minute. Then add the tomatoes. Drain the lentils and add it to the pan. Mix them well. Add around 4 cups of water. If dal thickens up while cooking you can add more water. Add the salt. I'm using 1 teaspoon of salt. Heat should be low to medium. Cover and let it simmer till it's cooked through. This will take around 30 minutes. While my dal is cooking let's prepare some veggies and grains. This will give us the fibers and micronutrients. First I will roast some veggies. I'm using some cauliflower, capsicum, beans, onions and carrots. Cut the veggies into cubes. Toss them with some olive oil, pepper, salt, some cumin powder, turmeric and little bit of chilli powder. Spread them on a baking tray. I have already preheated my oven to 190 degrees celsius. Bake for around 15 to 20 minutes. My roasted vegetables are taking a little bit longer. I will toss them little bit, turn the tray around and bake it for another 7 minutes. Our roasted veggies are done. It took a total of 22 minutes. Let it cool down and store them in a container. I also like to shred some veggies and store them. It is really convenient to add them into your dishes and it is more likely you will eat them. Make sure all the vegetables are dry. I'm using some purple cabbage, green cabbage, cucumber and some carrots. Take off the cucumber seeds otherwise it will release water. Do not add any salt or seasoning. We'll thinly slice them and store them in a airtight container. Place a tissue paper at the bottom of the container to absorb any moisture. It will stay fresh up to a week in the fridge. This is really convenient for salads and wraps. It's been 30 minutes and our dal is ready. My dal and pumpkins are cooked through and it has a nice consistency. Switch off the heat, add a pinch of garam masala, lemon juice and some coriander. Our pumpkin dal is done. I'm also going to make a mint coriander chutney for my meal prep. These chutneys will add tons of flavor and freshness to your dish. I usually make this green chutney or a spicy red chutney for my meal prep. You can add different chutneys on different weeks for variety. I will add a link to my five chutney recipes in the description below. I usually make these chutneys in advance and store them in the fridge. They really elevate your weekday meals. We will put everything into the blender and grind it into a smooth paste. Our mint coriander chutney is ready. I also like to add a little bit of mayonnaise. It adds a richness to the chutney and the chutney will stay longer in the fridge. I really like to add pickled onions to my meal prep. They make even the most boring foods pop and they really go well with Indian food. They will add the acidity, brightness and crunch to your dishes. I usually make them in advance and I always keep them in my fridge but I'm going to make it for you today. For this we need a clean jar, 3-4 cups of white vinegar. You can also use apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar. 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 green chilies, 2 onions and 2 bay leaves. Slice the onions. Don't make it too thin if you want the crunch. This is the thickness we're looking for. Slice the chilies as well. We also need 1 teaspoon of peppercorn. Add the onions and chilies to the jar. Add the peppercorns, bay leaves, salt, sugar, vinegar. Fill up the rest of the jar with hot water. Make sure everything is submerged in the liquid. Close the lid and give a good mix. The salt and the sugar will dissolve in the hot water. Let it cool down and then put it in the fridge. Our pickled onions are ready. Now it's time to make the chicken tikka. Our oven is already preheated to 190 degrees Celsius. Spread the chicken evenly on the baking tray. We will bake these for 10 minutes. It's been 10 minutes. Our chicken tikka is almost ready. Now grill them for another 4 to 5 minutes at highest temperature. Our chicken tikka is ready. It's looking beautiful and there is a nice charred on the top. The only thing left to do is to cook the fish. The fish will be very simple. We will coat the fish with semolina and pan fry them. Pan fry them on medium to high heat for 3 minutes on each side. You can also bake them or air fry them. Our fish is ready. Once everything has cooled down, store them in containers. So guys our meal prep is done. If you do this, you can relax and enjoy amazing meals for rest of the week. This will take you less than 2 hours. You can always make these pickled onions and chutneys in advance. I also have my lamb bhuna here which I made in my last video. This lamb bhuna always tastes better next day. When it comes to your weekday meals, you just need to add your combinations to your bowl, heat them in the microwave and enjoy them. I will show you 4 dishes which you can make with this preparation. My first combination is chicken, rice, veggies and mint sauce. For the fish, I have this store-bought spinach wrap. These are very convenient and healthy also. Some shredded veggies, fish, pickled onions and mint sauce. For the third combination, I am using this lamb bhuna which I made before. This always tastes better the next day. Some shredded vegetables, pickled onions and mint sauce. For the days when I want to eat vegetarian, I have some rice, dal, roasted vegetable, chutney and pickled onions. So guys I have these combinations here but you can make your own combinations and make different dishes each day. This Indian meal prep will never get boring and you can also make it as healthy as you want. I hope I have given you some ideas for Indian meal prep. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. Please like, share and subscribe and see you in the next video.