Chicken curry.

This is a sister dish using the meat trimmed from the chicken thighs originally used to make chicken ribs. You are basically making a starter with them and a curry for mains. This dish is sort of like a rogan josh in that it is very tomatoey but it carries all the flavour from the spices into the vegetables and is very warming. Delicious over rice or chips.

Ingredients:

Meat from 2 chicken thighs (£0.86p)

1/2 an aubergine (£0.37p)

1/2 a broccoli (£0.26p)

1/2 a pack of mangetout (£0.25p)

1 carrot (£0.05p)

5 spring onion stalks (£0.40p)

1 yellow pepper (£0.32p)

6 cherry tomatoes (£0.16p)

1 box passata (£0.40p)

1/2 tin plum tomatoes (£0.20p)

1 tbsp tomato puree (£0.03p)

3 tsp tandoori spice blend (£0.03p)

1 chicken stock pot (£0.25p)

1 tsp garlic granules (£0.06p)

1 tsp onion granules (£0.06p)

1/2 tsp black pepper (£0.11p)

1 tsp paprika (£0.06p)

1 tsp fine sea salt (£0.01p)

5 medium potatoes (£0.62p)

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (£0.03p)

Direction:

Chop all your veg to your preferred chunkiness and add to slow cooker.

Dice chicken meat to make to your own size preference add to slow cooker.

Add the passatta, tinned tomatoes and tomato puree along with spices and stock pot.

Cook on high for 4-5hrs.

When almost completely cooked, peel and chop potatoes.

add to air fryer and put olive oil in with this, cook until golden and crisp (usually 20mins)

serve and enjoy.

The total cost for this meal works out at £4.81p for two people making it approx £2.40p per person. And if you include the chicken ribs we made using the same chicken thighs for this curry then your total cost for both would be £5.09p making it £2.55p per person but you are getting a mini appetiser and a filling main.

Of course you can upscale this recipe and use more chicken thighs, this would result in more chicken ribs and a meatier dish, however to keep costs down and portion sizes reasonable i have bulked this meal out with plenty of vegetables.

All costs vary per supermarket and this is a rough price guide as to how i made this meal.

Chicken Ribs

I came across this idea by finding once i had taken as much meat off my chicken thighs as i could with my terribly blunt kitchen scissors i was left with a rather meaty mini drumstick and it reminded me of pork ribs. I coated said meaty chicken bones with spices and a little oil and voila a delicious appetiser that can make what you would normally discard into a neat little snack. This can also be adapted to make a chicken soup using the meaty chicken bones to make a stock with seasoning and vegetables but i will cover this in a different post :)

Ingredients:

2 chicken thighs trimmed and skinned (£0.00p as they are usually discarded)

1tsp paprika (£0.06p)

1tsp garlic granules (£0.06p)

1tsp onion granules (£0.06p)

3/4tsp fine sea salt (£0.01p)

1/3rd tsp cayenne pepper (optional) (£0.06p)

1tsp extra virgin olive oil (£0.03p)

Direction:

Mix the spices.

Add the olive oil to make a paste.

Skin the chicken thighs and remove meat to be saved for later, leaving a little on the bone.

Coat the meaty chicken bones thoroughly.

roast on a baking tray for 25-30mins at 230c until darkened to your liking.

Total cost for making these chicken ribs is £0.28p as the chicken thigh meat will be used in other dishes to spread the cost and keep things as frugal as possible. This dish is purely just a leftovers type meal that can be made as a handy appetiser.

All prices are rough estimates and can vary per supermarket.

Here I will be putting recipes that are family friendly and on as tight a budget as I can get it, I understand how cost of living is hitting everyone so this is why I have created this blog to help others and use my love of cooking/baking to create delicious and frugal meals that stretch the pennies and save the pounds.

I will of course include recipe ingredients, direction on how to make and cost based on the supermarket I use. I will also include pictures and timings.

My aim is for meals to cost as little as possible whilst still filling bellies and tasting amazing.

I hope you'll all join me on my journey of exploring new ways of cooking as I'm taking inspiration from the 40s and 50s too.

Love to you all fellow budgeteers.