Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

These are great to make - easy and cheap but delicious. The beauty of them is that you can adapt the ingredients to whatever you have in the fridge. It is also a good dish to make if you have friends to cook for as you can do most of the preparation beforehand or use up left over rice from the previous night.

I like to use brown rice for this recipe but you can use plain white long grain, basmati, maybe even risotto rice.

You will need:

A big beef tomato. The bigger the better, you want to pack loads of rice in. 
Rice.
A small onion or half a big one. 
A clove or two of garlic. 
Salt and pepper. 
Coriander.
A lime.
Cheese and breadcrumbs (optional).

Chapatis

These are so easy to make and go really well with any curry.

You will need: 

1 cup of flour (traditionally wholemeal but white also works very well)
Water
A pinch of salt
A few drops of oil

• Start by putting the flour in to a bowl and add the salt and oil.
  
  
• Add some water and mix in with the flour and start to create a dough. If it seems too wet add some flour or if it is too dry add some more water.
  
  

• Knead the dough for about 5 minutes then leave in the bowl for 15-30 minutes. You can rub a little oil over the surface to prevent drying out/skin if you leave it for a while.  

Tarka Dal

Dals are amazing - they're tasty, nutritious, cheap, quick to cook, and they can be as simple or complex as you care to make them. They are also great for vegetarians as lentils are full of protein.

This recipe is probably the simplest recipe around but it tastes amazing and can be done in no time at all. All the ingredients should be available in your supermarkets but I would urge you to go to independent local shops. Most towns have Asian grocery stores and the ingredients needed for this will probably be cheaper (and fresher) in these.

Cooking time: 15-20mins
Serves two people.

What you will need:

1 cup red lentils/split peas
2-3 cups water (depending on the texture you like)
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1 or 2 tablespoons of oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
A few curry leaves (fresh if you can get them but dried work also work)
Salt to taste (a pinch should be enough)