The Ultimate Guide to Meal Planning and Prep for Indian Cuisine

Indian food is beloved for its complex flavors and aromas. However, cooking authentic Indian dishes from scratch every day can be time-consuming. Proper meal planning and prep makes enjoying home-cooked Indian food quick and easy, even on busy weeknights. This guide provides tips and strategies for streamlining your cooking process for delicious Indian meals.

Benefits of Meal Planning for Indian Cooking

Implementing meal planning and prep provides many advantages:

• Saves time in the kitchen each day
• Allows you to enjoy home-cooked Indian food more often
• Reduces stress about what to cook daily
• Lets you prepare parts of dishes in advance
• Allows you to customize menus for your tastes
• Helps you save money by reducing food waste
• Helps you eat healthier, balanced meals

With some planning and prep work on the weekends, you can minimize daily cooking while still enjoying flavorful Indian dishes all week long.

10 Tips for Efficient Meal Planning and Prep

Follow these tips for streamlined meal planning and prep:

1. Pick a meal planning day – Such as Sunday to review schedule and plan recipes.
2. Involve family in planning – Have kids, spouse help pick favorite meals.
3. Plan versatile dishes – Ones that use similar ingredients in multiple ways.
4. Focus on pre-prep – Chop veggies, cook potatoes, boil lentils in advance.
5. Make batches – Double curries, biryanis and freeze portions.
6. Prep base sauces and spices – Make larger batches for multiple recipes.
7. Soak beans and lentils – To reduce cooking time later.
8. Cook extra rice or naan – For easy leftovers or side dishes.
9. Make snacks and chutneys – Homemade or store-bought to grab and go.
10. Use helpers like pressure cookers – To reduce cooking times.

10 Indian Ingredients and Foods for Meal Prep

Stock up on these versatile Indian staples:

1. Lentils (toor, urad, chana, moong)
2. Rice (basmati, brown, long-grain)
3. Spice mixes (garam masala, chaat masala)
4. Chickpea flour (besan)
5. Yogurt
6. Ghee
7. Paneer
8. Canned tomatoes
9. Frozen peas
10. Potatoes

Sample Weekly Menu Plan

Here is a sample Indian meal plan for the week:

Day	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Poha	Leftover biryani	Dal makhani
Tuesday	Paratha with yogurt	Leftover dal makhani	Paneer tikka masala
Wednesday	Upma	Leftover paneer tikka masala	Jeera rice with raita
Thursday	Idli sambhar	Leftover jeera rice	Chana masala with puri
Friday	Paneer sandwich	Leftover chana masala	Veg biryani
Saturday	Uttapam	Restaurant/leftovers	Restaurant/leftovers
Sunday	Pancakes	Restaurant/leftovers	Meal prep for upcoming week

Grocery Shopping Tips

• Shop ethnic grocers for best prices on spices, rice, lentils, etc.
• Check ads and clip coupons.
• Make a detailed list organized by store section.
• Buy proteins and produce first, then pantry items.
• Purchase perishables like yogurt, paneer at the end.
• Prep produce as soon as you get home.

Meal Prep Tips for Indian Cooking

• Soak lentils, beans, chickpeas ahead to reduce cooking time.
• Boil and freeze potatoes to use later in curries.
• Chop onions, tomatoes, ginger-garlic to use in multiple dishes.
• Make double batches of rice or naan and refrigerate.
• Prepare base sauces ahead.
• Mix up tandoori or garam masala seasoning mixes.
• Cook dishes like dal in a pressure cooker to save time.
• Prep snacks like chaat and chutneys to grab and go.

10 Quick Indian Breakfasts to Make Ahead

These breakfasts can be prepped fully or partially in advance:

1. Overnight oats – With yogurt, fruits, nuts and spices.
2. Egg bhurji – Scrambled spiced eggs.
3. Poha – Flattened rice with veggies.
4. Upma – Semolina with veggies.
5. Idli – Make batter ahead, steam before eating.
6. Dosa – Make batter ahead, cook when ready to eat.
7. Paratha – Make dough ahead, cook right before eating.
8. Uttapam – Prepare batter in advance.
9. Aloo paratha – Prepare potato filling, cook paratha same day.
10. Pancakes – Make batter ahead, cook when ready to eat.

Tips for Meal Prep with Indian Curries and Sabzis

• Chop vegetables ahead of time.
• Prepare spice mixes like garam masala in advance.
• Make curry pastes to store and use later.
• Partially or fully cook sabzis ahead.
• Make extra rice like jeera or vegetable pulao.
• Prepare raitas ahead of time.
• Make extra chutneys.
• Use pressure cooker to quickly cook dishes with lentils and beans.
• Freeze extra portions of curries.

Ideas for Make-Ahead Indian Snacks and Sides

• Roast and crush peanuts to make peanut chutney powder.
• Make bags of mixture for chivda, nuts and dried fruits.
• Prepare dough for parathas and puris and store in refrigerator.
• Make and freeze samosas, kachori and other finger foods.
• Make paneer ahead and freeze.
• Prepare chutneys like mint, tamarind, coriander, garlic, etc.
• Make your own chaat masala powder to use anytime.

Conclusion

With some planning and prep, it’s possible to enjoy home-cooked Indian meals every day without the extensive daily cooking time. Try out these tips and soon you’ll have flavorful Indian food ready anytime hunger strikes.