Takeaway v Fakeaway v Healthy Fakeaway!!

With the rising cost of living, many of us are having to think seriously about where corners can be cut. It may be that eating out and takeaways are an expense that could be saved, without going without!!!

The supermarkets have aisles packed full of jars that you could easily whip up at home delicious fakeaway versions of takeaway food, however when you take some time to look at the nutritional information you may be quite horrified at the amount of fats, sugars, salts and carbohydrate that such a small jar can contain! It’s also not the whole meal, all of the additional items will also be available and they too may be extortionate. In fact in recent government guidelines some pasta sauce jars are advised to be used just once a week!

Is it possible to re-create these at home to achieve not only a replacement for a takeaway, but a healthier fakeaway too? The answer is of course YES YOU CAN!

Starting with a simple tomato based sauce that can easily be adapted for lasagne, bolognese, pasta, chilli, soup or stew.

SIMPLE TOMATO SAUCE RECIPE

1 diced onion
1 tin tomatoes (chopped or plum)
3 diced peppers
1 box passata
Seasoning to taste (garlic, salt & pepper, Worcestershire sauce etc)
Add any chopped vegetables of your choice (celery, carrots, mushrooms, aubergine etc)

• Fry onions using oil or spray oil and add all other ingredients and cook over a medium heat
• Or you can alternately roast the onion, peppers and any added vegetables (Use a large bag to place the ingredients in and either use measuring spoons to measure oil or spray oil, mix well to coat thoroughly) then roast in a moderate oven. Then add to pan with passata and seasoning and cook through

This mixture can then be blended and used as a smooth base for pizza (try using either a wrap, pitta or flatbread as the base) Or left chunky to freeze and add minced beef/turkey or pulses to convert the base into whichever gourmet dish you fancy! No hidden fats or sugars added here!!!

Or does Chinese style cooking float your boat? Again, loads of choice, the main advantage here is that many of the well known brands offer sauce sachets which are fairly low in sugars, salts and fats. You can also pick up stir fry packs of vegetables and ready to heat rice, these may have added oil. You can cook your own and using smaller quantities of oil transform with a little soy sauce, spring onions, peas and beaten egg into egg fried rice.

SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE
½ red pepper
60 ml pineapple juice from a tin of pineapple OR 80 g of pineapple
60 ml of rice vinegar
1½ tablespoons of sweetener (or to suit)
(2 teaspoons cornflour if you want a thicker sauce)
for a spicier taste add ginger, garlic and cayenne pepper

• Add all ingredients (except cornflour) to a blender and mix until all combined (it should look a dark pink colour)
• Add to a saucepan and heat until nealry boiling (the colour will change to red)
• For a thicker sauce mix a small amount of water with the cornflour to make a paste and add to the saucepan and heat through
• Thanks to Amanda Bonshor for her recipe (55 calories without cornflour and 100 calories with the cornflour)

LEMON SAUCE
120 ml sugar free lemon cordial
1 tablespoon lemon juice and zest of ½ lemon if using fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon custard powder
3 tablespoons honey or 2 tablespoons of sweetener

• Add lemon cordial, honey/sweetener, lemon juice and zest to a saucepan and heat through
• mix custard powder with water to make a thick paste
• Add custard paste to pan slowly and heat until it thickens
• This sauce can be used to make Chinese Lemon Chicken or added to fish
• This saves approximately 1,100 calories on a restaurant serving of lemon chicken
• Thanks to Amanda Bonshor for her recipe (89 calories using sweetener and 209 calories using honey)

Why not try making a version using orange sugar free cordial and fresh orange juice and zest which would make a fabulous accompaniment to pork and duck, in fact your options are only limited by what sugar free cordial you can buy

Indian style is often the highest in fats and sugars, but with a little creativity you can rustle up some superb meals, simply by investing in some basic assorted Indian spices and using smaller measured quantities of oil

A basic mixture for curry sauce is;

BASIC CURRY SAUCE RECIPE

1 lb diced cooking onions
2 oz green ginger
2¾ pints of water
1 tin tomatoes
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
½ tablespoon vegetable oil

• Put the garlic and ginger with 1/2 pt of the water and blend until smooth, then add the onions and this mixture to the rest of the water, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil,then simmer for 40-45 mins. Leave to cool.
• Once cool pour 1/2 the mixture into a blender, blend until smooth, repeat withe remaining mix (This is when you can freeze ready for marinating meat/fish) Blend the tomatoes until smooth.
• In a saucepan add oil, tomato puree, turmeric, tomatoes and paprika and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins.
• Add the onion mixture and simmer for 25 mins stirring frequently. Any froth should be skimmed off. Your curry sauce is now ready to use or freeze.

This is the base for all curries, If you prefer creamy coconut version, then try simmering 2 teaspoons desiccated coconut in ¼ pt skimmed milk, add 1 tablespoon of single cream and nuts if you wish.

Or maybe you fancy a tandoori?

SIMPLE TANDOORI MARINADE

1 cup plain fat free yoghurt
1 green chilli
1 teaspoon grated ginger or ½ teaspoon dried ginger
1½ cloves garlic
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoon red chilli powder
½ teaspoon black cumin
¾ teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon vinegar
¼ teaspoon each of red and yellow food colouring

Place the yoghurt, chillies, ginger and garlic and place in a blender, mix until smooth, remove and add the other ingredients and mix well. It’s ready to marinate your chosen meat. It can be overnight, or just an hour.

Raita……

This makes an ideal dip for your poppadoms or naan bread but is also delicious as a salad dressing

This is the traditional Indian way of making cooked rice that tastes unbelievably better than just boiling it in a saucepan.

If plain rice doesn’t float your boat then why not try this?

PILAU RICE
Prepare rice for cooking as you would for Perfect Rice
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a saucepan and add 6 cardamon pods, 4 garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves & ½ teaspoon salt.
Add 3 cups of cold water, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
place in an ovenproof dish and drizzle with lines of red and yellow food colouring.
Finish off in oven Gas mark 3 / 170 C for 20 minutes

And of course if you are not confident in the kitchen or are pushed for time a really easy way to produce a great curry is to simply use dried curry powder (strength to suit) and add to fat free plain yoghurt with food colouring if desired, and use as a marinade. Or add to tomatoes and onions to make a curry sauce. The calories, fat and sugar you save on the main meal can then be used for a Naan and or poppadoms.

Pizza, as mentioned above using flat bread/pitta or wrap and the tomato base, just add your chosen toppings and thinly sprinkle fine grated cheese on top.

Burgers can be made from scratch using less than 5% beef mince, chicken/turkey mince or Quorn mince, just add finely chopped onion, herbs and plenty of seasoning. Your bread roll can be hollowed out leaving the crust and filled with lettuce, tomato etc, or use thins. Hot dogs can be done in the same way using sausage meat, or the square sausage and of course grill them both. Dry fried onions are also simple to do and cut down the fat.

Fish and chips, starting with the chips, many of you own an air fryer so a great, healthier way to cook as it uses less oil, but if you haven’t use the same method above for roasted vegetables. This way you’ll cut dramatically the amount of fat used for traditional chips.

For the fish, many of you say you remove the batter, so is it needed? you could poach your fish in a little milk then dust with a light herb and crumb topping and finish off under the grill.

Got to be a batter?? Why not try Tempura batter, it’s lighter and absorbs less oil than traditional batter.

TEMPURA BATTER RECIPE

3 oz plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
7 fl oz sparkling water

Add the dried ingredients and gradually whisk in the sparkling water, do not over whisk. The food to be coated needs to be dry, It helps to dip your fish in flour first to help the batter stick. You can add seasoning to this basic mix making it perfect for crispy chicken too!

Got to be Tartare sauce?

HEALTHY TARTARE SAUCE

3½ oz plain fat free yoghurt
3½ oz low fat mayonnaise
2 chopped gherkins
2 chopped capers
½ finely chopped onion
dash lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley to garnish

And there you have it an alternative not just to a takeaway but a healthy fakeaway!

I’m sure you have your personal favourites, please share them in the comments.

When diet is wrong.
medicine is of no use.
When diet is correct,
medicine is of no need

Anyurvedic Proverb