Hi Reader,

Monday has never inspired much ambition in me.
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By late afternoon, I’m usually staring into the refrigerator as if the answer to dinner might reveal itself between the mustard and a jar of olives. It never does. What I am really doing is stalling.
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But curry can rescue a Monday.
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It starts innocently enough. An onion hits the pan. Then garlic, ginger, and spices. Within minutes, the kitchen smells warm and complicated, as if someone far more organized has been cooking all afternoon. Turmeric stains the spoon an alarming shade of yellow. Cumin and coriander bloom in the oil. Chile provides just enough heat to remind you you’re alive.
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And here’s what I love most: a curry is not a production. Chicken, cauliflower, lentils, beef. Give them a deeply spiced sauce and some time together, and suddenly Monday dinner is an event.
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Not a Tuesday-is-coming event.
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A good event.

Spice First, Panic Never

• Wake up your spices. Give dried spices a brief turn in the pan with fat and aromatics. Heat helps release their fragrance, and that’s when dinner starts smelling like you know exactly what you’re doing.
• Build flavor in layers. Onion first, then garlic and ginger, then spices, tomatoes, liquid, and whatever you’re simmering. Each one needs a minute in the pan before the next goes in.
• Control the heat. You can always add more chile. Removing it requires witchcraft, divine intervention, or an unreasonable quantity of yogurt.
• Give the sauce time. Whether you’re making butter chicken, dal, or a vegetable curry, simmer long enough that the sauce thickens and tastes of one thing rather than several.
• Cook for two nights, not one. Like so many saucy, spiced dishes, curry often tastes better after a night in the fridge. Which means Tuesday dinner is handled before Monday is even over. I consider that nothing short of a minor domestic miracle.

WHAT'S INSIDE...

• ​Easy Butter Chicken​
• ​Cauliflower & Tomato Curry​
• ​Malvani-Style Chicken Curry​
• ​Tikka Masala Lentils​
• ​British Beef Raj Curry​
• ​Tarka Dal ~ Lentils With Tomatoes & Cilantro​

​Easy Butter Chicken​

Simmer pieces of chicken in an aromatic, delicately spiced, creamy curry sauce that tastes like the butter chicken masala you love to eat in restaurants. Serve with rice and naan bread to make the most of all the sauce. No marinating!

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​Cauliflower & Tomato Curry​

Cauliflower and tomato curry is a healthy and robust vegan dinner that's full of flavorsome spices that will fill your kitchen with warming aromas. Not to mention the exceptional job it does of filling bellies, too.

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​Malvani-Style Chicken Curry​

The many spices used here add aromatic warmth and heat to the chicken. I like this with very little sauce, so it’s ideal served with any flatbread but feel free to serve it with rice instead.

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​Tikka Masala Lentils​

These tikka masala lentils, which can be made in your Instant Pot or on the stovetop, are healthy, easy to make, and packed with flavor from the combination of fragrant Indian spices, coconut milk, and tomato paste.

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​British Beef Raj Curry​

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.82 from 16 votes

This British beef raj curry is prepared like a stew, tastes like a curry, and best of all, is ready in just one hour. Made with chuck steak, onions, garlic, chiles, coconut, and raisins, it's comfort food with a kick.

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​Tarka Dal ~ Lentils With Tomatoes & Cilantro​

Tarka dal, or lentils with tomato and cilantro, is not only easy and healthy but includes oil-bloomed spices that make the resulting flavors intoxicatingly complex.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​