If you love a curry, Britain has taught you one Indian cuisine - the curry-house menu. There is another one. It's the food Indian families cook for themselves on ordinary evenings, and it's the one Saakshi's Kitchen delivers, frozen, to your door.
Key takeaways
- The British curry-house canon - tikka masala, korma, madras - is largely built around one standing base gravy.
- Home cooking builds the masala from scratch for each dish, which is why dal tastes like dal and not a variation on a house sauce.
- The home repertoire has its own stars: rajma chawal, chole, kadhi, baingan ka bharta.
- Spiced, not hot - the heat level a family actually cooks at.
- Delivered frozen across UK mainland; vegetarian options across the menu; our kitchen-cooked meats are halal.
Two Indian cuisines, one country
Almost every curry house in Britain works from a standing base gravy - one master sauce made in the morning, with dishes differentiated at the pass by ratios of chilli, tomato, cream and sugar. It's a genuine craft, and it's how a small kitchen serves fifty covers a night. But it is a different way of cooking from an Indian home, where the masala is built from scratch for every pot - onion, tomato, ginger and garlic, bhuno'd down until the oil separates - and each dish gets its own spicing from there. We don't keep a base gravy. That is the single biggest difference you can taste.
The dishes curry lovers haven't been shown
You've had the restaurant version. This is what we cook on a Tuesday:
- Rajma chawal - kidney beans in a slow onion-tomato masala over rice; Punjab's great weekend lunch.
- Chole - chickpeas cooked dark and long, heavy on dhania.
- Kadhi - a tangy yoghurt and gram-flour curry with pakoras; nothing like it on a takeaway menu.
- Dal tadka - the everyday lentil pot, finished with jeera and hing sizzled in ghee.
- Baingan ka bharta - aubergine charred and mashed into onion and tomato; smoky, seasonal, rarely seen outside a home kitchen.
See which of these are on this week's menu.
What about butter chicken?
We're not against the classics - butter chicken and tikka masala are great dishes, and they sit at the celebration end of the same cuisine. Restaurant Indian is a night out; ghar ka khana is dinner. A good week has room for both. Ours is the everyday half.
Spiced, not hot
If vindaloo heat has kept you cautious about Indian food, home cooking is the version you were never shown. The chilli sits in balance so the jeera, dhania and haldi carry the flavour - spiced for eating, not for showing off. It's the heat level a family cooks at when every generation eats from the same pot.
Something for every table
There are vegetarian options across the menu - dal, rajma, chole, paneer, seasonal sabzi - and our kitchen-cooked meats are halal. The full ingredient list is on every product page, so you can check each dish before you order.
Delivered frozen, cooked at your place
Everything is cooked in small batches in our FSA 5-star kitchen, frozen, and delivered frozen across UK mainland - some areas we can't reach, so check your postcode first. Meals go straight into the freezer, then cook or reheat straight from frozen until piping hot, following the pack instructions. Families rate us 4.6 stars from 800+ verified reviews, and 79% of orders come from returning families - the people who grew up on this food are the ones who keep ordering it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between curry-house food and Indian home cooking?
Method. A curry house typically works from one standing base gravy and differentiates dishes at the pass; a home kitchen builds the masala from scratch for each dish, so every pot tastes distinct.
Is Indian home cooking spicy?
It is spiced rather than hot. The chilli sits back so cumin, coriander and turmeric come through - milder than a typical restaurant curry.
Do you deliver across the UK?
We deliver across UK mainland. Some areas we can't reach, so check your postcode before ordering.
Is the meat halal?
Our kitchen-cooked meats are halal, and there is a wide vegetarian range across the menu.
Where to go next
- This week's menu - the everyday repertoire, cooked now.
- How a tiffin service works - home-cooked meals on a weekly rhythm.
- What is a dabba? - the lunchbox tradition behind it all.
- Check your postcode - where we deliver.
- Indian food delivery in London - our biggest delivery city.