Some Indian dishes reward an afternoon in the kitchen more than almost anything else you can cook. Here are five worth learning — butter chicken, vegetable biryani, paneer tikka, chana masala and naan — with an honest note on what each one asks of you, and what to do on the nights you would rather someone else had done the cooking.
Key takeaways
- Butter chicken and biryani sit at the occasion end of Indian cooking — brilliant, but a project.
- The everyday repertoire — dal, chana masala, sabzi — is where home cooks actually live.
- The single biggest technique to learn is the bhuno: cooking the masala down until the oil separates.
- Marination and resting time matter more than any secret ingredient.
- When you would rather not cook, Saakshi's Kitchen delivers the same repertoire frozen, ready to reheat.
1. Butter chicken: the celebration dish
Tender chicken in a rich tomato sauce, mellowed with butter and cream — this is restaurant Indian at its most loved, and it is genuinely worth making once at home. Marinate the chicken overnight in dahi and spices, char it hard under a hot grill, then simmer it briefly in the sauce. The honest note: this is occasion food. In an Indian household it appears when there is something to celebrate, not on a Tuesday.
2. Vegetable biryani: the one-pot project
Fragrant rice layered with spiced vegetables and steamed together so the flavours travel through the pot. The trick is to par-cook the rice — about three-quarters done — before layering, then finish everything on the lowest heat with the lid sealed tight. Serve it with raita. It takes time, and it should: biryani is a dish you make for a table full of people.
3. Paneer tikka: the marination lesson
Cubes of paneer in a thick dahi marinade with ajwain and ground spices, grilled until the edges catch. Two things decide the result: the dahi must be thick (hang it in a muslin for an hour if it is not), and the grill must be properly hot before the paneer goes anywhere near it. Get those right and the outside chars while the inside stays soft.
4. Chana masala: comfort in a bowl
Chickpeas cooked dark and long in an onion–tomato masala, heavy on dhania. This is the dish on this list closest to the everyday repertoire — the kind of thing a household cooks in a big pot and eats over two days. The technique that makes it: bhuno the masala patiently, until the oil separates, before the chickpeas go in. Serve with rice or warm naan.
5. Homemade naan: pillowy perfection
Soft, blistered flatbread that does the mopping-up work at the end of every good curry. Rest the dough properly — an hour minimum — and cook the naan on the hottest surface you have: a screaming-hot dry pan with a lid, or under a full-power grill. Brush with ghee the moment it comes off the heat.
When you would rather not cook
Every dish above wants time: an overnight marinade, an hour of dough-resting, a slow bhuno. That is the pleasure of a weekend cook — and precisely what nobody has at seven o'clock on a weeknight.
That is the gap Saakshi's Kitchen fills. We cook the household repertoire — dals, rajma, chole, paneer dishes, biryani — in small batches in our FSA 5-star kitchen, from family recipes, and deliver it frozen across UK mainland. It keeps in your freezer, reheats straight from frozen until piping hot, and tastes like somebody's home cooking because it is. 16,000+ deliveries so far, 4.6 stars from 800+ verified reviews, and 79% of orders from families who come back.
Start with this week's menu, build your own box, or let a weekly tiffin do the thinking for you. First, check your postcode — we deliver across UK mainland, but some areas we cannot reach.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best Indian dishes to make at home?
Butter chicken, vegetable biryani, paneer tikka, chana masala and naan are the five most rewarding to learn. Chana masala is the most forgiving for a beginner; biryani is the most demanding.
What is the most important Indian cooking technique?
The bhuno: frying the onion, tomato, ginger and garlic masala down patiently until the oil separates. Most dishes stand or fall on it.
Can I get these dishes delivered instead?
Yes. Saakshi's Kitchen cooks the home repertoire in Brighton and delivers it frozen across UK mainland — check your postcode to see if we reach you.
Where to go next
- This week's menu — the dishes already cooked.
- How a tiffin service works — dinner on a schedule.
- Check your postcode — where we deliver.
- Home-cooked Indian dishes at home — what arrives when the kitchen is ours.