I tend to buy whole chickens at the supermarket as they are almost the same price as 2 chicken breast, but you have the legs and wings to use in meals as well. But one of the best money saving tips is to freeze the chicken carcasses until you have a few, then boil them up at the weekend when you have a bit more time to make stock and pull the little bits of chicken off for a stir fry or soup.

This meal is made from just this free meat, but you wouldn’t know it, as it’s made into a tasty Coronation chicken to accompany the Indian potatoes. The Chapatis are made to our usual recipe, all served with a little natural yogurt to dollop on top. Of course if you don’t have any spare chicken, the potatoes on their own are filling enough, and make a delicious meal.

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Thursday
Breakfast
Toast or Porridge

Lunch
Cheese salad sandwich

Dinner
Indian potato and coronation chicken

Snack
Flapjack

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Indian Potato Salad

Ingredients

800g baby potatoes
Olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 stalks of salad onions
1 lemon (or tablespoon of lemon juice)
2 tablespoons mixed seeds, such as pumpkin and sunflower seeds
1/2 Bunch of parsley
1 large handful of al dente peas cooled

Method

Preheat the oven to 190ºC or Gas Mark 5. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.

Leaving the skins on, halve any larger potatoes, then place them all in the water and parboil for 8 to 10 minutes.

Drain, then transfer to a roasting tray. Crush slightly with a fork, drizzle with oil, then sprinkle over the cumin seeds and turmeric.

Season, tossing them around to coat evenly, and roast in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden.

Finely slice and place the spring onion in a shallow bowl, squeeze over the lemon juice and leave to soak.

Toast the seeds in a dry pan and set aside. Pick and finely chop the parsley leaves.

When the potatoes are ready, leave to cool a little, then transfer to a serving bowl. Add the onions, parsley, pree cooked peas and a drizzle of oil. Toss to coat, then serve sprinkled with the toasted seeds.

Serve with natural yogurt

 

Easy Coronation Chicken

Ingredients for the Coronation chicken

Leftover chicken shredded.
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
2 tablespoons natural yogurt,
1 tablespoon of mango chutney
A sprinkling of mild curry powder.

Method

For the coronation chicken, mix the cooked shredded chicken with the mayonnaise, yogurt, and mango chutney together with a sprinkling of mild curry powder.

Season well and stir in some chopped coriander.

 

Chapatis

Makes 12 chapatis

Ingredients for the Chapatis

150g Strong bread flour
100g Plain flour
2 tablespoons of oil
150ml water

Method

Place the flour in a bowl with a pinch of salt and make a dip in the middle.

Pour in the oil and mix together with a fork, then add the water and mix with your hands until you have a dough.

On a flour dusted surface roll into a long sausage and cut into 12 equal slices. Then roll each one into a ball.

With a rolling pin, roll each ball thinly to about 8-10 inches and place on a plate with a dusting of flour between them.

When the potatoes are ready, in a dry frying pan cook the chapatis on each side for about a minute or until cooked but not coloured. Stack them and keep warm until needed.