Fakeaway recipes to master now

Put a healthy spin on your takeaway favourites

We’re all turning to food for comfort these days, and there’s definitely nothing wrong with a weekend takeaway. But if you want to make your favourites slightly healthier, or simpy get the hang of some crowd-pleasing recipes, here are some handy ones to have in your repertoire.

Chef Adrian Martin’s Spice Bag recipe

This recipe packs a punch, without being deep-fried.

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

• 2 chicken fillets (sliced into small strips)
• 200g of ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1tsp of coconut oil

For the chips:

• 4 medium sized maris pipers washed
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 tbsp of coconut oil
• 2 sprigs of rosemary

For the spice:

• 2 good pinches of sea salt
• 1 tbsp of chinese 5 spice
• 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp of chilli powder

To garnish (optional):

• Sliced red and green chilli

Method:

1. For the chicken place the strips into the beaten egg. In a bowl mix the cumin and ground almonds. Preheat the oven to 200oC/400oF/gas 6.
2. Place the chicken into the ground almonds mixed with cumin until fully coated and place onto a baking tray. If you find they aren’t fully coated go back and dip again into the egg and then back into the almond mix. Place into the oven and bake for 20-30 mins.
3. For the chips slice them up to whatever thickness you like and bake with the rosemary, sliced onion and coconut oil for 35/40 mins. If your tray isn’t non stick use some grease proof or parchment paper.
4. Mix the spice ingredients together in a small bowl. Combine both the chicken and chips together and then from a height sprinkle over the spice mix coating both the chicken and chips.
5. Recommended to serve in a bag or some newspaper with a sprinkling of red and green sliced chilli. Enjoy!

Pinch of Nom’s Chicken Tikka Masala

This recipe is just as flavourful as what you would find in your local takeway, with less fat. Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

• 250 g fat free Greek yoghurt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 3 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• juice of ½ lemon

For the sauce:

• 4 large chicken breasts
• 400 g canned tomatoes
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 4 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
• low calorie cooking spray
• Rice, to serve

Method:

1. Add the yoghurt, lemon juice and marinade spices into a large bowl. Dice the chicken and add to the marinade. Cover and pop in the fridge for around 2-4 hours.
2. Once the chicken has marinaded, heat a large frying pan on a moderate heat. Spray with low calorie cooking spray and cook the onion until soft – this will take around 5 minutes.
3. Add the tomato puree to the onions and cook out for a couple of minutes. Add the crushed garlic, and garam masala, cook for another couple of minutes and stir in the tinned tomatoes. Keep on a low heat.
4. Take the chicken pieces out of the marinade, setting the remaining yoghurt and spice mix aside. Add the chicken to a separate frying pan. Once the chicken has browned slightly on the outside, add to the tomato sauce. Mix to combine and leave to cook on a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the sliced peppers and cook for another 10 minutes or until the chicken has cooked through.
6. Making sure the hob is set to a low heat, stir in the remaining yoghurt marinade and fresh coriander. Leave to cook through for 5 minutes. Serve with rice.

Jamie Oliver’s chicken burrito

Jamie’s burrito recipe is absolutely delicious, and a handy one to use up leftover rice. Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless free-range chicken thighs
• 1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
• ½ a tablespoon ground cumin
• olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 x 400 g tin of pinto or black beans
• 200 g leftover white or brown rice, chilled
• 1 lime
• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 4 spring onions
• 1 little gem lettuce
• 4 large flour tortillas
• 80 g mature Cheddar cheese
• 4 tablespoons Greek yoghurt

Method:

1. Preheat a griddle pan over a high heat. Meanwhile, place the chicken thighs between two sheets of greaseproof paper, then bash with the base of a heavy pan to roughly ½cm thick. Pop into a bowl, sprinkle over the paprika, cumin and a lug of oil, and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
2. Mix well to coat, then place the chicken onto the hot griddle. Cook for 10 minutes, or until charred and cooked through, turning halfway. Leave to cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the garlic. Pick the coriander leaves and set aside, then finely slice the stalks. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the garlic and coriander stalks and fry for 1 minute.
4. Drain, rinse and add the beans, then fry for a further few minutes. Add the rice and cook for 5 minutes, or until crisp and piping hot through, stirring occasionally. Finely grate in the lime zest, roughly chop and add half the coriander leaves. Stir well and remove from the heat.
5. Roughly chop the tomatoes and trim and finely slice the spring onions, then add to a bowl with the juice of the lime. Roughly chop and add the remaining coriander leaves, mix well and season to taste. Shred the lettuce and cooled chicken.
6. Pop a tortilla onto the griddle for 1 minute to soften, then place onto a board. Spoon one-quarter of the fried rice and beans along the middle, top with a generous spoonful of salsa, a handful of lettuce and one of the shredded chicken thighs. Grate over some cheese and add a spoon of yoghurt.
7. Wrap up the burrito, then tuck in. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, serving as you go.