Deciding on something for dinner when you have had a tough day can be even more difficult than the actual preparation of the dish itself. You start looking inside your refrigerator, but you still lack inspiration regarding what should be cooked. In order to avoid shopping groceries which will just stay inside your refrigerator throughout the week without being used, it would be wise to plan your dinners ahead of time. And one such ingredient could be the drumstick.
Put Sambar On The Menu
Sambar is an easy place to start. It is very filling and goes great with rice and idli and you can put in any vegetable that you have at home. Drumsticks enhance the taste of sambar, as they take on the taste of dal, tamarind, and spices but retain their own flavour as well. Sambar can be made with a mixture of cooked toor dal, tamarind, tomato, onion, and sambar masala. Do you have carrots, beans, or pumpkins? You can also add those to the mixture.
Make A Simple Curry
There might be instances where you want to eat rice and curry, but you will not have much time on your hands to make them. Making curries becomes quick once you know how to make your own with simple ingredients such as onion, tomatoes, coconut, and spices. Prior to making the list of things to be purchased, check if you have everything ready with you.
Add It To Dal
If dal is already part of your diet, you can add vegetables to make it a little different. Chop the vegetables into small pieces and boil them with either moong or toor dal until both soften. Flavour it as you usually would. Serve this with rice and a simple salad of cucumber, tomato, and onions. If available, keep some coriander and green chillies aside. Nothing fancy is needed. It is the kind of meal that works particularly well on an ordinary weekday.
Plan Meals Before Filling The Basket
It is easy to buy vegetables because they look useful and then realise later that you have no plans for them. Instead, it would be better to think of a couple of meals at first. When the menu includes sambar, dal, and curries in a week, choose the ingredients which can be used for preparing the three dishes. Otherwise, you will end up purchasing five different vegetables while preparing just two or three dishes.
Use What You Already Have
Take a quick look through the fridge before placing an order. Maybe two tomatoes need using or some leftover coriander from another meal. Build your meals around those things instead of starting completely from scratch. The same approach works when you use an online service for shopping groceries. A quick check of the kitchen before ordering can stop you from accidentally buying another packet or bunch of something you already have.
Keep Weeknight Cooking Realistic
You do not have to prepare meal plans for the whole week. Just preparing meal plans for the days which appear to be the hardest ones will make you a bit more relaxed. Try keeping a few recipes that you know are tried and tested and alter them whenever you wish. Drumstick lends itself well to such planning because it can be included in your existing recipes. Plan around the meals you already enjoy, buy sensible quantities and give yourself a little flexibility. That is usually enough to make weekday cooking feel much less tiring.
