Ditch the takeaways
Former Bake Off contestant, Chetna Makan tells ELLA WALKER that curry shouldn’t just be for treat night
CHETNA Makan gets to the point. And that goes for her recipes – which are brilliantly brief and require very few ingredients – as well as her conversation; there’s no faffing.
So with her new cookbook, Chetna’s Healthy Indian, the former Great British Bake Off contestant is immediately insistent that this is absolutely not a health book, and definitely not a diet book. Not at all.
“I am no expert,” says Chetna, 40, over glasses of chai and bowls of crackly, spiced okra fries. “I don’t have the right knowledge for a health book.”
Rather, this recipe collection, her third, is a considered, flavour-fuelled response to a question she finds herself asked repeatedly: ‘If you bake so much, why are you not the size of a house?’
Chetna is frank about having never dieted (“I just can’t deal with it”), and even when she was training to run the London Marathon last year, she “just carried on as normal” eating her usual quota of homemade cake. And yes, she did complete the 26.2-mile route: “I’m still here!”
Chetna’s Healthy Indian explores the “carried on as normal” part of her eating habits, and while she really does “love cake”, the India-born cook says with a laugh: “My everyday food is really, really good for me, and that kind of balances it out – otherwise, it would be disastrous.”
Dinner at Chetna’s house features the likes of chana dal with roasted aubergine, black eyed beans with cavolo nero, tamarind fish curries, spicy chicken and chickpea curry bakes, fried rice loaded with green veggies, and zingy chutneys and pickles.
They’re dishes that also neatly and tastily debunk the idea that the word ‘curry’ only accounts for what you order in on the weekend.
“That is a big problem,” says Chetna of the perception held by some, that Indian is purely takeout food – and, as a result, delicious but probably bad for you. “People think, ‘Oh, let’s treat ourselves, have a curry on a Friday night’, which is absolutely ridiculous.”
“That’s not how it should be,” she adds, noting that when you’re making one from scratch curry can work any night of the week. And if you’re still itching to place an order at the weekend, look in the fridge. “It is the best part, having little Tupperwares of leftovers from the whole week,” buzzes Chetna. “On Saturday, take everything out – it works perfectly.”
Chetna’s Healthy Indian offers short, snappy meal ideas that rely on fresh produce and easy-to-procure spices.
And there’s no need to huff at the idea of stocking up on brand new, obscure spices – you’re highly likely to have Chetna’s staples tucked away somewhere in the cupboard, no matter their age. “I’ve got spices that are really old,” she admits. “I bought massive bags of really good cinnamon and cardamom three or four years ago, and they’re still strong and powerful.”
Not only is Chetna’s food light on faff and effort, her recipes are also largely accessible for the whole family, kids included. And while it isn’t a cookbook aimed directly at vegans and vegetarians, by dint of it exploring Indian cuisine (and putting a twist on traditional dishes), many of the recipes – from red kidney bean curry and potato and coriander soup, to sprouted moong sabji – just happen to be entirely plant-based.
“If there’s no meat or fish in it, it’s usually vegan, because there’s no dairy (in a lot of Indian cooking), or you can take it out,” notes Chetna.
She has considered going vegetarian herself – although is slightly held back by her “weakness for chilli chicken” – but says she’d struggle to switch wholly to veganism.
She is a baker, after all: “Eggs would be the biggest loss, I can’t do without eggs!”
■ Chetna’s Healthy Indian by Chetna Makan, photography by Nassima Rothacker, Mitchell Beazley, £20, octopusbooks.co.uk