El's Budget Chicken Curry

I just called it "my" recipe but realistically this is just a "how to eat something nice, on the cheap", not a recipe.

I tend to assume I'm doing ok in the budget books, but a friend asked me the other day why on earth I'm buying cooked chicken - even the supermarket brand - when I can get a whole chicken for two pound in Tesco?

Turns out he wasn't quite correct, but I will admit I had been ignoring the raw meat aisle lately because of my lack of freezer space. Anyway, I decided to give it my best shot and I went home with a pack of six chicken thighs for £1.49 (750g). Here's my dinner from tonight and here's the cost to make it. I cooked three and froze the other three.

2 small carrots 4p
3/4 cup of frozen beans 14p (I used fresh, which costs double this, but again with the lack of freezer space. Ouch.)
90g rice 4p
3 chicken thighs 75p
half a jar of curry sauce 15p (I used a different one which I had in my cupboard, but I've costed it on the Tesco value curry sauce.)

Incidentally, I cooked the whole lot in the microwave. I'm not keen on heating my gas oven unless I'm doing a lot of cooking, so I tend to go with the electric option. Microwaves are insanely cheap to run and generally a lot cheaper than both the oven and the stovetop.

I cooked the chicken thighs with the curry sauce in a container with the lid slightly open (a "vented" container) for about 14 minutes, stirring a few times. I knew they were cooked when I cut into a thigh and the juice ran clear. I then took them out of the micro, closed the lid and let them sit while I cooked the vegies and rice. I add a cm of water to the vegetables and they are cooked for about 5 minutes or until I see that the water is bubbling (again, remove them from the micro, close the lid and let them sit, the steam will continue to cook them). The rice is also really easy, measure the rice you need into your handy Sistema microwave soup cup, cover with water, cook 2 minutes at a time, stirring, until all the water is absorbed, then cover with water again and continue. Adding only a little water at a time helps to stop it overflowing everywhere in your microwave if like me you do not have a microwave rice cooker :) Repeat until the rice is tender.

The pic is taken on a rather small plate. I will admit I am not fond of huge portions, so I deliberately chose a package with six smaller thighs - most of the packages in the supermarket were five-packs. If you're a bigger eater than I am, aim for the bigger thighs and increase the vegetables. Adults generally need about 100g of meat per day to meet their protein needs and these chicken thighs are about 125 each including the bone, so the protein portion size is fine.

Cost per portion, about 38p (or 49p if you like a larger serve)

I have two "ready meals" now made up and waiting in my fridge, ready to eat during the week.