Shortcuts With Sukhi's Gourmet Indian Food

When life gets busy, I'm not ashamed to take a shortcut or two in the kitchen as long as it doesn't sacrifice on flavor and taste.  I recently received a generous package of Sukhi's Gourmet Indian Foods cooking sauces, spice mixes and chutneys.  These products are meant to be starter kits to help cut down meal prep time.  After a particularly long day at work recently, I decided to finally try two of these products out.

I started out by warming up my Dutch oven on the  stove on medium-high heat with a splash of vegetable oil.  I added a chopped shallot, drained and rinsed can of chickpeas and two cubed chicken breasts to the pan.  I then added the Vindaloo Curry Sauce, which was more like a curry paste, to the pot, along with a cup of water.

I let all of these ingredients continue cooking until the chicken was cooked through and the sauce began thickening up.

I served this curry with whole wheat naan, which was baked with garlic butter, along with some Mango Chutney.

I was also excited to eat Indian food on the place mats that Bret's parents purchased for us during their recent trip to India.  I know, I'm a dork.

While I do enjoy cooking from scratch, it is cannot always be a reality with my work schedule.  I liked that these are meal starters and not just re-heating a frozen meal.  The meal starter seriously made the meal prep so minimal.  I mean, it took only minutes to chop a shallot, drain and rinse a can of chickpeas and cut up two chicken breasts.  Even though the cooking is minimal, using the meal starter didn't sacrifice in taste.  I thought that the vindaloo curry tasted fairly authentic (although I would have preferred that the curry be a little bit spicier).  The mango chutney was equally good and I'm looking forward to eating more of it with a creamy cheese and crackers. 

As things continue to get busy both at and outside of work, I'm always looking for more time-saving ideas.  Tell me, what shortcuts do you take in the kitchen when you're in a time crunch?

Full disclosure: The Sukhi's products were complimentary, but as always, my opinion is honest and completely my own.