Comfort Food - curry

Jamie Oliver reckons you'll want to cook up a proper posh chicken tikka masala.

Well you might.  Or you might get a takeaway.  Or you might buy a ready meal.  Or you might make a curry at home, either throwing ingredients together (my method) or by following a recipe.

What you're unlikely to do, is dig a pit in your garden for an impromptu fire.

You're also unlikely to have a few frying pans lying around that you don't mind using on an open fire in the middle of your garden.  I'm not sure what you do when you've finished with the fire.  Do you fill it in and try and sow grass to put it back the way it was or do you leave a gaping hole in your lawn ready to trip up the unsuspecting?

I'm not quite sure how far ahead one needs to plan to cook this meal or how long one is expected to live with the changes it required.  If there are special frying pans kept for cooking on the fire do they need to be stored in the kitchen or would they be stored in the shed?  I'm not clear.

The other thing I'm very clear you'll want to do is buy the 26 ingredients.  Yes, 26.  I'm not even sure my weekly grocery shop has more than 26 different food items.  I am being a little harsh here because many of the ingredients are store cupboard staples but who likes cooking something with so many different ingredients?  Especially for a Friday night curry with the lads (which is the way this particular dish was presented.)

Let's address the Friday night curry idea.

You've had a full day at work and you rush home via the shops to buy what's on the extensive ingredients list. Then it's beers in a fridge and get changed into gardening clothes.  Dig a fire pit and nip to a local garage or wood to collect firewood.  Make the fire, because for Jamie's fire you need a fire that's been burning for a while.  Put beers in the fridge (trust me, after going through the prep for this meal you will need beer.) Make a marinade and then bung the chicken in the marinade (the minimum marinade time is two hours). At this point you'll probably need a shower and a change of clothes.

Once you're refreshed you'll be opening the door to your mates because they're probably hungry.

You can't relax though because you need to make the sauce.  Once the sauce is made you need to cook the chicken.  At some point you'll also be making your own parathas.  Whilst you're doing all of this you'll be making your guests comfortable, tending to the fire and ensuring everyone has a beer in their hand.

Am I the only one whose thinking a take out is probably easier, (cheaper) and less stressful?