Last week I did some more cooking at an apartment in Paris. This time we cooked Keralan style veggie curry and spiced vegetable rice. It went down well. We did raita and poppadoms to go with it. As ever it was a pleasant lunch with lovely people.

The recipes are simple ones that could easily be done on a regular evening, by adding chick peas or cooked meat or some fish or prawns to the rice dish it is a stand alone meal. Either dish could be made in larger quantities to make another meal.

People love the idea of making more meals from scratch. In fact there is a real pressure, particularly on families, to make everything from scratch to the point of creating a lot of guilt for using a jar of sauce or putting a frozen pizza in the oven. Those ready made things can be part of a balanced diet and we can add things to the meal to improve that. But that’s another post.

Making things from scratch can be really satisfying. You can make things to your family’s taste, you can save money and reduce waste, but can feel creative and self sufficient too. Although many bloggers and Instagram foodies make it sound like a breeze, it is not always easy to be inspired or find the time to plan, shop and cook.

So by purposely making a meal that provides another meal later in the week is a great way to up the number of homemade meals you have in the week if that’s something you aspire to.

A big pot of curry generally matures with a day or two in the fridge so lends itself well to another meal on another day. Have it in a warmed wrap with Indian chutneys and yoghurt or with chapattis or other flatbread. You can top a baked potato or roasted potatoes with cumin and garlic. You can serve on toast with a poached egg. Leftover mash from another day could mean Indian cottage pie.

If you need to extend the leftovers add a can of tomatoes, some extra veg (maybe leftovers from another meal) and leftover meat can be added to the pot. Play around with what is in the fridge. I also love this from Nadiya Begum as a way to use up leftover curry….her cheat samosas.

I quite like the random leftover fajitas option. Put all random leftovers heated on the table with some stir fried veggies, salsa or chutneys and warmed tortillas to fill as desired. A bit if grated cheese works well too. Maybe some sour cream or yoghurt.

Some combos work a dream and are never to be recreated and others not so well and not to be repeated.

Thinking of meals in pairs, almost playing a game of spotting the part of the meal that could have a life as some other meal later on to make extra on purpose. This can be part of the meal planning process.