Delicious Dinner Recipes To End Your Day On A High Note

The last meal of the day, dinner, is one of the only times a family gets a chance to sit and eat together. After a long day of work, dinner should let you unwind and reconnect. From the all-time favourite rajma chawal to a comforting bowl of dal tadka, don’t miss out on these delicious dinner recipes.

Working extensive hours, managing through the endless meetings, and finally coming back home is a story of most working professionals. After a long day, if there’s anything that can bring back a smile to your face, it is food. So, dinner shouldn’t just be to feel your tummy rumbling; it should feel like a reward.

But who said only an elaborate dinner can help you end your day on a high note? This article entails options that are not only easy to make but also have the capability to make dinner the highlight of your day. With simple kitchen ingredients, readily available vegetables, and your go-to spice blend, here are some dinner ideas that will make you forget about takeout.

Rajma Chawal

If there’s a go-to dish that is synonymous with home, it has to be rajma chawal. The combination of kidney beans cooked in a rich tomato-based gravy and relished with rice is just something else. Just remember to plan rajma chawal a little in advance to soak the kidney beans overnight and cook the next day. Also, if you want to make your dinner a highlight, don’t forget to make a boondi raita and serve rajma chawal with sliced onion rings topped with a lemon squeeze.

Butter Chicken

The North Indian staple, butter chicken, is another all-time favourite dinner option that can entirely shift your mood. To make it at home, you can make a marinade with curd and spices and add the fresh chicken pieces to it. Once the chicken pieces are marinated in a curd and spice-based marinade, you can cook them in a tandoor till they get juicy. In the meantime, you can prepare the characteristic butter chicken gravy. For the creamy gravy, you can cook tomatoes with onion, butter, cream, and a blend of spices. Once ready, add the cooked chicken pieces to the gravy, simmer, and serve with a garlic naan.

Kadhai Paneer

As for vegetarians looking for a rich dinner option, you can always fall back on kadhai paneer. Made with basic pantry essentials, the best part about kadhai paneer is that you can always customise it as per your preference. Be it experimenting with spices, adding just a little more garlic, or making the gravy thicker, you can have it your way. All you’d need is fresh paneer, tomatoes, onion, capsicum, ginger, garlic, and your choice of spices and khade masale. And in about half an hour, your aromatic kadhai paneer will be ready to serve.

Biryani

While biryani takes some time to get prepared, the one-pot dish is totally worth the effort. Depending on the state you live in, the types of biryani differ in content, ingredients, and some methods of preparation as well. Some people like to have pieces of chicken, some goat, and some even lamb meat for their usual biryani. The common part is long-grained rice, herbs and spices like bay leaf, cloves, star anise, and more. Pair biryani with a mixed raita and kebabs, and you’ll win everyone over.

Dal Tadka

Dal is one of the staple dinner options in India that is eaten in various forms. You can make the comfort food for your dinner with basic ingredients and in no time. To make dal tadka at home, you can start by soaking the lentils for half an hour while you make the tadka. As for the tempering, heat some ghee and splutter cumin seeds. Add ginger-garlic paste, dried red chillies, mustard seeds, and more, and your tadka will be ready. Then, pressure cook the soaked lentils with chopped onion, tomato, and your go-to spices. Once cooked, top the dal with tadka, garnish with coriander leaves, and serve with a phulka or rice.

Rasam Rice

If you are someone who loves South Indian cuisine, you must try making the classic rasam rice for dinner. To make the rice, just soak the rice in water with a pinch of salt for half an hour before cooking. As for the rasam, you can pressure cook mixed lentils, i.e., masoor dal and toor dal, till soft. While the lentils are getting cooked, you can take a pan, heat some ghee and add cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let them crackle. Next, add chopped onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and the usual spices and cook while mixing uniformly. Add the soaked lentils with tamarind to get the tangy flavour. You can add water to adjust consistency and let the rasam simmer. After five to ten minutes, pour the hot rasam on top of cooked rice and serve with coconut chutney.

Lauki Ke Kofte

To add more vegetables to your diet, making lauki ke kofte for dinner is the perfect way. To make lauki ke kofte, you can rinse the bottle gourd, peel and grate it finely. Then, make a batter with besan, water, and spices like turmeric powder, anardana, red chilli powder, coriander powder, and salt to taste. Mix in the grated lauki with the batter and deep fry in batches till crispy. As for the gravy, you’d need tomato puree, chopped onion, ginger-garlic paste, and a blend of spices. Once aromatic, add the koftas to the gravy and simmer for another five minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with jeera rice or tandoori roti.

Chana Masala

The best thing about chana masala is that you get a protein-rich meal with uncompromised taste. To make the Punjabi classic at home, you’ll need to soak chickpeas the night before. Then, you can prepare a spicy masala with chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and spices like jeera, dhania powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, etc. Cook on medium flame till aromatic. Pressure cook the soaked chickpeas and add them to the masala. Finally, simmer till chickpeas are cooked and have absorbed all the flavours. Garnish with slices of onion rings and serve with garlic naan or butter roti.