Grocery shopping is an unavoidable chore. And while it may seem it only takes a few minutes to run down to the store, our grocery shopping actually takes a lot longer than most of us think.
The Time Use Institute estimates that an average person spends more than 40 minutes in the grocery store . Multiply that by 1.5-trip weekly average and you realize that you’re spending more than 53 hours buying groceries every year.
And that study only looked at single people – we all know that family trips to the grocery store take a lot of more time and patience. Picking up groceries isn’t an exactly an easy job while you’re trying to keep an eye on your children at the same time.
How Can Meal Delivery Kits Help?
Are you fed up with spending hours and hours coming up with new recipes, picking out groceries, and trying to calm down your kids in the grocery store? While people often like to say “there’s no ultimate solution for anything” in this, there actually is.
Since so many people hate to cook and don’t have enough time to do their grocery shopping each week, meal delivery services have rose to prominence in the last couple of years.
In addition to taking grocery shopping completely out of the equation, meal services can also help you:
As far as we’re concerned, there are exactly two types of people in this world: the ones who look for new recipes all the time and the ones who stick to the same few recipes month after month. Well, both types can benefit from using a meal delivery service.
Every meal kit comes with a new recipe. On one hand, if you like trying new things out, you can easily explore new dishes without having to guess what you are going to like. Many services accomplish this by giving you a quiz which narrows down the type of meals that suit your taste.
If you don’t like cooking that much, you probably spend a few hundred dollars monthly on takeout meals. That’s not only costly but also pretty unhealthy – especially if you have young children. Frozen dinners are a cheaper option, but they aren’t all that healthy either.
People who don’t have enough time cook their meals should definitely look into meal delivery. Services like Sun Basket and Home Chef – more on them later – deliver healthy dishes that you can prepare and serve in less than half an hour.
Possibly the worst part of cooking is the cleanup that comes after a meal. Let’s face it – no one likes having to put things back in their place, clean the dishes, and throw the leftovers away. Meal delivery companies know just how mundane all of this is, so they make an effort to minimize your job.
Meal kits package their ingredients in recyclable containers. So after your done with your meal, you can simply throw them in the recycling bin. That means, by using meal delivery kits, you won’t have to worry about spending an hour cleaning up after every meal.
In order to help you make the right choice, we’ve ordered and tasted a couple of different meal kits to see which of them truly deliver…
Five Best Meal Delivery Kits
People who are looking for soy-, dairy-, and gluten-free food should look into Sun Basket. Their “Family Menu” was created by the famed Food Network chef, Tyler Florence . This particular menu can feed a family of four and can help your children learn new skills in the kitchen as they help you prepare meals such as carne asada fajitas.
The third service on our list is the only one that not available nation-wide. However, if you live in any one of the five NYC boroughs, you should try Martha & Marley Spoon out. You can choose between 2, 3, and 4 meals per week. All of the meals come with safely packed, labeled ingredients and step-by-step instructions.
By signing up for Plated, you’ll get access to more than 14 new meal options every week. The offering includes everything from peach/berry empanadas to buffalo chicken pizza. Plated offersorganic vegetables, sustainably sourced beef, and antibiotic-free chicken for all of you healthy eaters. The service has trained chefs on the staff, so you can be sure that every meal you order will be wonderful.
If you’re looking to have some fun in the kitchen with the rest of your family, HelloFresh has got you covered. The HelloFresh app gives you audio and video tutorials that can help you and your children prepare a healthy meal together. Plus, the HelloFresh official Facebook page – which has more than 1.7 million likes at the moment – often streams live events.
The Bottom line on Meal Delivery Kits
No matter if you’re cooking only for you and your spouse or your whole family, one of these meal kits can help you save a ton of time. Of course, before you make your pick, make sure to additionally research every single one of the services we listed .
Thakkali aati kaachina kuzhambu is a popular side dish served with idli in the Kongunad region of Tamilnadu. The curry is made by roasting and grinding spices, tomatoes and coconut which is then simmered to form a thick sauce. தக்காளி ஆட்டி காச்சின குழம்பு.
“Thakkali aati kaachina kuzhambu” literally means tomatoes ground and simmered to a thick sauce. This tomato curry is an excellent side dish for idlis and is one of the main staples of everyday kongu cuisine. There are different versions of this curry in every home in this region. The spices are roasted in oil along with tomatoes and coconut and then ground to a fine paste. The ground paste is then simmered to form a luscious gravy that is so perfect for dunking the idlis. This curry will definitely appear at the breakfast table if you have guests for breakfast. This is one of my husbands favorite side dish for idli. I have shared another variation of this tomato kuzhambu and the recipe is here.
Here is the video of how to make Thakkali aati kaachina kuzhambu at home
Click the link below to find the recipes on the site that uses the main ingredient as tomatoes. Tomato recipes Kongunadu recipes Here are some of the equipment, utensils and gadgets that will be useful for making this recipe. Click the link to buy them online. Triply Stainless Steel Frypan Hard Anodised Deep-Fry Pan Mixer Grinder 1000 Watt Sambar Powder
Here is how to do Kongu Style Thakkali aati kaachina kuzhambu. For this recipe, its traditional to use coconut oil or sesame oil (Indian Gingely oil). I like to use coconut oil for this curry at home. Heat oil in a pan and add in the spices – cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dried red chillies and black pepper. Use the black pepper sparingly else it will over power the curry. When the spices hit the hot oil, it will immediately become aromatic. Add in the chopped small onions, and garlic.
Add in the curry leaves. Saute the onions till its nicely caramelized and brown.
Add in the roughly chopped tomatoes, salt, turmeric powder and sambar powder. Let the tomatoes cook for 5-6 minutes on a medium flame till the tomatoes are cooked and mushy.
Add in the fresh shredded coconut and saute for five minutes more. Switch off the flame and allow the mixture to cool.
Grind the mixture with a cup of water to a smooth paste. Take your time to grind. It will take 2-3 minutes. We need a very fine paste. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, curry leaves and finely sliced small onions.
Saute till the small onions are nicely brown. Once the onions are brown, add in the ground paste.
Add a cup of water to the empty mixie jar and wash off all the leftover masala paste and add it back to the pan.
Simmer the gravy for 10 minutes. The gravy should not be very thick. It should be like the consistency of sambar.
Serve Thakkali aati kaachina kuzhambu with idli.
For the masala paste
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 dried red chillies
- 10 small onions (Indian shallots), chopped
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 4 - 5 medium very ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon sambar powder
- 1/2 cup fresh shredded coconut
For the tempering
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 sprig curry leaves
- 5 small onions (Indian shallots), thinly sliced
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the spices. Add in the chopped small onions and garlic. Add in the curry leaves. Saute the onions till its nicely caramelized and brown.
- Add in the roughly chopped tomatoes, salt, turmeric powder and sambar powder. Let the tomatoes cook for 5-6 minutes on a medium flame till the tomatoes are cooked and mushy.
- Add in the fresh shredded coconut and saute for five minutes more. Switch off the flame and allow the mixture to cool.
- Grind the mixture with a cup of water to a smooth paste.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, curry leaves and finely sliced small onions.
- Saute till the small onions are nicely brown. Once the onions are brown, add in the ground paste.
- Add a cup of water to the empty mixie jar and wash off all the leftover masala paste and add it back to the pan.
- Simmer the gravy for 10 minutes.
- Serve with idli.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
