Meal Prep
Meal Prep for Indian Food: How to Build a Week of Curries
17 August 2026 · 8 min read
Indian food is one of the best cuisines to meal prep, because almost every curry starts from the same handful of bases. Get the bases right and the week builds itself.
Step 1: Cook two base gravies
Set aside 90 minutes. Make one large batch of each:
- Tomato-onion masala — onion, ginger, garlic, tomato, turmeric, coriander, cumin, chilli, cooked down until the oil separates. The base for chana masala, rogan josh, bhuna and most dry curries.
- Creamy makhani base — tomato, cashew, butter, cream, kasuri methi, blended smooth. The base for butter chicken, korma, malai kofta and paneer makhani.
Both freeze well in flat, labelled bags. Cook once, use across several weeks.
Step 2: Prep proteins and vegetables separately
Marinate chicken in yoghurt, ginger, garlic and spice. Cube and pan-sear paneer. Soak and cook chickpeas or lentils. Keeping these separate from the gravies is what lets one base become several distinct meals.
Step 3: A sample week
| Day | Base | Finish | Serve with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Makhani | Grilled chicken tikka | Basmati rice |
| Tuesday | Tomato-onion | Chickpeas + spinach | Roti |
| Wednesday | Makhani | Paneer + peas | Jeera rice |
| Thursday | Tomato-onion | Lamb, slow-simmered | Rice + kachumber |
| Friday | Tomato-onion | Mixed vegetables, dry-style | Roti + dal |
Storage rules
- Cool cooked food quickly and refrigerate within 2 hours.
- Home-cooked curry: 2–3 days in the fridge at 5°C or below.
- Freeze anything you won't eat within 3 days, in single portions, on the day you cook it.
- Cooked rice: refrigerate promptly, eat within 24 hours, reheat once until steaming hot.
- Label everything with the date. Guessing is how leftovers get eaten too late.
How to avoid palate fatigue
- Change the finishing element, not the base — a squeeze of lemon, fried onions, fresh coriander, or a tadka of cumin and chilli in hot ghee.
- Rotate the carbohydrate: rice, roti, quinoa, or nothing at all.
- Add a fresh side. Kachumber salad or plain yoghurt resets the palate more than a whole new curry would.
When outsourcing beats cooking
A full prep session is 2–3 hours plus shopping and clean-up. If that's not realistic every week, a hybrid works well: cook one or two dishes you enjoy making, and fill the rest of the week with chef-made chilled meals that keep 14–17 days rather than three.
Related questions
- How long does home-cooked curry last in the fridge?
- Two to three days at 5°C or below, provided it was cooled quickly and refrigerated within two hours of cooking. Freeze anything beyond that in single portions.
- Can you meal prep Indian food for a whole week?
- Yes, but split the storage. Keep three days' worth in the fridge and freeze the rest on the day you cook. Commercially produced cook-chill meals last longer because of validated cooking, blast-chilling and sealed packaging that home kitchens can't replicate.
- What Indian dishes are best for meal prep?
- Dals, chana masala, rogan josh, bhuna-style dry curries and mince dishes all hold up well. Cream-heavy dishes and anything with crisp texture are less forgiving.
- Should I prep rice ahead of time?
- Cook rice in two smaller batches through the week rather than one large one. Refrigerate it promptly, eat within 24 hours, and reheat only once until steaming hot.