Frugal Balti

This evening I had my parents round for dinner. I decided to cook them one of our family favourites, Balti. We all like Indian food in our family so I knew they would eat it. I haven't been cooking Indian food for long, it is only in recent years I have grown to like it - there was a time when I didn't even like garlic bread ! So I put Balti chicken on the menu, with rice, Naan bread and Indian snacks. Balti is very simple to make; diced meat, chopped veg, tinned tomatoes and a bit of water plus balti paste then cook on the hob. Everyone enjoyed it and there was even enough for a portion to go in the freezer. Now here's the best bit, my frugal balti for 5 people cost roughly the same as you would pay in a restaurant for 1 diner. Here's the costing ; Frozen Asda chicken fillets 1kg £3.49, Box of boiled rice 89p ( only used 2 out of the 4 packets), Mushrooms & Onions approx £1, Naan breads £1 - 2 packs bought on offer at 50p per pack, 2 tins of tomatoes 66p - bought on offer at 3 for £1, Balti Paste £1 ( used probably 1/4 of a jar) and last but not least Indian snacks 40p = Grand Total £8.44. My husband and my dad even had second helpings, so if you count the 5 main portions and the freezer portion , it comes to £1.40 per portion. Where could you go on a Saturday night and eat for £1.40 each? You would probably be hard pushed to get a bag of chips for that!