I find premade pastes to be at least as cost effective, but I don't live in an area with good asian markets and good prices. Between the time it would take me to source all the ingredients, buy from various businesses/online and then make the paste, it's not worth the extra effort.
I really like Mae Ploy brand pastes and I get them on Amazon. They're more cost effective than what I can get at the regular grocery store and the jar is large and lasts me a long time (but I like my food medium spicy and I only feed myself, so YMMV if you like things really hot or feed a family).
Other than that - use the meat cuts you get on sale. Curry is extremely versatile and you can put pretty much any meat or make it vegetarian and use seasonal vegetables to cut the cost. Most any vegetable is going to do just fine in curry too.
What about curry is time intensive to you? I've never found it to be an intensive meal.
I live in the rural midwest and the only grocery store within 30 miles of my house is a walmart. it sucks. I buy Mae Ploy paste on Amazon https://smile.amazon.com/Mae-Ploy-Yellow-Curry-Paste/dp/B000EICISA/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-rsf-lq2a1_0?cv_ct_cx=yellow+curry+paste&dchild=1&keywords=yellow+curry+paste&pd_rd_i=B000EICISA&pd_rd_r=301504a1-b995-4ab2-ad50-ed2c5ec99555&a.... It's cheaper than driving 45 miles to the nearest city with an Asian grocery store
One of my favorite recipes that is super simple and works with many different variations of ingredients is basically just taking whatever you have like carrots, kale, oninos, peppers, green onions, potato, carrots, cucumber, zucchini, broccoli, spinach, shallots, literally ANYTHING you can think of. Chop everything up into smaller size pieces but it can be rough chop. Add oil to a pan and then add veggies and fry on high for just a few minutes until slightly softened and has a little bit of color. Add chicken broth covering just little over the top of the veggies and then a can of coconut milk and 2 tbsp of a good curry paste, I use this one. Boil down for 15 minutes and then toss it into a blender and process until it's the consistency you prefer and serve with some warm naan. Everyone that I've had try it loves it and it's a great way to get rid of veg you won't be using for anything else or in your case just getting veg into your diet. It's almost 100% veggies and just tastes like a delicious curry.
Here you go.
I start with a really good and simple Yellow Curry Paste. Just add water and paste to a pot, simmer chicken or only veggies if vegetarian. I also add Curry powder and Masala Seasoning as well, because I like mine very rich and as spicy as I can handle. The paste itself is likely enough. Once the meat is done, I add whole mini carrots and diced potatoes. Let that cook until veggies are done. Next, I add coconut milk and allow it to simmer more. Last, I add tomato sauce and let it simmer down even more. The Curry Powder, Curry Paste, Masala Powder contain some of the same ingredients. So there really isn't a need for all of them, I just like LOTS of spices. They do blend well. You can add cream at the very end to make it a creamier curry/masala.
The ingredients I use:
Yellow Curry Paste, Water, Chicken, Curry Powder, Masala Powder, Mini Carrots, Potatoes, 1 can Coconut Milk, 1 can Tomato Sauce.
You can find the curry and masala powder at local stores, but I'm not sure about the paste. I live way up in the mountains so I just order when I need it. The cooking can take a few hours for the flavors to really come together. Great Indian food shouldn't be rushed. Steam some Basmati Rice when the cooking is almost complete. Place the Masala on your plated rice and you'll be in heaven. Get some naan if you'd like to really make it authentic.
I hope it turns out as good as mine! Make plenty for some leftovers the next day or more.
Get a rice cooker, they're hella cheap at thrift shops.
My current favorite slow cooker recipe, which can be made without any veggies at all if you prefer, is essentially meaty peanut thai-style curry. You can alter it pretty significantly and it'll usually come out fine; it's very forgiving. Experiment with your veggies, because they'll taste like the curry for the most part. Potatoes would be fine here. Leave out the nut butter if you prefer normal curries or are allergic. If you go with the yellow curry I link below, it's not spicy at all, it's just flavorful. The coconut milk is pretty important, flavor-wise. If you don't hate basil, basil is amazing in this stuff - hand-shred some fresh basil and add a few minutes before it's done. I pack it for lunch.
Turn crock pot on high.
Put cut-up meat in the bottom with some oil. I like to buy stew chunks because they're cheap. Pork is doubly cheap.
Put the lid on, leave it for a while, come back later and stir it / break it up if the meat was frozen.
If you want veggies, add 'em now.
When it looks like the meat is mostly cooked, turn the heat down to low/medium.
Add 1-2 cans of coconut milk, generous dollop of whatever nut butter you prefer (chunky peanut butter is yummy), about 2 tablespoons of curry paste (this is cheap and my favorite). If you want it spicy, add some whole dried chilis.
Start your rice in the rice cooker.
Leave this cooking, stirring occasionally, for at least 30 minutes or until any veggies you added are cooked through.
If putting into lunch-sized tupperware, I usually put about a cup of cooked rice and top up the rest of the container with this stuff. Keeps you full for a while due to the fat in the coconut milk, unless you get light stuff. Freezes short-term just fine.
Haven’t tried 888’s yellow chicken curry, but if you’re a yellow chicken curry nut like me, here’s the ultimate bang for your buck foolproof recipe. When people ask me what i would eat every day for the rest of my life, it’s this chicken curry.
Ingredients
Instructions
Also had this tonight and it was the BOMB! If you're looking to recreate, I tried reaching out to Blue Apron about what brand yellow curry paste they use and it's *proprietary* but this one has the same ingredient list in the same order (Mae Ploy): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EICISA/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A2LNNCERF9AEX1&psc=1
I don’t know if you’ve tried this one, but it was the easiest for me to find