My mind often wanders while I sit at my filthy work desk, under a paper mountain that doubles up as an incredibly sophisticated filing system. I imagine myself in a cotton kurta, with my hair in a bun. A rolling pin in one hand, I wipe the beads of sweat off my face while diligently shaping the perfect roti.

Instead, here I am. Working on version 87 of longest-presentation-in-the-world after a virtually sleepless night, with a long day ahead. In times like this, I wonder how I could ever bring myself to cook anything, let alone a curry.

But every foodie has a bag of tricks up its sleeve when it comes to saving time when cooking. With Indian food, which isn’t always quick and easy, these are a life line.

Here are three of my time-saving Indian cooking tips:

1. Always use non-stick cookware. Indian dishes often need regular stirring to cook the ingredients evenly and having a non stick pot/pan means less effort
2. Wait until the oil is hot before you start cooking. To check, touch the oil in the pan with a wooden spoon. If the oil starts sizzling where it touches the spoon, the oil is hot enough
3. Rather than chopping onions, ginger and garlic, just blitz them in a food processor. When you fry this paste, you will need a little more oil than usual though