Fancy meal for under £3.50. A batch lasted me two dinners. Takes about 20-25 minutes.

What half a serving looks like (sorry about the state of the plate).

The following has made me enough food to last a good day and a half with.

This is what went into my corner-cut Chicken Chasseur last night, in full:

Things that I can measure

• Chicken breasts, skinless, boneless (850g): £4 (I cooked 1^1/2 /5 because they were about to go off), effective cost £1.2
• Red onion: £0.79 per kg (I only used one of about 250g) effective cost £0.20
• Garlic: £1 for three bulbs (I used one in full) effective cost £0.33
• Can of passata: £2.50 for 4 cans (I used a quarter of one) effective cost £0.83
• Box of mushrooms: £1 (I used a quarter) effective cost £0.25
• Beef and chicken stock pots: £1 per 4 each (I used one of each) effective cost £0.50

Things I can't measure costs for

• Flour: ~£1.50 for my 1.5kg bag, you'll only need a small amount
• Dried parsley: £2.20/bottle
• Coriander: £0.89 per 25g
• Vegetable and olive oil: I forgot
• Wine and brandy: Well, depends on what you like. You'll only need a splash of each, so it can't be much if you choose to use them.
• You can add butter, too, but it's rich enough without it.

Condiments (can't measure out costs, either)

• Salt, pepper to taste; small amounts of thyme, chilli powder, cumin powder, and garlic powder.

In total the main dish, minus the 'condiments' and the 'things I can't measure costs for' comes up to about £3.31 from my local store (not among the cheapest places)

In case anyone wants the recipe (you'll need a plate, two chopping boards, and two pans):

• Just cut up your chicken to wahtever size you like, stab it all over, sprinkle your condiments over it (minus salt!), and leave it aside while you chop up your onion.
• Cut one half of your onion into bitty bits, and slice the other if you want to use the whole of it like I did.
• Chop up your garlic after smashing the skin away (small as you can - no real need to puree it).
• Now, drop some oil in a pan and start a medium-low heat.
• Flour your chicken (add some flour to a plate, and turn the chicken in it - make sure there's not too much, if it falls off, let it).
• When the oil is hot, ramp up the heat to medium and place your chicken in, carefully.
• Give it a few minutes (until the undersides are firming up) and turn your chicken over. It should be nice and golden-ish.
• Make a space between your chicken pieces and drop in your onions. When they begin to soften, drop in your garlic.
• If using alcohol/s, toss it/them in now, making sure not to get any on top of the chicken right away.
• When the chicken is equally firmed up on the other side, stir everything together.
• Drop in your passata. Stir. Careful, is might spit a bit if it hits any oil.
• Drop in your stock cubes/pots. Get them nicely mixed in. Stir continuously.
• When everything is blending together, add any onion slices/garlic pods if you want them, and reduce the heat. Stir a little, and leave it to reduce down (10-15 minutes, depending on how long it takes the chicken).
• At this point, you should have been working for about 6-8 minutes. Have a drink of water.
• Separately, put some mushrooms on a little bit of hot oil. Salt it a bit. Add some extra passata when the mushrooms soften. Stir it all nicely together.
• Check your chicken to see if it's done. If so, give it a stir, and drop your mushrooms on top. Sprinkle your dried parsely on top at this point (as you can see from the picture, I added some parsley too early and stirred it in -- avoid that).
• Turn everything off. When serving, cover it with coriander. And put it all on some plain rice (costs not included :P).

If you make extra, like I did, it'll keep for seven days-ish. Just be warned as to how rich it tastes. Please have it with something plain.