How to Reheat Indian Food: Curry, Rice & Crispy Sides

What's the Best Way to Reheat Indian Food?

I order way too much Indian takeout, honestly — it’s basically a hobby at this point.

The good news is that almost every dish reheats beautifully once you match the method to the dish itself.

The short answer is this: saucy curries go back on the stovetop, rice and dry dishes go in the microwave, and anything fried needs the oven or an air fryer.

I’ll walk through exactly how I handle rice, curry, samosas, onion bhajis, momos, naan, and chicken 65 leftovers below.

If you’ve also got leftover Japanese curry in the fridge, the approach is similar but not identical, since that sauce tends to be thicker and more starchy.

For food safety, official guidance recommends reheating leftovers to an internal temperature of 165°F, checked with a food thermometer, per the Safe Minimum Cooking Temperature Chart.

Here’s my quick-reference table for exactly what to do with each dish.

How to Reheat Indian Curry on the Stovetop and in the Microwave

Curry is the dish most likely to change texture in the fridge, so it deserves a little extra attention.

Stovetop Method (My Go-To)

Pour the curry into a saucepan that actually fits the amount you have — too big and it scorches at the edges, too small and the middle never catches up.

Warm it over medium heat for about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often so nothing sticks to the bottom.

Keep going until it’s steaming hot all the way through and reaches 165°F at the center — I check with a food thermometer, since cold spots can hide even after the top looks hot.

If it’s a seafood-based curry like prawn curry, add the shrimp toward the end so they just warm through instead of turning rubbery.

Microwave Method (When You're in a Hurry)

Microwaving works fine for smaller portions, and it’s what I use on a weeknight when I don’t want to dig out a pan.

Transfer the curry to a microwave-safe bowl, cover loosely, and heat in 60-second bursts, stirring between each one.

Two minutes is usually enough for a single portion, but keep checking — microwaves heat unevenly, and you don’t want a cold center. When in doubt, check with a food thermometer to confirm it’s reached 165°F.

Fixing Curry That's Split or Thickened

Dal made with rajma, better known here as kidney beans, tends to thicken hard in the fridge.

Loosen it with a splash of water or stock as it reheats, stirring until it’s back to a spoonable consistency.

Creamy dishes like butter chicken or korma can split if you blast them on high heat — keep the heat low and stir constantly.

How to Reheat Indian Rice (Basmati, Pilau, and Biryani)

Yes, you can absolutely reheat pilau rice, biryani, or plain basmati — the trick is putting moisture back in before you reheat, not after.

Rice dries out fast in the fridge, so the fix is always the same: add water, then steam it back to life.

Add about 1 tablespoon of water per cup of rice, drizzled evenly rather than dumped in one spot.

Break up any clumps gently with a fork before it goes in the microwave.

Lay a damp paper towel over the rice, or right on the turntable underneath the bowl, to create extra steam.

Microwave on high for 3 to 4 minutes, pausing halfway to stir so it heats evenly instead of turning gluey in spots. Confirm it’s steaming hot throughout before eating.

Pilau rice reheats exactly the same way as plain basmati — the whole spices and fried onions in it don’t need special treatment, just the same splash of water and gentle steam.

If you’re reheating curry and rice from the same order, I always do them separately — rice needs steam, curry needs stirring, and mixing the two in one dish means neither turns out right.

One important thing to understand: cooked rice can harbor Bacillus cereus, a bacteria that produces heat-resistant toxins if rice sits at room temperature too long, according to the CDC’s overview of foodborne germs.

Reheating hot enough kills the bacteria itself, but it won’t destroy toxins that have already formed, so don’t leave rice out for more than two hours before refrigerating it, and only reheat any given batch once.

How to Reheat a Large Batch of Indian Food in the Oven (and Keep It Warm for a Party)

This is the one I get asked about most: you’ve got a big tray of curry for a party, and it needs to be hot and ready three or four hours before anyone shows up.

The oven is the right tool here, not the microwave and not a slow cooker on its own.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and cover your dish tightly with foil so the sauce doesn’t dry out on top.

Bake covered for 20 to 30 minutes if it’s a large tray, checking with a food thermometer that the center hits 165°F before you move on to the next step.

Once it’s fully reheated, that’s the moment to switch strategies: turn the oven down to its lowest setting, ideally somewhere between 200°F and 225°F, and treat that as your holding temperature, not your reheating temperature.

Keep the foil on the entire time you’re holding it, since that’s what stops the top layer from drying into a skin over three or four hours.

Check the temperature every hour with a food thermometer — the USDA recommends keeping hot-held food at or above 140°F the entire time to keep it out of the bacterial ‘danger zone’ (see the USDA’s guidance on safe holding temperatures). If it ever drops below 140°F, reheat it back to 165°F before continuing to hold it.

If you notice the sauce thickening too much as it sits, stir in a splash of water or stock about 30 minutes before serving to loosen it back up.

Rice and naan are the exception here — I add those to the oven in the last 20 minutes rather than holding them the whole three or four hours, since they dry out much faster than curry does.

How to Reheat a Mixed Indian Takeaway Order

Yes, you can absolutely reheat takeaway curry, rice, and sides — the method doesn’t change just because it came from a restaurant instead of your own kitchen.

The only real difference with a takeaway order is that everything usually arrives in one bag, mixed together, which means you need to sort it before reheating rather than after.

Separate the curry, the rice, and any fried sides into their own containers first — I know it’s tempting to just microwave the whole lot together in the foil containers it came in, but each dish needs a different method to come out right.

Curry goes on the stovetop or in the microwave as covered above, rice gets its splash of water before microwaving, and anything fried — samosas, bhajis, poppadoms — goes in the oven or an air fryer.

If your takeaway arrived in foil containers, most of them are oven-safe, but check for a plastic lid first and pull that off before anything goes near heat.

Naan and roti reheat best wrapped in a damp paper towel for 20 seconds in the microwave, or a minute in a dry skillet if you want a bit of char back on it.

How to Reheat Onion Bhajis (and Why the Microwave Isn't Ideal)

I get asked about onion bhajis more than almost anything else on this list, and I get why — they’re only good when the outside still has some crunch left.

Short answer: yes, you can technically reheat onion bhajis in the microwave, but I don’t recommend it if crispness matters to you at all.

The microwave heats them through fine, but it also turns the crust soft and slightly rubbery within a minute or two, since it’s steaming them rather than applying dry heat.

If you’re genuinely in a rush and texture isn’t the priority, 30 to 45 seconds on high per bhaji is enough to warm one through — make sure it’s steaming hot in the center before eating.

For the real fix, the oven or an air fryer beats the microwave every time.

Oven Method

Preheat to 375°F, place the bhajis on a wire rack set over a baking sheet so air can move underneath them, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

The rack matters more than people think — set directly on a sheet pan, the bottom steams itself soft while the top crisps, which is the opposite of what you want.

Air Fryer Method (My Favorite)

Air fry at 350°F for 4 to 5 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through.

This is genuinely the closest you’ll get to fresh-fried texture without turning on a deep fryer.

How Do You Reheat Momos?

Momos are trickier than most Indian sides because they’re delicate steamed dumplings, not fried food, and they dry out fast if you’re not careful.

Steaming is the best method, since it’s how momos were cooked in the first place.

Set up a steamer basket over simmering water, line it with a damp cloth or a cabbage leaf so the dumplings don’t stick, and steam for 5 to 7 minutes until heated through. If yours are meat-filled, it’s worth cutting one open to confirm the filling is steaming hot all the way through — aim for 165°F if you’re checking with a food thermometer.

No steamer? A metal colander set over a pot of simmering water, covered with a lid, works nearly as well.

If you liked your momos pan-fried or kothey style, reheat them in a lightly oiled nonstick pan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side instead, which crisps the bottom back up.

Avoid the microwave here if you can help it — it tends to make the wrapper tough and chewy in patches rather than heating evenly.

If you’re stuck with only a microwave, wrap the momos in a damp paper towel first, which helps a bit, though it’s still not quite the same as steaming.

Best Way to Reheat Chicken 65

Chicken 65 is fried, deeply spiced, and meant to have a little bite to the crust, so treat it the same way you’d treat the onion bhajis above.

Oven or air fryer, not microwave, is the rule here too.

Because this is chicken, don’t rely on time alone — check with a food thermometer that the thickest piece has reached 165°F before serving.

If your chicken 65 came with a separate sauce or gravy poured over it, warm the sauce separately on the stovetop and spoon it over the chicken only after both are hot — otherwise the sauce steams the crust soft while it reheats.

Oven Method

Preheat to 375°F and bake on a wire rack for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping the pieces halfway through so both sides get some direct heat. Check a thermometer in the thickest piece to confirm it’s hit 165°F.

Air Fryer Method

Air fry at 350°F for 4 to 6 minutes, and I genuinely think this is the better of the two methods — it gets the crust back to nearly fresh. Check with a food thermometer that the center reaches 165°F, especially on larger pieces.

Common Mistakes When Reheating Indian Food

A few things trip people up over and over, so let me save you the trouble.

Reheating rice more than once. Every reheating cycle gives Bacillus cereus another chance to multiply before the next chill, so reheat rice one time only and toss whatever’s left after that.

Skipping the water on rice. Dry, gluey microwaved rice is the single most common complaint I hear, and it’s a two-second fix with a splash of water.

Microwaving anything fried and expecting it to stay crisp. It won’t — steam and crust don’t mix, full stop.

Reheating straight from the fridge at too high a heat. Curry can catch on the bottom of the pan before the center even warms up if you rush it on high.

Not being gentle with seafood or paneer. Both turn rubbery fast if you reheat them the same aggressive way you’d reheat a beef or lamb curry.

Reheating a mixed takeaway container all in one go. Curry, rice, and fried sides all need different treatment, so sort them first instead of microwaving the whole bag together.

How Long Does Indian Food Last in the Fridge?

Most cooked curry, rice, and dal keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge in a sealed container, following general leftover guidance.

Fried items like onion bhajis, samosas, and chicken 65 are best eaten within 2 to 3 days, since the texture — and the oil — doesn’t hold up as well over time.

If you know you won’t get to something within that window, the freezer is your friend — curry and dal freeze well for up to 3 months, though rice gets a little grainy after freezing, so I try to eat that fresh instead.

Don’t let leftovers sit out at room temperature for more than two hours — refrigerate them promptly rather than waiting for them to cool down on the counter first. Splitting a large batch into smaller, shallow containers helps it cool faster once it’s in the fridge, which is especially important for rice.