April 12, 2025 | Awake & Dreaming

External hard drives can appear expensive in India compared to global prices due to factors like import duties, taxes, and the overall cost of doing business in the Indian market. Additionally, the specific type of external storage (HDD or SSD) and its capacity significantly impact the price. While HDDs are generally cheaper, SSDs offer faster performance and greater reliability at a higher cost, according to Lenovo.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

Import Duties and Taxes: India has a high import duty on electronics, which directly increases the price of imported goods like external hard drives.

Cost of Doing Business: The cost of running a business in India, including infrastructure, labor, and logistics, can contribute to higher prices.

HDD vs. SSD:

HDDs (Traditional Hard Disk Drives): These are generally more affordable and offer larger storage capacity, making them ideal for backup and archiving.
SSDs (Solid State Drives): SSDs provide faster data transfer speeds and greater reliability but are more expensive per GB. They are a good choice for laptops or as a primary storage drive in a desktop.

Market Demand and Competition: The Indian market for external storage is relatively competitive, with various brands offering different price points. However, demand for specific types of storage (like high-capacity HDDs for AI) can also lead to price fluctuations, according to reports.

Storage Capacity: Larger external hard drives will naturally cost more, but they also offer more storage space per dollar.

Chicken Tikka Masala is a classic curried dish with soft tender chunks of char-grilled chicken, simmered briefly in a delicious & super aromatic sauce/gravy. The dish comprises of 2 components – first is tikka and the other is the masala, which is the gravy or sauce in which the tikkas are simmered.

Ingredients

4 tbsp vegetable oil
25g butter
4 onions roughly chopped
6 tbsp chicken tikka masala paste
2 red peppers deseeded and cut into chunks
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 2.5cm cubes
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato purée
2-3 tbsp mango chutney
150ml double cream
150ml natural yogurt
chopped coriander leaves, to serve

Method

step 1 : Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a large, lidded casserole on the hob, then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for 15-20 mins until soft and golden.

step 2 : Add the tikka masala paste and peppers, then cook for 5 mins more to cook out the rawness of the spices.

step 3 : Add the chicken breasts and stir well to coat in the paste. Cook for 2 mins, then tip in the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and 200ml water. Cover with a lid and gently simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.

step 4 : Remove the lid, stir through the mango chutney, double cream and natural yogurt, then gently warm through. Season, then set aside whatever you want to freeze. Will keep, in an airtight container, in the freezer for up to three months.

step 5 : Scatter the rest with coriander leaves and serve with basmati rice and naan bread.

Making your own curry paste:

In a small food processor, whizz together :

5 garlic cloves, 1 large knob of ginger, roughly chopped, 1 red
chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped,
2 tsp each ground cumin and coriander,
1 tsp each turmeric, paprika and garam masala, and the seeds from 4 cardamom pods. Add a little water or vegetable oil to bring the paste together.