Chicken Dhansak

Name: Chicken Dhansak
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: small handful fresh coriander/cilantro, finely chopped; 1 tbsp ground cumin; 100 g/3½ oz baby spinach leaves; 1 tsp sugar; 1½ tsp salt; 2 cubes frozen crushed ginger or 2 thumb-sized pieces fresh ginger, peeled and grated; 2 onions, roughly chopped; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 3 tbsp garam masala; juice of ½ lemon; 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (approx. 600 g/1 lb 5 oz), chopped into 2 cm/¾ in cubes; 3 fat green chillies, left whole; 2 cubes frozen crushed garlic or 6 garlic cloves, crushed; cooked rice or flatbreads, to serve; 400 g/14 oz canned chopped tomatoes; 120 ml/4 fl oz/½ cup vegetable oil; ¼ tsp chilli powder; 200 g/7 oz/generous 1 cup dried red lentils

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
30 min

Appears in

30 Minute Mowgli

By Nisha Katona

Published 2021

About

If you want hearty, you want Dhansak! Bulking out a pan of chicken curry with lentils is a wonderful way of stretching a dish when you have lots of mouths to feed. Red lentils work wonderfully here as they are quick to cook and make for a lovely thick sauce that allows the beautifully fragrant spices of the curry to shine through.

Ingredients

120 ml/4 fl oz/½ cup vegetable oil
2

Asia
India
Main course

Method

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and whole chillies and cook, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and starting to turn golden brown.
Add the spices to the pan along with the chopped chicken breasts, stirring to coat the chicken and onions in the spices. Add the chopped t