Chicken dhansak
I think of Chicken dhansak as the Indian equivalent of a Chinese sweet and sour chicken. The tart, tamarind paste provides a lovely sourness which contrasts beautifully with the sweetness of the pineapple.
For the tomato element, many recipes use a sizable amount of tomato puree but I prefer to use ½ tin of finely chopped tomatoes along with just a couple of tablespoons of puree.
The lentils can be cooked separately as in
Meera Sodha's (wonderful) daily dal, but in this version I've thrown the lentils into the curry and cooked them in the same pan. If you try Meera's method, then just remember you won't need very much water in the curry as the lentils will be pre-cooked.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
2 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 large onion
3 teaspoons of finely grated garlic
3 teaspoons of finely grated ginger
2 teaspoons of garam masala
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of tumeric
½ teaspoon of chilli powder (or to taste!)
½ - 1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of fenugreek leaves (methi)
200g of finely chopped tinned tomatoes
2 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 teaspoon of tamarind paste
300ml water
600g chicken breasts
100g red lentils
227g (140g drained) pineapple rings or chunks in pineapple juice
To serve
Basmati rice
Fresh coriander
Naan
Raita
Method
- Dice the onion.
- Grate the garlic and ginger.
- Cut the chicken into approx 3cm pieces.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a lidded sauté pan, over a low to medium heat.
- Once the oil is up to temperature, sauté the onion until it becomes translucent.
- Add the garlic, ginger, dry spices and salt. Fry for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to burn the spices.
- Add the tomatoes and stir to combine with the onion and spice mix. Reduce the heat and cook until the oil starts to separate from the tomatoes - this usually takes about 10 minutes.
- Whilst the tomato and spice mix is cooking, drain the juice from the pineapple into a jug and reserve.
- Once the oil has started to separate, add the water, tomato puree, tamarind paste, lentils and pineapple juice. Stir well to combine.
- Bring to the boil, cover and then lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- Whilst the lentils are cooking, chop the pineapple rings, and after 20 minutes, add them to the curry along with the chicken. If the curry starts to look to thick, add more water as required.
- Cook for approx a further 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Test the chicken by removing a piece from the sauce, cutting in half, and checking that the chicken is no longer pink. Be careful not to overcook the chicken or it can become chewy.
- Serve scattered with fresh coriander and fluffy basmati rice, naan and raita.
