Chicken Dhansak (Murgh Dhansak)

One of my favorite Indian dishes in any curry house as I’m a die hard fan of lentils. This particular one is extremely low fat and very tasty!

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 60g yellow split peas
• 250g butternut squash (peeled and roughly chopped)
• 1 large carrot
• 3 cauliflower florets
• 3 table spoon of oil
• 4 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 4cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 1 large onion
• 500g of skinless chicken breast fillets (cubed)
• 1 large tomato finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh coriander
• 2 red or green chillies (chopped)

Spice mix:

Whole spices:

• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 cloves (ground)
• 4 cm cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 3-4 fresh or dried curry leaves

Ground spices:

• 1/2 teaspoon of fennel
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and boil in some water until all the vegetables are soft. Puree it all into a paste like sauce. Add more water if needed.

2. Fry off the whole spices for 30 seconds

3. Fry the chicken until lightly brown all over.

4. Add puree and add all the spices and the vegetable paste and let cook for 2-25 minutes. Add more water if needed.

5. Serve with rice or home made chapati flatbread.