Indian Chicken Curry with Lentil Dahl

Back in the Kitchen

The weather has been blisteringly hot in Zurich lately, which should be a welcome change given the torrential rain which we’ve had in the preceeding months. But after a few days of soaking up the sun and several impromptu lakeside evening picnics, the lack of air-conditioning has become quite evident and I find myself quietly (and guiltily) yearning for the cooler weather to return.

This is especially since I have discovered that our kitchen happens to be the warmest room in our apartment, a place which I have suddenly been trying to spend as little time as possible so that I can be elsewhere to catch the breeze.

It has been quite an unusual predicament for me, trying to plan meals which require minimal time spent in the kitchen when it is often a place I escape to.

But the last few days finally saw the rainfall and thunderstorms return, as well as my appetite. And in an effort to demonstrate to my husband (well, mostly myself!) that I remember how to cook a proper meal, I set about preparing an Indian curry feast.

Indian Chicken Curry

In an effort to try something new, I went flicking through Anjum Anand’s I Love Curry  and settled upon her Cardamom-Scented Chicken Curry as it looked to be fairly easy to put together, and also because I had the tastebuds going for a tomato-based curry.

The original recipe calls for chicken on the bone which would give the dish much more flavour but, as it so happened, the supermarket I went to only had chicken breast fillets and whole chickens on offer.

I opted for the former because I was feeling a bit too lazy to joint a whole chicken. But with a touch of seasoning, particularly a teaspoon or so of sugar, this Indian Chicken Curry tasted quite lovely.

Easy Chicken Curry Recipe

This recipe for Indian Chicken Curry is quite simple and subtle when you look at the list of ingredients, and coupled with the non-fussy preparation, I think this would be a perfect curry to make during the week when you are pressed for time.

If you don’t have fresh tomatoes to hand, you could certainly use a tin of tomatoes instead. It also goes without saying that you could add more tomatoes if you want a more tomatey curry – I ended up adding another large tomato which I saw at the last minute, bursting with ripeness in the vegetable bowl.

The original recipe also calls for three green chillies to be added to the curry. Although hubby has a certain tolerance for spice, if I were to cook for my palate, most dishes would be inedible to him. So I try to omit the chillies when I can and add them at the table, or simply reduce the number of chillies so that there is a gentle heat.

If you have a mortar and pestle, I would suggest grinding the cardamom pods until you have just under a teaspoon of fragrant dust. Otherwise, if you don’t mind picking out the bits of cardamom later, I tend to just crush them and add them whole to the curry. An alternative would be to simply use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ready ground cardamom.

To go alongside the this Indian Chicken Curry, I also made a fragrant and fresh-tasting Lentil Dahl and served everything with some warm homemade naan bread.

A delicious curry feast for during the week!

How to Make Indian Chicken Curry

5 stars (1 review)

Indian Chicken Curry with Lentil Dahl

Thanh | Eat, Little Bird

Prep15 minutes mins

Cook35 minutes mins

Total50 minutes mins

Serves: 3 to 4

An easy Indian Chicken Curry which is perfect for weeknight dinners, served with a fresh and fragrant Lentil Dahl. Recipe with step-by-step photos.

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Ingredients

For the Indian Chicken Curry

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 cm (1 inch) ginger, coarsely grated
• 4 garlic cloves, coarsely grated
• 1-2 large tomatoes, diced
• ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 5-6 green cardamom pods, crushed
• 3 green chillies, finely sliced
• 400 g (14 oz) chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 400 ml (1 ¾ cup) water
• 1 tablespoon cornflour, (US: cornstarch)
• 1-2 tablespoons water
• sea salt
• black pepper, freshly cracked
• coriander, (cilantro), leaves and stems separated and finely chopped

For the Lentil Dahl

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small red onion, finely diced
• 2 ½ cm (1 inch) ginger, coarsely grated
• 3 garlic cloves, coarsely grated
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 250 g (1 cup) red lentils
• 750 ml (3 cups) boiling water
• 1 tablespoon lime juice, or more to taste
• coriander, (cilantro) finely chopped

Instructions 

For the Indian Chicken Curry

1. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, and coriander (cilantro) stems.
3. Sauté for a few minutes until the onions have softened.
4. Add the tomatoes, cumin, ground coriander, cardamom pods, and chillies.
5. Stir and cook for a few minutes until the spices are fragrant.
6. Add a splash of water to the pan, and cook on high heat until most of the liquid has evaporated.
7. Add the chicken and sauté until the chicken is cooked through.
8. Add the water.
9. Simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes.
10. Mix the cornflour (cornstarch) with a bit of water to create a slurry.
11. Stir the slurry into the curry to thicken the sauce. You may not need all of the slurry.
12. Taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as necessary. If the curry is a bit sour, add a teaspoon or so of sugar.
13. The sauce should be thick enough to eat with some naan bread. If the sauce is too thick, add some more water to thin it out.
14. Garnish with coriander (cilantro) leaves just before serving.

For the Lentil Dahl

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan.
2. Gently sauté the onion, ginger, chilli, salt and ground cumin for about 10 minutes until the onions have softened.
3. Add the lentils, together with the boiling water.
4. Simmer over low-medium heat for about 20 minutes until the lentils have softened and broken down.
5. Stir the mixture occasionally to make sure that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If the mixture looks too thick, add a bit more water.
6. Once the lentils have dissolved, stir through the lime juice.
7. Taste for seasoning.
8. Sprinkle with fresh coriander (cilantro) before serving.

Kitchen Notes

• OVEN & STOVE TEMPERATURES
  All recipes on this website have been tested on an induction stove and/or with a conventional oven (i.e. an oven without fan). All recipes on this website use temperatures for a conventional oven, unless otherwise mentioned. Convection ovens (i.e. fan-forced ovens) are typically 20°C/70°F hotter than conventional ovens, but please check your manufacturer’s handbook.
• CONVERSIONS
  To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.

Nutrition Information Nutrition Information

Calories: 233kcal, Carbohydrates: 12g, Protein: 24.3g, Fat: 9.8g, Cholesterol: 80mg, Sodium: 132.5mg, Fiber: 1.9g, Sugar: 4.5g

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