I need the perfect chicken dhansak recipe asap if you can help?

2 1/2 lbs skinless chicken, and jointed


1 teaspoon salt


1 inch cube fresh ginger, grated


6 garlic cloves, chopped


1 teaspoon coriander seeds


1 teaspoon cumin seeds


1 teaspoon fennel seeds


4 green cardamoms


2 inches cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces


6 dried red chilies


10 peppercorns


2 bay leaves


1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds


1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds


6 tablespoons water


2 tablespoons ghee


4 ounces water


3 ounces yellow split peas


3 ounces red lentils


5 tablespoons oil


1 large onion, chopped


1 teaspoon turmeric


1 teaspoon garam masala


20 ounces warm water


1 teaspoon tamarind paste


1 tablespoon fresh coriander leaves, chopped





Cut chicken breasts in two and sever the legs at the joint.


With the salt mash the ginger and garlic to a pulp.


In a grinder mix together the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cardamoms, cinnamon stick, dried chillies, peppercorns, bay leaves, fenugreekseeds, and the mustard seed. Mix in 6 tbsp water to make a past, add the garlic and ginger pulp mix well and add to the chicken, making sure that the meat is well coated. Refrigerate overnight.


In a large pan melt the ghee over medium heat and fry the chicken with any juices for about 10 minutes


Add the water, bring to the boil and simmer covered for 20 minutes Turn off the heat.


Mix the split peas and lentils together and wash them till the water runs clear. Drain them.


Heat the oil in another pan and fry the onions till just golden.


Add the turmeric a nd garam masala, cook for 1 min, add the lentils and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.


Add the water and salt bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes.


Mash the dhal to make a smooth sloppy mixture and add this to the pan with the chicken inches.


Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook for 30 mins,stirring to make sure that it does not stick or burn.


Disolve the tamarind in a little hot water and add this to the pan cook for 3 minutes.


Serve with boiled rice and a good chutney.I need the perfect chicken dhansak recipe asap if you can help?
Try the following





Chicken Dhansak





Two good handfuls of red lentils


Five tablespoons of groundnut oil


Three to five cloves of garlic, finely chopped


Two heaped teaspoons of cumin seeds


A cubic inch of ginger root, finely chopped


Four to six fresh or pickled chilis, finely chopped (optional)


300-500g chicken meat, in bite-size pieces


Spices: one to two teaspoons each of garam masala, paprika, cumin seed and general-purpose curry powder - or whatever you happen to have around the house.


Two big onions, very finely chopped


A tin of pineapple rings, chopped (sorry, that's how it is)


Another cubic inch of ginger root, this time finely sliced


Some lemon juice


Some coriander leaf, coarsely chopped (optional)





Method


Boil some water, add salt, and cook the lentils in it for maybe twenty minutes. That can be going on quietly in the background while you get on with the rest of the recipe.


Heat up two tablespoons of the oil in a wok, and fry the garlic in it for one minute. Add the cumin seed and fry for one more minute. Add the chopped ginger and fry for one more minute.


Add the chilis and fry for one more minute. Add the chicken meat, and stir-fry for about five minutes, until it's all gone white, with the garlic, cumin, ginger and chili mulch sticking to it.





Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and put it to one side, leaving most of the oil and mulch in the wok. Add the rest of the oil together with the spices. Mix them all up, and stir-fry for a minute or two. Add the onions to the wok, mixing thoroughly with the oil, mulch and spices. If you think that more oil is needed at this point, feel free to add it. Leave this onion mixture to fry for ten minutes or so, moving it around occasionally to prevent sticking. If it seems to be drying out, add some of the liquid from the tin of pineapple.





This step is optional, depending on how you like your curry texture: put about half of the onion mixture into a blender or food processor, and whiz down into a coarse paste. Then add it back into the wok. Your lentils should be cooked by now. Drain off the excess cooking water. Add the chicken back into the wok, together with the chopped pineapple, the sliced ginger and the drained lentils. Add lemon juice to taste. If you're using the coriander leaf, mix it in. Leave to simmer gently for ten more minutes, adding more liquid if necessary.





That's it, you're done. You can either eat this straight away (you did remember to boil some rice while you were doing this, right?) or you can let it cool down and re-heat it the next day (adding water as necessary to get the texture right after the overnight evaporation.I need the perfect chicken dhansak recipe asap if you can help?
Cannot get a better recipe.............





chicken dhansak


recipe version 1.2


version 2.0 is now available


see The Curry House Cookery Book








Description


I love the combination of the chicken, the earthy lentils and the rich spicy sauce. The basic recipe is medium hot but you can add the whole dried chillies if you want a hot curry.





Ingredients


1 oz split red lentils, picked over for little stones and washed in a sieve


3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee


2 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into bite sized cubes


4 cloves


the seeds of 2 whole green cardamon pods - just cut the pods open with a knife and take out the seeds


for a hot curry 4-8 whole small dried chillies (Bird's Eye or Thai Hots) - omit if you want a medium curry


half teaspoon ground cumin seed


half teaspoon turmeric


half teaspoon ground coriander seed


half teaspoon hot chilli powder


1 teaspoon paprika


half a batch of Basic Curry Sauce - about 4 fl oz


salt to taste


(optional) 1 teaspoon methi (dried fenugreek) leaves, washed in a sieve then left moist for at least 10 minutes.





Method


Put the lentils into a pan with about 10 fl oz (half a pint) of cold water, bring to the boil and boil vigourously for 10 minutes. During this time skim off any scum that comes to the top. Then reduce the heat and cook with the water bubbling for a further 20 minutes. There should still be a little water left at the end so add a little more boiling water if the pan runs dry. Cover and set aside.


Grind the cloves and cardamon seeds as finely as you can in a pestle and mortar.


Heat a little of the oil in a large heavy frying pan then fry the chicken pieces over moderate heat until they are sealed and have turned white. Remove them from the pan and set aside.


Heat the rest of the oil in a heavy pan over a moderate heat.


Add the whole chillies (if using) and fry until they start to swell.


Turn the heat to low, add 1 tablespoon of the Basic Curry Sauce and stir round. Then add the ground cloves and cardamon seeds, cumin, turmeric, coriander, chilli powder and paprika and fry gently, stirring all the time, for a minute. Take care not to burn the spices or the curry will lack flavour and taste bitter.


Add the rest of the Basic Curry Sauce, the chicken pieces, the lentils and their remaining cooking liquid and some salt and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is done. Add a little hot water if the sauce starts to catch on the bottom of the pan but the idea is to finish up with a thick lentily sauce.


10 minutes from the end add the fenugreek leaves if using.


Simmer gently for the last 10 minutes stirring frequently as the sauce should now be nice and thick.
maybe!
Chicken Dhansak





2 1/2 lbs skinless chicken, and jointed


1 teaspoon salt


1 inch cube fresh ginger, grated


6 garlic cloves, chopped


1 teaspoon coriander seeds


1 teaspoon cumin seeds


1 teaspoon fennel seeds


4 green cardamoms


2 inches cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces


6 dried red chilies


10 peppercorns


2 bay leaves


1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds


1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds


6 tablespoons water


2 tablespoons ghee


4 ounces water


3 ounces yellow split peas


3 ounces red lentils


5 tablespoons oil


1 large onion, chopped


1 teaspoon turmeric


1 teaspoon garam masala


20 ounces warm water


1 teaspoon tamarind paste


1 tablespoon fresh coriander leaves, chopped





Cut chicken breasts in two and sever the legs at the joint.


With the salt mash the ginger and garlic to a pulp.


In a grinder mix together the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cardamoms, cinnamon stick, dried chillies, peppercorns, bay leaves, fenugreekseeds, and the mustard seed. Mix in 6 tbsp water to make a past, add the garlic and ginger pulp mix well and add to the chicken, making sure that the meat is well coated. Refrigerate overnight.


In a large pan melt the ghee over medium heat and fry the chicken with any juices for about 10 minutes


Add the water, bring to the boil and simmer covered for 20 minutes Turn off the heat.


Mix the split peas and lentils together and wash them till the water runs clear. Drain them.


Heat the oil in another pan and fry the onions till just golden.


Add the turmeric a nd garam masala, cook for 1 min, add the lentils and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.


Add the water and salt bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes.


Mash the dhal to make a smooth sloppy mixture and add this to the pan with the chicken inches.


Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook for 30 mins,stirring to make sure that it does not stick or burn.


Disolve the tamarind in a little hot water and add this to the pan cook for 3 minutes.


Serve with boiled rice and a good chutney.