Butter chicken with red lentil dhal and rice.

Hello friends 🙂

Yesterday I made a rather delicious meal for our tea.  I actually found it in the state newspaper (The West Australian) in the recipes pages. This recipe was compiled by one of the duos that appeared on the MKR (My Kitchen Rules) TV show and I have to say it turned out very well for a first time try.

This amount will serve 4.

First assemble your ingredients.

For the Marinade,

400gm can of crushed tomatoes

190gm yoghurt (I used Goats milk yoghurt)

4 garlic cloves

90gm ground almonds

2cm piece of ginger, grated

6 cardamom pods, bruised

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons garam masala

1 cinnamon quill

1/2 teaspoon  ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 pinch saffron threads

salt and pepper to season

1 kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved

125gm Ghee

1 onion, diced

For the Red Lentil Dhal,

2 teaspoons vegetable oil ( I used Ghee again as I am in love with it!)

1 onion, diced

1 long green chilli, chopped

1 + 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 + 1/2 teaspoons black mustard seeds

1 + 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 + 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

3 curry leaves

1 tomato, diced ( I forgot to use it so I make this optional :D)

200 gm red lentils, rinsed, drained

400ml can coconut milk

250ml water

To make the marinade, combine all of the ingredients down to and including the salt and pepper in a six cup capacity baking dish.

Add the chicken and rub marinade all over it.

(Trust me, there is chicken in there!)

Cover and refrigerate for one hour to marinate.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Melt ghee in a small frying pan over medium heat, add onion and cook, stirring for about 3 minutes or until softened.

Add to chicken mixture, cover dish tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 15 minutes or until chicken is very tender. I like cooking till those yummy caramelized bits form on top of the chicken 🙂

Meanwhile, to make the dhal, heat oil/ghee in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and chilli and cook, stirring for about 3 minutes or until softened.

Stir in seeds and spices. Cook for a further 1 minutes or until fragrant.

Stir in remaining ingredients and the water.

Bring to a simmer, then simmer, partially covered and stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes or until lentils are cooked and have absorbed all the liquid. Season with salt.

Divide rice between serving plates and top with chicken. Spoon dhal to the side and tuck in!

That is my appreciative husband Jason 😀

This recipe is completely gluten free, including that Naan bread you see in the picture. So happy to have found that the local supermarket (Coles) stocks the Livewell brand for Coeliac sufferers.

Bon appetit!