Creamy Chicken and Black Beluga® Lentil Curry
Total Prep and Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes
Active Time: 15-20 minutes
Serves: 4, generously
Vegetarian: No
Ingredients:
- 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon dried chilli (LEAVE OUT CHILLI FOR KIDS)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 small skinless chicken breasts, 160g each
- 2 onions, peeled and chopped
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger (approximately 1.5cm piece)
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 1 heaped tablespoon tomato puree
- 400ml chicken stock
- 150ml whipping cream
- 50g ground almonds
- 2 packs Ready to Eat Black Beluga® Lentils
- 8 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 1 large red apple
- 20 large leaves of mint
- zest and juice of 1 large lemon
How to cook it:
- Preheat your oven to 200c/Fan 180c/Gas 6
- Mix the spices together, separate into one third and two thirds. Set the two thirds aside
- Place the chicken breasts shiny side up with the fatter end facing away from you on the baking tray. Brush with 1 tablespoon of oil, season with salt then rub the one third of the spice mixture over the top
- Put the tray in the oven with the fatter end of the breasts towards the back and cook for 14 minutes. Turn the oven off, open the door and leave it slightly ajar while the chicken rests for at least 5 minutes and as much as 10 minutes
- To make the curry sauce, put 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into a large shallow saucepan, add the onions, garlic and ginger then cover and soften over medium heat for 6 minutes
- Add the tomato puree and the two thirds of the spice mixture
- Turn the heat to high and then fry for 2 minutes
- Add the almonds, chicken stock and cream, bring to boil, turn the heat down then simmer for 5 minutes
- Add the lentils, simmer for 2 minutes then season to taste with salt
- Cut the apple in half, remove the core then chop into small chunks, mix with the lemon zest, lemon juice and the mint
- Slice the chicken breasts (optional), put them onto the lentils then spoon the apple relish and yogurt over the top
Prep Ahead: The curried lentils will keep for a couple of days in the fridge and also freeze very well.
KIDS CORNER
Both my boys, aged 4 years and 20 months at time of writing, like gentle curries. When I gave Jake the spices to smell before they were cooked he didn’t like their smell, but he loved the mixture on the chicken and with the lentils. This was a great reminder that it is almost never a problem to season food for kids with spices; it is simply the quantities, so go easy and leave out the chilli powder.
In my experience kids also love to add things to their dinner, so having the yogurt and apple on the side is a huge plus.
The curried lentils make a lovely puree for babies.
