Made this tonight for dinner - from "Fat Girl Slim" by Ruth Watson.
It was delicious.
Yoghurt marinated chicken with spiced green lentils
Ingredients for 2
For the chicken:
3 tbspns natural yoghurt
1 garlic clove
large pinch of ground cumin & coriander
small pinch of turmeric & chilli powder
2 skinless chicken breasts
a little olive oil
For the lentils:
1 tbspn olive oil
1 lge red onion (finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 small mild red chilli (deseeded & finely chopped)
2 pinches of turmeric
1 small cinnamon stick
1 star anise
4 green cardamom pods (bashed, husks discarded, seeds crushed)
175g puy or umbrian lentils
700ml hot chicken or veg stock
2 medium tomatoes
large handful coriander and/or parsley (roughly chopped)
Mix the yoghurt, garlic & spices into a paste, slash each piece of chicken a few times, then massage in paste. Leave chicken to marinate in the fridge for 2 to 6 hours.
To cook the lentils, heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium flame. Tip in the onion, garlic & chilli, stir thoroughly. Cook gently for 10-15 mins, stirring occasionally until onions softened. Add the spices and fry for 1-2 mins, stirring. Raise the heat, add lentils & stock and bring to the boil, uncovered. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 mins. Add a good pinch of salt at the end.
Remove them from the heat and stir in the tomatoes and herbs, then return to heat and cook for 2-3 mins. They should be a sloppy, sauce-like mass! Keep them warm if you are eating them straight away.
To cook the chicken (in a non stick frying pan over a medium flame), add a drop of olive oil to the pan when it is hot. Scrape off any excess marinade from the chicken, then fry the pieces for 4 mins without disturbing them. Turn them over, lower the heat and continue to cook for 6-8 mins, or until the chicken is nice and crusty looking but juicy.
Remove and discard the cimnnamon stick and star anise from the lentils. Spoon them onto plates and serve the chicken on top.