INDIAN Lentil&Sweet Potato&Chicken CURRY.

After an awesome Saturday at the beach and some vino Saturday night, I was ready to relax ALL day Sunday and play in the kitchen. 

Sangue De Giuda (Blood of Judas). Best wine ever.
Would have been better with my girl DJKJ 

I was oooowing over this recipe for some Indian inspiration last week and yesterday I finally got around to creating a dish. I love Indian food, the depth of flavor and bold spices bring a smile to my face. The whole dairy in Indian food is a buzz kill so I decided to create a dish sans dairy. I added organic free range chicken to this dish, but feel free to omit it if you want to stay plant based. I'm always experimenting with my diet and lately I've been including some meat into my diet (thats a whole other post). Did I mention its gluten free?

                                  

                         Chicken, Lentil and Sweet Potato Curry

over brown basmati rice

Serves 4

1 cup green or brown lentils

1 chicken breast, chopped into bite size pieces

2 cups of veggie broth

1 onion, diced

½ large sweet potato, chopped into bite size pieces

1-2 cups of chopped greens (kale, chard, spinach)

¼ bunch cilantro, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tablespoons coconut oil

the juice of one lemon

1 ½ Tablespoon coriander

1 teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

¼ teaspoon mustard seeds

1 ½ teaspoon garam masala

1 inch fresh ginger, grated

In a 2 quart pan, sauté onions, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon salt on medium heat with one tablespoon coconut oil until tender, about 10 minutes. Mix the spice mixture, pour half of it (including fresh grated ginger) together into the onions and garlic. Let the onion and garlic absorb the spices and then add the broth and lentils to the pot. Bring to a boil, and then down to a simmer. Set the timer for 45 minutes. After 10 minutes add the chopped sweet potatoes and tomatoes to the mixture.

For the chicken: Chop into bite size pieces. While the mixture is simmering take a frying pan with 1 tablespoon coconut oil and place the chicken, some of the broth from the curry (1/2 cup works), the remaining salt, and spice mixture into the pan. Cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is partially cooked. When the timer has 20 minutes remaining add the chicken into the lentil mixture.

Once the chicken is added you can squeeze the lemon juice into the pot, you can add the chopped greens at this time too. If you use red lentils this dish will cook much faster. I used green lentils so it took a good 45 minutes for them to become tender. This dish is done when the lentils are nice and soft. The chopped cilantro is used as a garnish.

For the rice: I used brown basmati rice that I soaked overnight. Place 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of filtered water into a one-quart pan and cover. Bring to a boil, add ¼ teaspoon salt and down to a simmer for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat, add 1 Tablespoon coconut oil (optional) and set aside for a remaining 15 minutes.

Oh and if you do the dairy thing, feel free to add some goat cheese into the mix. My boyfriend added some into his leftovers today and said it was yum.

Please excuse the lack of good photos!

I would have gone to photo shoot town on this dish, but my boyfriend and I were too busy going HAM on this meal. So basically all I can say is make it for yourself I promise you won't be disappointed.                                           
                     
                        I was thankful my weekend looked like this.....

Instead of this....

      My poor house back in Maine after Nemo got to it!                                         

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and gets a chance to make my delicious Indian Curry. I promise it will keep you warm from the harsh winds of that bloody storm!

What did you do this weekend? Do you have a favorite Indian dish?