Indian Feast - Chicken 65, Lentil Rice and Creamy Chickpeas

It was my birthday yesterday! And I celebrated it.. In work. Luckily my lovely boyfriend got me some great presents and delicious slices of cake to sample. AND he booked us a dinner for tonight to my favourite Indian restaurant. It's my favourite because the food is great and they encourage you to order a lot. It is an Indian street food place, so they encourage you to eat tapas-style. And everyone knows, tapas = ordering insane amounts of food.

And this restaurant inspired me to make something delicious recently. I’ve said it numerous times, but while Mexican food is my absolute favourite, Indian cuisine is my real and true first love. The first thing I ever learned how to cook from scratch was a curry. It wasn’t super delicious, but it was mine and it wasn’t from a jar, and I loved having created something from basic ingredients. I still make a version of that curry today and it has fond memories for me.

The ingredient list might be daunting, but pretty much all of them are my absolute cupboard staples!

But, we all know that Indian food is about a lot more than curries, and this is my take on some Indian-style street food, with a bit of everything – spiced fried chicken, flavourful lentils and rice, and some creamy chickpeas. Of course, these elements can be mixed and matched, but I like piling them all on my plate together – a feast for the senses – it looks good, smells FANTASTIC and tastes amazing!

Serves 4, or two greedy gorbs with leftovers

Ingredients for the Chicken 65

• 2 chicken breasts, cubed
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 thumb ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp yogurt
• Juice of ½ a lime
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• Salt and pepper
• 300ml vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 2 curry leaves
• 1 chilli, diced small

Ingredients for the rice

• 100g rice
• 75g split yellow lentils
• 1 tbsp oil
• ½ red onion, diced finely
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 cinammon stick
• 1 dried red chilli
• 3 cloves
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 250ml vegetable stock
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• Salt and pepper

Ingredients for the chickpeas

• 100g chickpeas (half a can)
• 1 tsp oil
• ½ red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 thumb of ginger
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 50ml cream
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• Salt and pepper

Method

Begin with the chicken, as it needs to marinate.

Chop into small cubes and place in a bowl. Add in the ginger, garlic, spices, yogurt and lime juice and mix well. Season, mix again and set aside for at least half an hour (can be overnight in the fridge!).

For the rice, begin by measuring out the rice and lentils and rinsing them well under cold water.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry off the onion for a few minutes until golden. Then add in the spices and mix again, stir frying for 4 minutes.

Pour in the rice and lentils and stir briefly before adding the stock and tomatoes. Season well, bring to the boil then let simmer. Cover, and let cook for 15 minutes. When it’s cooked, leave the lid on, take off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

Now, get cracking on the chickpeas. Place the onion, garlic, ginger, water and spices into a food processor and blitz.

Heat some oil in a small pan and fry off the rinsed chickpeas for 8 minutes until getting golden on the outside. 

Remove from the pan, add a little more oil and fry off the blitzed onion mixture for a few minutes. Then add back the chickpeas, cream and puree and season well. Stir until all combined and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Now while both sides are cooking you can get on the chicken – stir through the cornflour until you have a sticky mixture.

Heat the oil in a deep pot and fry off the chicken for 3 minutes, in batches.

When the rice is done, remove from the heat. Now you’ve freed up an area on the hob to use to make the coating for the chicken 65. Heat some oil in a pan and fry off the curry leaves, garlic and chilli for 5 minutes, until fragrant. Then stir over the cumin. Throw the chicken in and toss to coat for 30 seconds.

Serve with the rice and chickpeas, and enjoy  your Indian feast!

Close up of the deliciousness