Chana Dal Chicken

Sending this recipe to Show Me Your Curry! event hosted by Divya of Dil Se...

I first tried this dish in Saudi Arabia, when I went for Hajj - last year. This brings back a lot of memories that I can't express in words. This particular dish is protein rich and perfect for guest serving or main course item.

Ingredients:

1. One chicken breast - cut in small pieces
2. One and a half cup chana dal - soaked over night and partially boiled
3. Lal masala - One tblsp red chili powder, One tblsp dhaniya powder, a pinch of turmeric powder and one and a half tblsp of ginger-garlic paste
4. Salt per taste
5. Three black peppers (whole)
6. Three-four cloves
7. One cinnamon stick
8. Half tsp of cumin seeds
9. One medium onion - finely chopped
10. One medium tomato paste
11. Four tblsp oil.
12. Water - as needed.

Process:

1. Heat oil in a wok
2. Add cumin seeds, black peppers, cloves, and cinnamon stick.
3. Add onions.
4. Let it cook till it turns light brown
5. Add tomato paste.
6. Let it cook till oil separates
7. Add lal masala (Step 3) & salt
8. Cook till oil separates and the masala is cooked
9. Add chicken and chana dal.
10. Add water as needed (I didn't put in a measurement for this as it actually depends on how well your dal has cooked)
11. Cook till chicken and the dal has properly cooked and the gravy is at the consistency that you want.
12. Serve hot with roti and salad.

NOTE: As I was serving this with roti I made it sort of dry instead of a gravy. You can make it according to your requirements just make sure that the dal is not over-cooked.

ENJOY!!!