CHICKEN DHANSAK

Chicken dhansak is one of the most popular curries served at curry houses around the UK. British dhansak is a play on a curry served by the Parsi community around Mumbai where it’s usually made with goat’s meat or mutton and served with brown rice and vegetables, with four different types of lentil. Our British version is a lot less complicated, although it is a sweet-and-sour curry like the original.

Serves 4 or more as part of a multi-course meal

4tbsp rapeseed oil

2tbsp garlic and ginger paste (see tip across the bottom of pages 70-71)

1tsp ground turmeric

2tbsp mixed powder (see page 71)

1tbsp chilli powder, or to taste

125ml (4fl oz) tomato purée (see tip across the bottom of pages 68-69) or Italian passata, sieved 500ml (18fl oz) diluted base curry sauce (see page 70), heated

180g (6oz) red split lentils, rinsed and cooked until soft 800g (1lb 12oz) pre-cooked stewed chicken (see page 71), plus a little of its cooking stock

115ml (4fl oz) pineapple juice

3-4 tinned pineapple rings, cut into pieces

Juice of 1 or 2 lemons, to taste

3tbsp freshly chopped coriander

Heat the oil in a pan over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger paste and the turmeric, and let sizzle for 30 seconds. Now add the mixed powder, chilli powder and tomato purée and stir briskly. Pour in half of the base curry sauce and simmer for a minute, then stir in the cooked lentils. They may scorch on the bottom of the pan, so reduce the heat if necessary.

Now add the rest of the sauce and the stewed chicken along with a splash of cooking stock. Pour in the pineapple juice and add the pineapple pieces. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, adding more base curry sauce or stock if the mixture becomes too thick. Add salt to taste, stir in the lemon juice and top with the coriander to serve.