Dal chicken with a smoky onion tadka

Name: Dal chicken with a smoky onion tadka
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 8 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: 215 g boneless chicken breast, cubed (215 g chicken boneless); 2 level tbsp (25 g) chana daal (split chickpeas), soaked from Saturday night (25 g daal chana); 1/3 onion (half chopped for the base, half sliced for the tadka) (40 g onion); 1/2 tomato, chopped (60 g tomato); 2 small cloves (5 g garlic); 1 small slice (5 g ginger); 1 pinch (0.5 g turmeric); 1/2 tsp (2 g red chili powder); 1/4 tsp (1 g garam masala); 1 level tsp (measured, not poured) (4.5 g cooking oil); 1/2 tsp (1 g cumin seeds); 1 tbsp chopped (3 g coriander fresh); 1/4 tsp (1.5 g salt)

Chicken breast and split chickpeas pressure-cooked together into a thick, homely curry, finished with onions fried really dark in a teaspoon of oil. Comfort food that freezes perfectly.

Protein 56 gCarbs 26 gFat 12 g

Makes 1 · Weekend 20 min · On the day 8 min · Freezer

Jump to recipe Watch the video

Video: Dal Chicken Recipe By ijaz Ansari | دال چکن بنانے کا طریقہ | Restaurant Style Daal Recipe | — Ijaz Ansari Food Secrets

The video’s version isn’t the same as ours; follow the amounts below for the numbers above.

Method

Sunday 10:18, pressure cooker: chicken, the soaked daal, garlic, ginger, turmeric, salt and 1 cup water; 4 whistles, then off the heat and let the pressure drop by itself.
Open, add the chopped onion, tomato and chilli powder; simmer lid off 8 min, mashing a little daal, until thick like a curry.
Tadka in the small pan: oil, sliced onion 3-4 min until dark golden, cumin 20 s; pour over the daal and add the garam masala.
Cool fast in a flat box in a sink of cold water, then freeze.
On the day: covered pan with 3 tbsp water 6-8 min until bubbling; add coriander.

Freeze & reheat

Freeze: Flat box. Label: 'FRI - LUNCH - Dal chicken (COOKED) - pan 8 min + 3 tbsp water - made Sun __/__'
Thaw & reheat: Fridge Thursday night; reheat once until bubbling, adding water as the daal thickens.
Keeps: Freezer 2 months; fridge 2 days after thawing

Why it tastes good: Fry the tadka onions until they are properly dark brown: that is the smoky taste people usually buy with ghee.

Nutrition, per portion