Murg Dhansak

Ingredients
500 grams chicken,
1 medium sized onion,
½ cup mix of tuvar dal(pigeon peas),
masoor dal(red lentils),
moong dal(green gram),
1 cup pumpkin dices,
1 small potato cut into roundels,
1 small brinjal cut into roundels,
1 small tomato diced,
1 small onion diced,
1 tablespoon chopped fenugreek leaves,
2 cups water,
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder,
½ tablespoon roasted cumin powder,
½ tablespoon roasted coriander powder,
½ teaspoon curry powder,
1 bay leaf,
½ teaspoon tamarind paste,
¼ teaspoon pepper corns,
2 cloves,
2 cardamoms,
1 teaspoon cumin seeds,
1 small dried kashmiri red chilly,
2 green chillies,
4 garlic flakes ½ teaspoon grated ginger,
½ cup chopped coriander leaves,
½ cup chopped mint leaves,
1 tablespoon oil,
salt to taste.

Preparation time
45 minutes

Serves
2

HOW TO PREPARE
Finely chop the onion and keep it aside. Take a blender and add the mint leaves, coriander leaves, grated ginger, garlic, green chillies, red chilly, cumin seeds, cardamoms, cloves and pepper corns. Make a paste and set it aside too. Wash all the dals (lentils) and soak it for four hours. Now take a pressure cooker and add the soaked lentils, red pumpkin dices, brinjal roundels, potato roundels, fenugreek leaves, onion dices, tomato dices, turmeric, water and salt to taste. Cook everything for 10 minutes and then blend it to a puree. Cook all these ingredients till they can be mashed with a spoon itself. Now take a pan and add the chicken, puree, roasted cumin powder, roasted coriander powder, garam masala and mix it up well. Bring to boil, cover and cook on a low flame for 10 minutes. Take a frying pan and pour the oil. Bring to heat and when the oil is hot add the bay leaf, sauté briefly. Now put in the onions and sauté till they are slightly dark brown. Add the paste we ground and sauté till the oil begins to leave the edges of the pan. Put in the chicken with the gravy and add the tamarind paste. Sprinkle salt to taste. Let it boil and cover with a tight lid, cook on a low flame for 15 minutes or till the gravy is thick and the chicken is done. Remove from flame and garnish with coriander leaves and serve.