My ‘go to curry’ is always a Dansak – I like the sweet and sour combination and have always loved lentils. I fear trying to order a dairy free version in a restaurant for Molly to try so instead created this. This Dairy Free Chicken Dansak has become our ‘go to Friday night curry’.
Free From: Dairy, Eggs, Gluten, Soya
Dairy Free Chicken Dansak
Curry is a bit of an issue in our house. Molly’s reflux means that we need to keep things ‘low spice’, which is okay as my hubby doesn’t like hot spices anyway. This means that while we adapt recipes to be egg and dairy free we also take out spices like chilli (although bottle of hot sauce for my step son Conrad tends to live on the dining room table!). My ‘go to curry’ is always a Dansak – I like the sweet and sour combination and have always loved lentils. I fear trying to order a dairy free version in a restaurant for Molly to try so instead created this. This has become our ‘go to Friday night curry’.Free From: Dairy, Eggs, Gluten, Soya
- March 22, 2019
- Print this
Ingredients
- 900g Chicken – diced
- 1000ml chicken stock
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 piece fresh ginger – about an inch long, roughly chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves
- 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
- 2 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Mild Curry Powder
- 1 tsp Fennel seeds
- 2 star Anise
- 200 ml Pineapple juice
- 120 ml Mango chutney
- 1 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
- 50ml plain coconut yoghurt
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 200ml onion puree – made with one large onion
- 400 g red lentils
- Coriander to garnish
Directions
- Step 1
- First off make the onion puree. Chop one medium onion and add to a small pan. Just cover with water and boil until the onion is soft. Puree and leave to one side.
- Step 2
- Grab a large pan and put it on a high heat. Add in the fennel seeds and toast them until the start to sizzle. Reduce the heat and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil along with the finely diced onion. Add the Star Anise. Cook the onions gently until golden brown.
- Step 3
- Make a paste out of the ginger, onion puree, garlic cloves, curry powder, Turmeric and Garam Masala by putting them in a food processor with 1/8 cup of water. Whiz until smooth.
- Step 4
- Add to the saucepan and cook for a minute or two with the onions.
- Step 5
- Add in the lentils, pineapple juice and mango chutney and stir.
- Step 6
- Whisk the yoghurt and tomato puree in with the chicken stock and add to the pot.
- Step 7
- Give everything a good stir and bring up to the simmering point.
- Step 8
- Let it simmer for 45 minutes – stirring from time to time.
- Step 9
- After 45 minutes the lentils will be softish on the outside but still have a hard centre. Add the diced up chicken and stir it into the curry. Let it bubble away for another 20 minutes or so. Do stir it from time to time or the lentils will get stuck to the bottom of the pan.
- Step 10
- After 20 minutes, check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to our taste. I always grab a piece of chicken and cut it in half just to make sure it’s cooked through.
- Step 11
- Serve with rice and roasted cauliflower.
- Step 12
Coconut Rice is always a nice dish to serve with curry.
