Chicken, green lentil and spinach curry

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 1 cup green lentils
• 500g chicken thighs, cut into chunks and excess fat removed
• 500ml water
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 250g passata
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 handfuls fresh spinach, washed and coarsely chopped
• handful fresh coriander, chopped
• handful fresh mint, chopped
• juice of 1 lime
• 3 teaspoons rapeseed oil

Method

1. Get your spice mix ready by mixing together the turmeric, ground coriander, garam masala and chilli powder
2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a large pan and fry the onion, garlic and ginger for about 5 minutes until the onion has softened.
3. Add the spice mix and stir fry for 1 minute, then add in the 500ml water
4. Bring to the boil and add the green lentils and potato, simmer low for 20 minutes with a lid on (keep a little eye on it- if its looking too dry add a little extra water)
5. In the meantime, heat the remaining 2 tsp oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken thighs until cooked through
6. once the lentil mixture has cooked for 20 minutes, add in the chicken, passata, fresh chilli and sugar and simmer for a further 10 minutes stirring occasionally and adding a little more water if necessary.
7. Add in the spinach, and stir through for 5 minutes or so, still on the heat
8. Check that the lentils are cooked through, and serve with the lime juice poured over the top and sprinkled with the chopped mint and coriander