Raghavan Iyer's Chicken with Yellow Split Peaks (Murghi Dalcha) from 660 Curries

This weekend, I was flipping through 660 curries, trying to find a chicken curry that uses curry leaves....  yes, I stock curry leaves as a regular ingredient in my home thanks to the local Asian store that always has a decent supply of them.  To my surprise, it was more difficult than I thought, but I found a couple of recipes.  Both are similar in that they both include yellow/orange lentils, but the recipe I chose used cooked lentils (instead of roasted and ground up with other species) and didn't require marinating the chicken (which is only something I can manage on the weekends).  I'll definitely have to give the other recipe a try because my experience of using lentils (especially yellow lentils) as part of the spice mix is superb! 

Curry leaves have a unique flavor and scent that cannot be replaced with other spices or dried curry leaves.  According the website included in this caption, curry leaves can be frozen and do not need to be thawed before using.  Your local Asian or Indian store should carry fresh curry leaves.  Image taken from http://www.chow.com/food-news/137167/what-are-curry-leaves/. 

While this was a new curry cooking technique, it tasted a lot like 'dal' (Indian lentil soup) to me.  I thought the chicken was a lost component, but I realized afterwards that the recipe calls for bone-in chicken, almost 2 pounds of it, and I had used chicken breast that was cut into 1 inch cubes.  I think the chicken bones would definitely added some flavor that was missing in my version, and as a result of the longer cooking time, the cinnamon sticks would have likely released more flavor too.  My husband did not have the same reaction I did, he enjoyed the savory flavor of this dish and especially liked the mustard seed/curry leaf flavors, at topping added as a finish touch. 

Ingredients:

(While the ingredients list might seem long, if you typically cook Indian food, you will have most of these ingredients on hand anyway.  If not, visit your local Indian store.)

• 1 cup yellow split peas
• 1 teaspoon of tamarind paste or concentrate (I recommend you get the seedless kind if you can)
• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 inch length 'knob' of ginger
• 4 fresh green Thai chilies, stems removed
• 4 tablespoons of oil (recipe calls for canola oil, I used coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 3 dried bay leaves (you could also use fresh ones)
• 2 cinnamon sticks 
• 2 pounds cut-up bone-in chicken, skin removed (I used 300 grams of 1 inch cubes of chicken breast, even though I used far less chicken then what the recipe called for I thought this was a good amount of soupy stuff [curry] to chicken) 
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro 
• 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds
• ~30 small curry leaves (or 12 to 15 small to medium sized curry leaves)

Directions:  

1. Wash the split peas with cold water until the water runs mostly clear (this may take 3-4 rinses).
2. Add 3 cups of water to the pan and bring split peas and water to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat.  
3. Skim off and discard any foam that forms on top. 
4. Lower the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally until split peas are partially cooked, about 5 -8 minutes. 
5. Stir in the tamarind paste, making sure it dissolves. 
6. While the split peas are cooking, combine the onion, garlic, ginger, and chilies in a food processor and process until minced. 
7. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks to the hot oil and cook until they sizzle and smell aromatic, 10 to 15 seconds.  Add the onion-chilie blend and stir fry until the onion turns brownish, 3 to 5 minutes. 
8. Add the chicken pieces (meat side down if you are using bone-in pieces) on top of the cooked onion mixture.  Cook until the chicken turns light brown, 2 to 4 minutes.  
9. Sprinkle in salt and turmeric.  
10. Pour in the split peas with their cooking water, and stir once or twice. Heat to a boil and then reduce to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until meat is cooked. About 15 to 20 minutes if using 300 grams of 1 inch pieces of chicken breast, about 40 to 45 minutes if using 2 pounds of bone-in chicken. 
11. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in small skillet over medium high heat. 
12. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds.  They will begin popping immediately, allow them to pop (about 30 seconds). 
13. Remove skillet from heat, and add curry leaves - they will spatter (especially if freshly washed!), so use your oil splatter cover.  
14. Pour the mustard-curry leave mixture in the curry and stir once or twice. 
15. Serve over white rice.