This was the very first recipe I made after purchasing the cookbook The Medicinal Chef: Healthy Every Day by Dale Pinnock.  Strictly speaking, it is called Cholesterol-busting Chicken Curry as the lentils are very rich in soluble fibre which is great for lowering cholesterol.  It does this by binding to cholesterol in the bowel and carrying it away before it gets absorbed.

So, as well as tasting extremely delicious, this curry is good for you too.  Also, it is a one-pot dish;  no need to serve rice with it; and it could be made using fish, seafood or even tofu.

INGREDIENTS:

Splash of Olive oil
2 large red onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
400g red lentils
800ml vegetable stock
6 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 – 3 tablespoons madras curry paste (use a milder one if preferred)
300g baby spinach leaves
Sea salt and black pepper
Thick live probiotic yoghurt to serve
Banana and shredded coconut to serve

Just a few healthy ingredients for this curry

METHOD:

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions and garlic and cook for 4 – 5 minutes, until softened.

Add the lentils and a little of the stock and simmer. Keep adding small amounts of stock, bit by bit, as the lentils cook and soften as if you were cooking a risotto.

Once the lentils are starting to soften and break down, add the chicken and the curry paste and stir well.

Continue simmering and adding the stock until the chicken has cooked through.

Add the baby spinach leaves at the last minute, season with salt and pepper and stir until the spinach has wilted.

Serve with your favourite accompaniment such as live yoghurt, sliced banana and shredded coconut.

Delicious Chicken Curry served with live yoghurt, banana slices and shredded coconut

TIP:  Every time I peel a vegetable, I pop the peelings/outer skin into a large polythene bag and pop it in the freezer.   Onions, carrots, peppers, celery, cabbage, broccoli, almost any vegetable.   When I have sufficient quantity, I make vegetable stock (I usually add some fresh herbs and any bits and pieces of vegetable which need using up) and then freeze bags of stock.  That way, I have a superb supply of good, healthy stock which is guaranteed to contain NO sugar or additives.  I had some organic vegetable stock cubes in the back of my cupboard and I was horrified to read that sugar had been added.  Needless-to-say, they have been flushed down my waste-disposal unit.

I also make bone broth which my husband loves and he has a steaming mugful each day.