Dahl

A selection of Dahls, the basis of many Indian meals, now resident in my freezer. The red ones are made with blended lentils and red kidney beans, plus tikka spices. The yellow ones are mainly lentil and onion, plus spices (garam masala). I made an excellent green one with lentils and spinach, not included in the picture.

Making dahl in advance can save a huge amount of time in the preparation of dishes, which is why it is good to have some of these on hand, ready prepared.

Dahl

Chicken Tikka Massala

Stir fried (or steamed) chicken breast pieces. The sauce was made separately with Tikka spice powder, with tomato puree, chopped mushrooms, onion, orange pepper, chicken stock, chopped chilli peppers, and some chopped boiled potato. The chicken pieces were added to the Tikka Sauce, and cooked for fifteen to twenty minutes before serving. The ingredients listed below can be added too (yoghurt, coconut, ground almond, etc). And you can start with a lentil and onion dahl.

What is a tikka massala? Normally this is understood to be a chicken dish, marinated in spices and yogurt, which is then baked in an oven, and served in a masala sauce, which is a mix of spices, whose main basis is tomato and coriander, but there is no standard recipe for chicken tikka masala.

The spices which are used commercially are hard to discover, which suggests that the story that Chicken Massala is a dish invented in an Indian restaurant in Glasgow sometime during the past 50 years,  may be true. The Tikka spices I used were bought in powder form (as Tikka spices) from a large supermarket. It's a good guess that if you start with the standard curry spices, add tomato and more coriander, yoghurt, shredded coconut, ground almonds, and tomato puree, lentils and onion, you will have an excellent tikka massala dahl. 

Chicken Tikka Massala

Turkey Tikka Massala

Hot curry made with diced turkey breast, a tikka massala flavoured dahl, made with lentil and onion, tomato puree, coriander, yoghurt, ground almonds and shredded coconut. The turkey breast was stir fried in sunflower oil, and was then added to the tikka massala dahl, and cooked for twenty minutes at a moderate heat. Served with basmati rice. Also great to eat with Naan bread.

What is a tikka massala? Normally this is understood to be a chicken dish (for which turkey breast is a good substitute), marinated in spices and yogurt, which is then baked in an oven, and served in a masala sauce, which is a mix of spices, whose main basis is tomato and coriander, but there is no standard recipe for chicken tikka masala.

The spices which are used commercially are hard to discover, which suggests that the story that Chicken Massala is a dish invented in an Indian restaurant in Glasgow sometime during the past 50 years,  may be true. The Tikka spices I used were bought in powder form (as Tikka spices) from a large supermarket. It's a good guess that if you start with the standard curry spices, add tomato and more coriander, yoghurt, shredded coconut, ground almonds, and tomato puree, lentils and onion, you will have an excellent tikka massala dahl. 

Turkey Tikka Massala 

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