Chicken dhal and rice is a classic traditional Indian dish that can be made with either chicken or mutton, but you can have it as a vegan dish. This is a go-to Friday (Jummah) lunch dish for most families, and there are many versions to make this, it seems every Desi home will have their own family recipe. 

Surprisingly I prefer most traditional Indian dishes without meat, which I know sounds weird, but I find it tastes better. Even though I eat it without meat, we still cook dhal and rice with chicken (usually - sometimes mutton, if my dad's been persistent enough lol,), but I'll dish out without any meat. 

INGREDIENTS 

CHICKEN MARINADE

EXTRA INGREDIENTS 

QUICK SIDE RELISH

METHOD 

1. Before starting to cook, make you have soaked the Oil Dhal (Toowar Dhal) overnight in water.
2. Marinate the chicken in red chili paste, ginger paste, garlic paste, salt, pepper, red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric, and cumin powder. 
3. In a large (deep) pot, heat up the oil on medium heat before adding in the sliced onions, dry cinnamon sticks, cloves, and cardamom pods. 
4. Braise the onions till golden before turning the heat down to low and add in the already marinated chicken.
5. Add 1/2 cup water and cook the chicken for 15 minutes before adding freshly pureed tomato, lemon juice, and whole green chili.
6. Continue to cook the chicken on low heat for another 15 minutes. 
7. While the chicken is cooking, you can make your rice; just boil some basmati (or your go-to rice) till it's done; for extra flavour, you can mix in some Cumin Seeds or the Grated Carrots while the rice is boiling. Keep it aside till it's time to steam before serving.
8. Now it's time to prep your dhal (lentils). First, rinse out the soaked dhal till the water runs clear. 
9. Next, place it in another pot, cooking it on medium heat till it softens up and becomes tender (15 - 20 minutes).
10. Once done, add the cooked dhal into a blender and blend till it's a smooth consistency.
11. Add it to your chicken and boil on medium to high heat till it thickens, for another 15 - 20 minutes. If you see it's a bit too thick and not a creamy soup consistency, you can add very little water to thin it out (be careful to not add too much, or it will be too watery).
12. While the dhal is cooking, you can steam your rice till it heats up, so it's ready to serve. You can also make the quick relish,  roughly chopping fresh coriander, tomato and onions, and mixing it in a bowl with the vinegar. 
13. 5 minutes before serving, in a saucepan, add in oil, whole cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and curry leaves and place on high heat till the mustard seeds start to pop. The second you hear them pop, quickly add the mixture into the chicken dhal pot and stir it all together. 
14. Before serving, garnish the chicken dhal with some freshly chopped coriander, serve with your quick relish, fluffy basmati cumin seeds or grated carrots rice, and some poppadoms, and enjoy! Oh, remember you added some cardamom seeds, so be careful to not bite into those taste-bud killers. 

PIN IT

It is so easy to pin a recipe you like right onto your Pinterest boards.

Simply click on the picture, and it will automatically open up to your Pinterest

where you can save the image and recipe link to any board.

I hope you enjoy this simple, traditional Chicken Dhal and Rice recipe.

These are some other Jummah/Friday Rice-based dishes I've shared on my blog:

Chinese Orange Chicken With Rice Or Noodles 

Singaporean Rice 

Healthy Chicken Rice

Nandos Chicken Strips and Spicy Rice

Steak Rice

Butter Chicken Biryani

Bukhari Pilau 

Prawns Curry and Rice

Afghani Chicken Pilau 

Spanish Rice

Hyderabad Biryani 

 Please be sure to also follow me on my other social sites,
I share many pictures, videos, tips, and behind the scenes content:
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Youtube
Tiktok
Subscribe To My Blog