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

PIN IT

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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 

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By 'healthy' it actually means 'not healthy' 

The fact that this meal is topped with grated cheese 

means it's just extra yummy!

My family loves new rice dishes on Friday Lunch, 

instead of the usual Dhal and Rice or Biryani. 

This is a simple, quick and easy rice dish, 

that will have your family stuffing their faces at the table.

My sister has been requesting this for so long now,

I thought I'd surprise her and make it for Jummah.

 - INGREDIENTS - 

9 Pieces Chicken Fillet (should feed 7 people)

2 Tbsp Red Chili Paste 
1 1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder
1 tsp Turmeric 
1 Tbsp Fresh Ginger Paste
1 Tbsp Freshly Crushed Garlic

3 Tbsp Knorr Original Aromat Seasoning 
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice 
2 Tomato - Pureed
Salt To Taste 

2 Red Onions Grated 
1 Tomato Pureed 
1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric 
1 tsp Aromat

1 Cup Frozen Peas
1 Cup Frozen Whole Corn 
1/2 Cup Robot Peppers (green, yellow and red peppers cubed)

1 Cup Boiled Rice 

1 Cup Grated Cheese 
Handful Fresh Coriander

- METHOD - 

1. Cut your chicken fillet into big cubes, each fillet should give you 3 pieces.
2. Now go on to marinate it with the first set of ingredients; red chili paste, red chili powder, turmeric, ginger, garlic, aromat, lemon juice, pureed tomato and salt. 
3. Now in a pot, braise your grated onions with some olive oil till golden.
4. Than add half a cup of the peas, half a cup of the corn, 1/4 of the robot peppers, pureed tomato, red chili powder, turmeric and aromat and cook for a few minutes (you can add some oil so it doesn't burn).   
5. Next I added a layer of the boiled rice (around 1/4 cup) and I tossed with the mix. 
6. Than I layered the marinated meat over the rice, topped the 1/2 cup of cheese, added 1 - 2 cups of water.
7. With the rest of the rice I first mixed in the rest of the vegetables before layering it on the meat. 
8. I steamed pot on low till I saw the meat was cooked, you can add more water so it doesn't burn since there is rice at the bottom.
9. When dishing out garnish with the left over cheese and fresh coriander, serve with dhay and there you have it your Healthy Chicken Rice for Jummah lunch is ready.

- DHAY - 

Small Tub Inkomaz (full cream maas)

OR Big Tub Plain Yogurt 

5 Tbsp Green Chili Paste 

1/3 Cup Milk

1/2 tsp Salt 

1. Inkomazi is a South African brand, which if you cannot find anything similar locally you can substitute with plain yogurt. 
2. Whip either the Inkomazi or Yogurt till smooth with the milk.
3. Next add the green chili paste and salt before whipping again. 
4. Pour in a jug and leave to chill in the fridge before it's time to eat. 

- PIN IT - 

It's so freaky how Friday rolls around so quickly!
 I made this recipe for one Friday Lunch 

and it was so different than our usual traditional rice dishes. 

I love how spicy it was, 

I did go a bit heavy handed on the chilis

 so you can adjust the quantities for your palette.

This recipe is perfect if you want to serve it with a full chicken cut in pieces,

salad and chips 

or even grill it in the oven. 

Now this spicy rice is a bit different from the one I shared before,

which you can click here to check it out if you want another version. 

- PLEASE NOTE -

Nandos Sauces are slowly becoming available internationally in store and online. 
If you do not have access to these specific sauces, you can still use this recipe and substitute to a different brand.

It is so easy to pin a recipe you like right onto your pinterest boards,

simply click on the picture and it will automatically take you to pinterest. 

When you share the picture the link shares as well,

which makes it easier for you and any one else to find the recipe. 

I do hope you enjoy this Nandos Chicken Strips and Spicy Rice Recipe,

it suited so well for Jummah Lunch,

now I have shared other Friday Lunch recipes

which you can check out here:
Steak Rice
Butter Chicken Biryani 
Bukhari Pilau 
Spanish Rice
Afghani Chicken Pilau
Hyderabad Biryani  

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to keep up with more recipes and behind the scenes:

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Stuffed Fried Green Chilies is a very traditional side to have 
when cooking a traditional rice dish. 

Like Khuri Kitchri! 

My nani/granny loves these but we try not to make it so strong. 

Btw does anyone's granny eat these with cream and honey?

Mine does lol 

Anyhoo... hope you enjoy the recipe,

be extra next Jummah Lunch. 

This stuffed fried green chilies recipe is enough for 6 chilies,

so feel free to change up the estimate, 

also we used jalapeños but you can use any long green chilies if you prefer.
I did hold a poll on my instagram 
(which if you aren't following me you should)
anyway and this was highly requested.

1 tsp Cumin 

1 tsp Ground Coriander 

1/4 tsp Turmeric 

Salt To Taste

1 tsp Sugar 

1 tsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Methi)

Juice From 1/2 A Lemon 

1 Tb Crushed Coconut 

1 tsp Sesame Seeds

• Mix together the cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, sugar, dried fenugreek leaves (methis) and lemon juice.
• In a frying pan braise the ingredients with some oils for about 3 minutes. 
• Remove from the heat and leave to cool down.
• Once it has cooled, mix in your crushed coconut and sesame seeds.

• Oil you hands before moving onto the chilies, like I said we used jalapeños - don't skip this step or you will end up with burning hands.
• Slit them down the middle but not all the way and remove all the seeds.
• Fill in the mix you made into the chilies.
• Now pour some oil into a frying pan, not so much. 
• Fry them till they're crispy. Try to not turn them around a lot in the pan, but if the mix does come out it's okay.
• When done remove of the heat and pop in a glass dish along with the mix that is now in the pan and serve with any traditional rice dish. 

It is so easy to pin a recipe you like right onto your pinterest boards,

simply click on the picture and it will automatically take you to pinterest. 

When you share the picture the link shares as well,

which makes it easier for you and any one else to find the recipe.