Burmese Chicken Curry

This recipe is from Cooking Light and is one of my favorite chicken dishes. Yellow lentils (dal) are available where ever Indian foods are sold. Yellow split peas can be substituted. My experience has been that either one takes longer than 25minutes to reach tenderness, so I cook them ahead of time in a crock pot. Red lentils cook much quicker and can also be substituted. Serve over rice or Chinese egg noodles.

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups  dried yellow lentils
• 2  teaspoons ground cumin
• 2  teaspoons paprika
• 2  teaspoons ground turmeric
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1⁄2 lbs  boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1  tablespoon canola oil
• 1  cup onion, chopped
• 2 3⁄4 cups chicken broth
• 3  bay leaves

Directions

1. Place lentils in large saucepan; cover with water to 2 inches above lentils. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cover, reduce heat, simmer 25 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Combine cumin and next 5 ingredients(through cloves) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken; seal and shake to coat.
3. Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute 3 minutes. Add chicken and spice mixture; saute 4 minutes. Stir in broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add lentils and bay leaves; cover and simmer 30 minutes. Uncover and simmer 10 minutes.