Chicken Paach Misheli Dal - Assorted Lentils with Chicken

I am pretty impressed with the way my lentil recipes are earning brownie points from my readers. When I posted Egg Tadka Dal, I barely had any clue that it would make its place among the most viewed recipes occupying the first place for a considerable length of time. Next came along the Chicken Tadka Dal which also received a raging response from my readers. Infact, all my lentil recipes including the new entries such as Kokum Chana Masala, Lal Shak Diye Moong Dal and Cholar Dal Diye Lau are showing promise in terms of page views. I am happy.

'Pach' in Bengali means number five and 'misheli' means mixture. Since the recipe below is a medley of five different lentils concocted with chicken, I conceive the appellation "Chicken Paach Misheli Dal" to be accurate for this dish.

Ingredients:                                       Cooking time: 30-40 minutes ü  2 chicken breasts (cut into cubes) ü  Scant 3/4 cup of each of these lentils - green gram or tadka dal, chana dal or split chickpeas, moong lentil, red lentil or masoor dal, matar dal or whole yellow peas ü  2 tbsp garlic (chopped) ü  1 1/2 tbsp ginger (chopped) ü  1 onion (chopped) ü  1 tomato (chopped) ü  30 gm butter ü  1 tsp turmeric powder ü  1 tsp dry red chilli powder ü  2 tsp cumin powder ü  5-6 green chillies (chopped) ü  2 tsp sugar ü  Salt to taste ü  1 heaped tsp garam masala powder ü  1 tsp ghee (optional) ü  White oil for cooking For sauté: ü  Whole spices (3 green cardamoms, 1 inch cinnamon stick) ü  1 tsp hing powder ü  1 dry red chilli ü  1 bay leaf Method: 1) Soak green gram, chana dal and matar dal overnight in water for 5-6 hours. 2) Add red lentil and moong lentil into the other lentil mixture and wash them well under running water. 3) Place them together in a pressure cooker covered in 2-3 cups of water. Add butter, turmeric powder and dry red chilli powder. Tighten the lid into the pressure cooker and cook until one whistle. 4) Heat oil in a wok and when oil turns piping hot, toss in the ingredients for saute. Allow them to sputter. 5) Add onion and fry till translucent. Add ginger-garlic and fry them for 1 minute. 6) Slide in the chicken pieces and shallow fry till the pink color of the raw meat goes away. 7) Add chopped tomatoes, green chillies and cumin powder. Cook covered for few minutes till chicken seems tender. 8) Pour the lentil mixture into the wok. Add salt and sugar. Stir in to mix. Simmer away for 2 minutes. 9) Finally before turning the heat off, fold in garam masala powder and ghee. Gently stir. 10) Serve hot with rice or roti.