Ingredients
- Serves 6-8
- 8 chicken pieces (thighs, legs and breast, skin on)
- 1 tbsp allspice
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tsp turmeric
- Few grates of nutmeg
- Good pinch cardamom
- Good pinch saffron
- Big knob butter
- 2 onions, peeled and chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 tube tomato puree
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 celery sticks, chopped
- 250g brown or red lentils
- 1 tin chickpeas
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- Big bunch coriander or parsley
In a large bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the spices (apart from the bay, cloves and cinnamon sticks) and mix well. In a large saucepan, heat the butter and brown the chicken pieces. When they are brown, remove the whole lot from the pan.
Turn down the heat and sweat the onions in the remaining fat until they are soft. Put the chicken back in and add all the remaining ingredients, except the fresh coriander or parsley.
Add two to three litres of water, stir everything with a wooden spoon so it’s well mixed, put the lid on and simmer for one hour over a low to medium heat.
Remove the lid for the last 15 minutes and raise the heat to reduce the soup if it’s too liquidy.
To serve, spoon into large bowls and sprinkle with the fresh herb.
Photographs by Aidan Crawley Food cooked and styled by Domini Kemp and Gillian Fallon
