Ingredient Notes

These notes are here to help make this recipe a success; they cover some but not all ingredients. For a complete ingredient list, check out the recipe card below.

Chicken thighs: I like to use chicken thighs as they stay tender and juicy. You can also use chicken breasts, but they won’t need as much cooking, as they dry out easily.

Cinnamon sticks: These add a wonderful warmth to the curry. If you don’t have whole cinnamon sticks, you can replace them with ground cinnamon.

Onion: I use a regular brown onion, but white or yellow onions also work.

Ginger: Fresh ginger is best here; it adds such an incredible depth to the curry. You can keep ginger root in the freezer and grate it from frozen!

Garlic: The curry is pretty heavy on the garlic (5 cloves), but as always, measure garlic with your heart! 

Dried red lentils: These add a creamy thickness to the curry. They break down completely in the curry. Other lentils won’t break down in the cook time and will not have the same thickening effect.

Chicken broth/stock: I used reduced-sodium chicken stock, but feel free to use vegetable stock if that is what you have.

Chickpeas: This is a 14oz/400g can. Drain them before adding them to the curry.

Baking soda: Also called bicarb of soda, bicarbonate of soda, and sodium bicarbonate. This makes the chickpeas so creamy! (See the box below if you want to know why! The ex-teacher in me loves a bit of food science!) Use a measuring spoon to measure baking soda, as too much can affect the taste of your curry and make it bitter! 

Spinach: I like to use fresh baby spinach, but if you only have frozen spinach, that will work, too. (You’ll only need 1 cup if you are using frozen spinach)