Chicken and Lentil Curry Soup

I decided to make 2 soups with the white meat from my roasted chicken. This is the first. I chose quite earthy flavours as what I’ve been making recently has been relatively sweet (in vegetable terms!)  I used a 1.8 kg chicken for this recipe.

Makes 4 lunches

1/2 brown onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic

1 birds eye chilli sliced

2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

4 cardamom pods lightly bashed

1 litre stock

1/2 cup of dried green lentils

2/3 of white meat pulled from roast chicken and shredded by hand (skin removed)

1/3 butternut squash peeled and chopped into small bite sized pieces

1/2 cauliflower chopped into small bite sized pieces

1 large pinch each of salt and pepper

100g fresh spinach

1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves

1. Sauté the onion in a large saucepan for 5 minutes until soft
2. Crush in the garlic and stir fry for an extra minute
3. Stir in the chilli, chicken and the spices then add the stock and the lentils
4. Place the saucepan lid on
5. Set the timer for 30 minutes
6. After 10 minutes add the cauliflower and butternut squash
7. Add the seasoning to taste
8. At the end stir in the spinach and keep stirring until wilted
9. Add the coriander to serve