Melting Afghan chickpea curry

Step 1

Sauté - Melt the ghee in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the cinnamon and toast for 30 seconds. Add the onion, ginger, garlic and bay leaves. Cook for 3 minutes until the onion is translucent (stir regularly so the garlic & ginger don't catch).

Step 2

Spices and lentils - Add the Spices and stir for 30 seconds. Add the lentils and stir to coat in the spices.

Step 3

Simmer lentils - Add the stock and salt. Stir, bring to a simmer. Lower the head to medium, put the lid on and simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 4

Simmer chickpeas - Add the chickpeas, water and baking soda. Increase the heat to make it simmer again. Then lower the stove slightly and leave to simmer gently for 30 minutes without a lid or until the lentils mostly broken down to make a thin gravy (you can cook an extra 10 minutes to thicken more if you want).

Step 5

Serve with rice on the side and Afghan or other flatbreads for dunking, drizzled with yogurt and sprinkled with fresh coriander if you want (I do).