Curried Lentil & Chicken Soup With Garlic Roti

Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ gas 7

Take your chicken out of the fridge, open the packet and let it air

Peel and finely dice half your brown onion[s]

Cut the remaining onion into wedges

Top, tail and slice your carrot[s] into discs

Heat a large, wide-based pot (with a matching lid) with a little drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat

Once hot, add the diced onion and carrot discs and cook for 4-6 min or until starting to soften

Rinse your red lentils in a sieve under cold running water

Meanwhile, add the onion wedges to a tin foil-lined baking tray (or two!) and sprinkle over a pinch of your curry powder (you'll use the rest later) with 1 tsp [1 1/2 tsp] [2 tsp] sugar and a little drizzle of olive oil

Add your chicken breast strips to the other side of the tray[s]

Put the tray[s] in the oven for 16-20 min or until the chicken is cooked through (no pink meat!) and the onion wedges are caramelised and slightly charred – this is your roasted chicken & onion

Boil a full kettle

Peel and finely chop (or grate) your garlic

Once the onion is softened, add a small knob of butter to the pot with your tomato paste, the remaining curry powder and half the chopped garlic (you'll use the rest later!)

Give everything a good mix up, season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper and cook for 1-2 min or until fragrant

Once fragrant, add the rinsed red lentils with 650ml [850ml] [1.1L] boiled water and your chicken stock mix to the pot and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook covered for 15-20 min or until the lentils and carrot have softened

Once softened, remove the pot from the heat and blitz with a (stick) blender until smooth, then return to a low heat to keep warm – this is your curried lentil soup

Once the chicken is cooked through, transfer the cooked chicken to a clean board, reserve the tray[s] and shred apart using two forks – this technique is known as 'pulling'

Separate the roasted onion into petals – these are your tandoori-style onion petals

Combine 1/2 tbsp [1 tbsp] [1 1/2 tbsp] olive oil and the remaining chopped garlic in a bowl with a small pinch of salt – this is your garlic oil

Discard the tin foil, then add your roti to the reserved baking tray[s]

Spread your garlic oil over the roti until evenly coated

Put the tray[s] in the oven for 3-4 min or until warmed through – this is your garlic roti