Indian Meal

I've been cooking recipes from the Usborne Children's World Cookbook this week - so far we have had pizza and Spaghetti Bolognese, and tonight we're trying the Indian recipes.
BHUNA GOSHT (one of those words probably means lamb, which is what the recipe calls for, but I used chicken)
3 chicken breasts, cubed

juice of 1 lemon

pinch of salt

4 tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 c. chicken stock
3 tomatoes, cut into large pieces
14 oz. can tomatoes
Sprinkle chicken with lemon juice and salt and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot and cook onion and garlic until softened.  Combine spices and add to the pot, stirring for a minute.  Add chicken, tomatoes, and stock to the pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 25-30 minutes.
DHAL
1 clove garlic
1/2 onion, diced
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. Garam Masala
1/2 c. red lentils (I didn't have lentils so I used yellow split peas and they took a lot longer to cook)
1 c. water
salt
Melt butter in a saucepan and cook garlic and onion until softened.  Add spices and cook for a minute.  Add lentils or split peas and water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until lentils are cooked.  (I seemed to be running low on liquid, and my chicken stew had more liquid than I wanted, so I added the stew liquid to the split peas and just let it continue to simmer until they were softened.)  Purée slightly so that it's smooth but still has some whole pieces left in tact.
CUCUMBER RAITA
1/2 c. cucumber, diced
1 c. plain yogurt
salt and pepper
fresh mint, chopped (I didn't have any, so I used some Lamb Seasoning)
Put cucumber in a strainer over a bowl and sprinkle with salt.  Let it sit for an hour so the water comes out.  In another strainer over a bowl, put some cheesecloth and put the yogurt on top to let the water drip out.  Combine the strained cucumbers and yogurt with mint and pepper.

Everything was really tasty, although I made way too much raita and my split peas still weren't cooked all the way through, even after an incredibly long time on the stove.  You could definitely kick up the spices a bit in the stew and the dhal, but it was perfect for kids.