Dhansak is made by cooking mutton or goat meat with a mixture of lentils and vegetables. The curry house dhansak is often referred to as "hot, sweet and sour with lentils". Add spices, turmeric powder and dhania jeera powder and cook the masalas well, add tomatoes and … Traditionally, four lentils (arhar dal, Bengal gram or chana dal, red masoor dal and brown masoor dal) are used, but one or more of the lentils may be omitted or substituted. International recipe variants for the dhansak sometimes call for pineapple chunks to provide a sweet flavour, [4] but traditional Indian recipes prefer the use of pumpkin, squash or gourd. There is no meat consumed for three days after the death of a near one. Fighting for truth, justice and the BIR way! I prefer it for salting for two reasons. Reply. "Kosher salt" really is a mis-nomer; it is salt intended for koshering (the process of removing blood), not salt that has been certified as kosher by an approved authority. Now, as my sense of smell deteriorates with age, the main reason is that it is less salt by volume. Within the Parsi community, dhansak usually contains goat meat or mutton; it is rarely made with other meats, such as chicken, or without meat. This is served with caramelised white rice, which is rice cooked in water, whole spices, and caramelized onions. The Dhansak curry is a Parsi dish from North West India and Pakistan, fusing Gujarati food with Persian ideas. If you want hot and zesty curry, try Madras, or Roganjosh. Heat oil or ghee in a deep pan and fry onions till brown. And dhansak is used to break this abstinence on the fourth day. Hence, dhansak is never prepared on auspicious occasions like festivals and weddings. [1] It combines elements of Persian and Gujarati cuisine. In Parsi homes, dhansak is traditionally made on Sundays[3] owing to the long preparation time required to cook the lentils and vegetables into a mush (in the days before pressure cooking was employed). If you have the chance and inclination to buy some you'll better understand what I'm talking about. ... And well said. Dhansak is a popular Indian dish, originating among the Parsi Zoroastrian community. romain says: July 20, 2020 at 7:49 pm Glad you liked it. I don’t know why they don’t mix it up more. Secret Santa - I use Diamond Crystal because I only stock one type of salt in that rough grain size. Like dhansak curry did. Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, dried ginger, coriander seed and cumin seed, as well as a pinch of asafetida, are among the spices employed. That and the shape of DC salt makes it easier to salt by hand. While "dhansak masala" is sold as a ready-made mixture, the individual cook may make the spice mixture from scratch, altering the combination and proportion of spices based on personal preference. Dhansak is a popular Indian dish, originating among the Parsi Zoroastrian community. British Indian Restaurant Recipes - Main Dishes, Quote from: Peripatetic Phil on March 20, 2020, 03:45 PM, Quote from: Secret Santa on March 20, 2020, 10:57 PM, Quote from: George on March 20, 2020, 11:47 AM, Quote from: Secret Santa on March 20, 2020, 01:25 AM, Quote from: den on March 23, 2020, 09:37 PM, Quote from: romain on March 23, 2020, 04:11 PM. The vegetables include potato, tomato, brinjal, pumpkin and fenugreek leaves: again, substitutions, such as squash for pumpkin, and sweet potato for potato, may be employed: it depends on what vegetables are conveniently at hand. Phil.i used a tamarind block that a friend brought back from abroad.Cant remember where but boiled it up to make a sauce,All I can say is this is the closest I have found to my local curry house and will continue to make the Pathia and Dhansak with a few tweaks as I go. MickyP - hope you liked it as well. I find iodized salt to have an odd background smell I don't detect in DC. If it is done well the dhansak is an excellent curry with contrasting flavours and textures. There are a couple restaurants where I am that specialize in South Indian which is a nice change. And funny. Indian restaurant dhansak curry is adapted from the traditional. That's the reason I got into the habit of stocking DC years ago. The Gujarati element of the recipe is the liberal use of a variety of Indian spices and condiments, in contrast to the more mellow Iranian recipes. The technique of extending a relatively expensive ingredient (meat) by combining it with vegetables and/or lentils in the same recipe is widely employed in Persian cooking ("Dhan" is Gujarati cereal dish mentioned in Kanhadade Prabandha in 1455 AD;[2] "Sak" (derived from Gujarati "shaak" meaning vegetable greens or cooked vegetables). I salt to taste and I find it easier to avoid over salting. It's only when I read the addendum that I see he means a sweet and sour tamarind based sauce such as Maggi's Tamarina. I did a Prawn Pathia tonight as per the recipe with the exception of 1x tbl spoon of Tamarind, i used 1 x tsp which worked for me. Dhansak is made by cooking mutton cubes with a mixture of various lentils and vegetables. The "hot" is chilli powder, the "sweet" is sugar and the "sour" is lemon juice. Curry houses commonly use masoor dhal (split red lentils) but some restaurants now use chana dhal to good effect. The dhansak is flavoured with a spice mixture called "dhansak masala", which is similar to "garam masala" except that the spices chosen are more aromatic and sweet rather than pungent. Looking at the dhansak recipe, I was trying to figure out where the sweetness comes from as we all know BIR dhansak is sweet and sour in flavour and he clearly states just tamarind (or, actually, tamarind sauce). It combines elements of Persian and Gujarati cuisine. A guide to the heat scale for the classic Indian curry dishes that you will find in the majority of British curry houses. Onion and garlic are browned to serve as the stew's base, and coriander leaves, green chilli and mint leaves are employed as garnish. This is served with caramelised white rice, which is rice cooked in water, whole spices, and caramelized onions. I ate pathia at a dhaba a long time ago in gujarat and look forward to making your recipe. Login with username, password and session length. Den - I am glad you enjoyed them! The dal cooked with mutton and vegetables served with brown rice, altogether is called dhansak. The Parsees, who are adherents of Zoroastrianism, came to Western India as religious refugees in the 8th century CE, after the Arab conquest of Persia and the fall of the Sassanid empire in 651 C. They brought with them the tradition of cooking meat with lentils and/or vegetables. Although the chicken variant is also exceptionally popular chicken curry recipe. Dhansak is also always had on the fourth day after the death of a near one. But the big flavours, lentils and a bit of sweet and sour remain. Dhansak is a famous Parsi dish. The recipe has evolved over time. After prolonged cooking in the traditional recipe (or the use of a pressure cooker), the vegetables are more or less homogenised with the lentils, which are also broken down, so that the result is a thick stew rather than a curry. Dhansak is made by cooking mutton or goat meat with a mixture of lentils and vegetables. However, tomatoes, chilies, pumpkin and potatoes are native to the Americas and were unknown in India until some time after the Portuguese (who in turn got them through trade with Spain) brought them to India in the 16th century CE.