Contains a whole spice pouch, a base sauce and a stir-in sauce
Dhansak is a much-loved Parsi dish. The Parsi people came to India from Persia and brought with them their own food and culture. Over the years their food was influenced by Indian ingredients and spices, mostly from Gujarat.
A proper dhansak is a complex balance of flavours of the more typical curry ingredients - onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic. Where it goes off on a Parsi tangent is the addition of lentils and vegetables, which are cooked down into the sauce to create a fabulous and different curry experience. It is a unique and distinctive curry that much of India soon came to love. Most Parsis would add red meat into the curry, but many others add a mix of vegetables, chicken, paneer and even prawns into it. It is delicious in all its guises.
Cut the meat, paneer and/or vegetables into generous pieces.
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan, add the spices and follow 10 seconds later with the meat, paneer and/or vegetables. Brown lightly for 2-3 minutes
Add the contents of the base sauce and simmer for 2 minutes
Stir in the main sauce and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until the meat is cooked through
If you don’t like whole spices, powder these in a pestle and mortar and add them in at the end , or remove them with a spoon before serving
Clean and trim the excess fat off 200g diced leg of lamb (250g if not using squash). Heat 1 tbs. oil in a non-stick pan and add the lamb in 2 batches, and brown on all sides. Set aside. Add the spices from the spice sachet and fry for 15 seconds. Add in the lamb and sauces and bring to a simmer. Cook, covered for 50-60 minutes, or until the lamb is tender. Stir occasionally and make sure there is enough liquid in the pan so the lamb doesn’t catch and burn. If necessary, add a splash of boiling water to the pan. After 40 minutes, add in 100g cubes of butternut squash or pumpkin and continue to cook until both lamb and squash are soft. Serve with rice.
This is a really versatile curry and works with chicken, prawns and a selection of vegetables.
It is a very light curry, so if you are going vegetarian you might want to cook the spices in a heaped tsp of ghee.
Water, Pumpkin, Lentils, Onion, Aubergine, Ginger, Sunflower Oil, Spices, Tomato Paste, Sugar, Garlic, Salt, Coriander Powder, Tamarind, Rice Flour, Turmeric, Black MUSTARD SEEDS
MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF MILK, NUTS, SESAME, PEANUTS, CELERY, SULPHITES, GLUTEN & SOYA
| PER 100g | |
| ENERGY | 311kJ/74kcal |
| FAT | 2.7g |
| of which saturates | 0.3g |
| CARBOHYDRATES | 9.1g |
| of which sugars | 2.5g |
| FIBRE | 1.6g |
| PROTEIN | 2.7g |
| SALT | 1.0g |
