Meat cooked in lentils with rice

Name: Meat cooked in lentils with rice (Dhansak)
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: ¾ tsp turmeric; 2 tsp garlic paste; 1 tsp salt; Cooked lentils; 125 gm/4 oz of salted butter; 2 raw green mangoes peeled and cut, if available; 1-cup meat stock; 8 cups water; 8 large dry red Kashmiri chillies or 2½ tsp chilli powder; 4 oz/125 gm of red masoor lentils, washed; 13 oz/375 gm Toor/tuar lentils, washed; 1 kg/2.2 lb lamb or mutton or goat, bone-in, cut into big pieces; 4 green chillies; 1 tsp cumin powder; 2 tsp jaggery; 1-cup finely chopped fried onions; 1 tsp tamarind paste; 3 tomatoes, finely chopped; 6 fresh mint leaves; 1-cup fresh coriander leaves; Fried masala; 1 tbsp oil; 10 cups of water; 1 tsp ginger paste

Dhansak

Preparation info

6 to 8
servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Art of Parsi Cooking

By Niloufer Mavalvala

Published 2016

About

Food being the number one priority for most Parsis, the famous Dhansak is a favourite dish and it is best described as a speciality. Being both tedious and time-consuming to prepare, as well as heavy to digest, Dhansak is generally left for a treat and more traditionally, for a Sunday afternoon lunch. Families gather for the meal and get-together, followed by a siesta!

There are many versions and stories of its origins, both in name and in ingredients. But like most recipes, it has

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Main Dish

Rice Dishes

Matthew Cockerill

6 months ago from United Kingdom

It was great to meet Niloufer at the launch of her latest book and to learn that dhansak, which has always been a favourite curry of mine, is in fact a Parsi specialty.

My quest to make an authentic dhansak began at the super traditional butcher I recently discovered in my area where I was able to get a some mutton on the bone at a very reasonable price, with some extra bones thrown in for free allowing me to make a very richly flavoured lamb broth with lots spare for future use.

As the introduction notes this isn’t a quick recipe with the separate steps and slow cooking involved. But the end result was very good especially the next day.

I think I would leave more of the hot middle part of the chilli in next time as it was fairly mild. I didn’t have green mangoes (or jaggery)and I was actually short of the tomatoes and ginger too 🙄 so it was some way from being truly authentic but a good start. For the dhansak masala I blended the Parsi spices which Niloufer gave us at the launch. That seemed roughly the right mix, but next time I will try a commercial dhansak masala.

I used a blender to liquidize the lentils but the end result was smoother than the dhansak’s I’ve had elsewhere. I might try leaving it with a bit more texture next time.

Anyone else have dhansak tips or experience to share?

Niloufer Mavalvala

Author

6 months ago from Canada

Thank you for sharing your experience, Matthew. I am glad that you enjoyed it. Just to clarify, Dhansak is generally smooth and not textured. Yes, it needs the special ash coloured dhansak no masalo available in stores and is quite pungent. It adds flavour rather than a heaty spice. For those who plan on following my recipes, none of the recipes will be overly spicy. You can add or subtract the chilies to suit your own palates.

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