Name: Chicken Simmered in a Pumpkin-Lentil Sauce with Fenugreek (Murghi Dhansaak)
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Ginger Paste; 1 tablespoon Garlic Paste; 4 tablespoons Ghee or canola oil; 4 cups loosely packed finely chopped fresh or frozen fenugreek leaves (thawed and drained if frozen; see Tips); ½ teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper); 2 to 2½ pounds cut-up bone-in chicken, skin removed; ¼ cup firmly packed fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems; ¼ cup firmly packed fresh mint leaves; 1 teaspoon ground turmeric; 2 large red onions: 1 coarsely chopped, 1 cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced; 4 cups cubed fresh red pumpkin (1-inch cubes; see Tips) or sweet potatoes; 1 cup oily or unoily skinned split yellow pigeon peas, picked over for stones; 2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt; 1 large tomato, cored and finely chopped; ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds from green or white pods; ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds from black pods; 1 teaspoon ground Kashmiri chiles; or ¼ teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper) mixed with ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika; 1 teaspoon English-Style Madras Curry Powder; 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, ground; 2 teaspoons Sambhar masala

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

660 Curries

By Raghavan Iyer

Published 2008

About

What gumbo is to a New Orleanean (if that’s not a word, it should be), dhansaak, which means “grains and vegetables,” is to a Parsi. There are dhansaaks with chicken, with mutton, or sometimes with fish—just ask Mrs. Medora, the mother of my friend and webmaster, Zubin. And yes, there is a version for vegetarians too.

This hearty rendition seems a perfect fit for a chilly wintry day, combining juicy-sweet pumpkin, aromatic mint, and headstrong fenugree