Chicken Dhansak

Name: Chicken Dhansak
Yield: Serves 6-8
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 tsp red chilli powder; ½ tsp star anise; 1½ tsp garam masala; 1 lime juiced; 200 g (7 oz) toor dal; 1 tbsp urad dal; 2 large onions chopped; 50 g (2 oz) tamarind paste; 600 ml (1 pint) chicken stock made with the bones, neck, giblet and trimmings, or water; 1.25 kg (2 lb 12 oz) chicken cut into 6-8 pieces; 1 tbsp masoor dal; 1 tbsp moong dal; good cupful of coriander leaves chopped; 6 garlic cloves crushed; 2-3 sprigs fresh mint (approx. 20 leaves); ½ tsp turmeric; 200 g (7 oz) red pumpkin or butternut squash roughly diced into 1 cm (½ inch) cubes; 5 cm (2 inch) piece fresh ginger finely grated; 150 g (5½ oz) aubergine roughly diced into 1 cm (½ inch) cubes; 3 tsp ground coriander; 2 tsp red chilli powder; 3 tomatoes chopped; 2 green chillies chopped; salt; 100 ml (3½ fl oz) oil; 2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasturi methi); 1 tsp ground cumin; ¼ tsp ground nutmeg; ¾ tsp ground fenugreek; ½ tsp ground black mustard

Preparation info

Serves
6-8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Rice, Spice and All Things Nice

By Reza Mahammad

Published 2006

About

This is a typical Parsee dish, dhan meaning rice and sak meaning vegetables. (As you may already know, the Parsees fled to India from Persia to avoid religious persecution and settled mainly in Gujarat and Maharashtra.) It was a very popular dish at the Star of India during the 1950s and ‘60s, when it was served with pillau rice, though I recommend the more authentic Chilgoza Rice as the perfect accompaniment.

There’s a long list of i

Ingredients

Asia
Iran
India
Maharashtra
Main course
Gluten-free
Gujarat

Ingredients

Method