Lamb Dhansak

December 12, 2014

Dhansak is the Parsi Sunday dish. Lamb is simmered with three kinds of pulses and a handful of vegetables until everything can be blended into a thick, spiced sauce. The dish comes from the Zoroastrian Parsi community that settled in Gujarat after fleeing Persia, and today it is as associated with Mumbai as with Gujarat.

What makes dhansak dhansak is the combination of three pulses — red kidney beans, split peas, and mung beans — which are cooked tender with the meat and then blended together with aubergine, pumpkin, and potato. This gives a rich, almost creamy base without cream. The masala of fresh chillies, ginger, garlic, coriander, and mint is added afterwards together with a dry spice mix of dhana jeera and asafoetida, so the flavour is both fresh and deep.

Traditionally served with rice and crispy fried onion rings as a garnish.

Ingredients

Makes 6 servings

50 g red kidney beans
50 g split peas
50 g mung beans
750 g lean lamb, cut into 5 cm cubes
300 g aubergine, cubed
250 g pumpkin, peeled and cubed
125 g potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
75 g fresh spinach, rinsed
3 tbsp ghee (or vegetable oil)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp tomato purée
salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1 large onion, sliced into rings
oil, for frying
cooked basmati rice, to serve

Masala mix

3 fresh red chillies, deseeded, chopped
3 fresh green chillies, deseeded, chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2½ cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
25 g fresh coriander leaves
15 g fresh mint leaves
4 tbsp water

Dry spice mix

2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp asafoetida powder
2 tbsp dhana jeera powder
4 cardamom pods, crushed

Directions

Rinse the kidney beans, split peas, and mung beans. Soak in cold water overnight. Drain the next day.

Put the pulses and the lamb in a large pot. Cover with boiling water and add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and skim any foam that forms on the surface. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the aubergine, pumpkin, potatoes, roughly chopped onion, tomatoes, and spinach. Stir, cover again, and continue simmering for about 40 minutes until the pulses are completely tender and the lamb is soft.

Strain off the cooking liquid and reserve it. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Transfer the vegetables and pulses to a blender or food processor and blend to a smooth purée.

Blend all the masala ingredients to a smooth paste in a food processor. Set aside.

Heat the ghee or oil in a large sauté pan over low heat. Fry the thinly sliced onion for about 5 minutes until golden and soft.

Add the masala paste to the pan with the onion and fry gently for 3 minutes, stirring. Add the dry spice mix and fry for a further 3 minutes until the spices are fragrant.

Add the lamb and the vegetable purée to the pan along with the tomato purée. Stir in enough of the reserved cooking liquid to give a thick but pourable consistency. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes until the sauce has come together and the flavour has settled. Adjust the consistency with more cooking liquid or water if the dish becomes too dry.

While the dhansak finishes, heat a little oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the onion rings until dark brown and crispy, 8–10 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper.

Transfer the dhansak to a serving dish, garnish with the fried onion rings, and serve with basmati rice.

Notes

The overnight soaking is important — the pulses will not become tender enough in the allotted cooking time if they are dry.

Dhana jeera is a ready-made blend of toasted coriander and cumin seeds. If you cannot find it, make your own by toasting and grinding 2 parts coriander seeds to 1 part cumin seeds.

Asafoetida (hing) has a sharp smell of sulphur and onion in raw form, but mellows to a deep, umami-like flavour during frying. Do not use more than specified.

Dhansak tastes even better the next day. Cool quickly and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Can be frozen for up to 3 months.