Dhansak is a hearty, healthy and delicious vegetable and lentil preparation. It is a traditional Parsi lentil dish. This Dhansak recipe also features the Dhansak masala that gives this preparation that extra punch.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 5
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Parsi

Ingredients

  • 1 cup tuvar dal ((arhar dal, tur dal or pigeon pea lentils))
  • ¼ cup moong dal ((hulled and split green gram lentils))
  • ¼ cup masoor dal ((hulled and split pink lentils))
  • 4 to 5 tomatoes ((medium-sized), chopped)
  • 2 potatoes ((medium-sized), chopped)
  • 2 to 3 eggplant ((medium-sized), baingan)
  • 1 cup pumpkin ((peeled and chopped))
  • 1 cup bottlegourd ((peeled and chopped))
  • 4 tablespoons fenugreek leaves ((fresh) or 1 tablespoon dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi))
  • 4 cups water
  • salt (to taste)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons ghee
  • 1 onion ((medium to large), chopped or ½ cup, chopped)
  • ½ tablespoon tamarind
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons water (- hot or warm)
  • 12 garlic cloves ((small to medium-sized))
  • 1 inch ginger (- peeled and roughly chopped)
  • 1.5 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 2 inches cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 1 to 2 dry red chilies ((seeds and stem removed) or ½ tablespoon red chili powder)
  • 8 to 9 cloves
  • 2 green chilies
  • water (as needed, to grind the masala ingredients)

Method

Preparing the lentils and veggies

  1. Pick and rinse the lentils first a few times in water.
  2. Mix all the chopped veggies, tomatoes and lentils together in a 4 to 5 litre stovetop pressure cooker.
  3. Add 4 cups water and pressure cook the lentils and veggies till they are tender and completely cooked.
  4. When the pressure falls naturally in the cooker, then only open the lid. Let this mixture become warm or cool.
  5. Then blend until fine using hand-held blender or in a high-speed blender or grinder.
  6. You could also strain the lentils and veggie mixture through a strainer and mash as you pass them through the strainer.

Making the tamarind pulp

  1. Take about ½ tablespoon of tamarind and soak it in 1 to 2 tablespoons of warm to hot water for 20 to 30 minutes.
  2. When the tamarind becomes soft, your pulp is almost ready. Squeeze the tamarind with your palm and extract the juices in the same bowl.

Preparing the dhansak masala

  1. Meanwhile when the veggies and lentils mixture is cooling, grind all the ingredients listed above, under the heading "For the dhansak masala" with some water to a fine and smooth paste.
  2. Keep the dhansak masala paste aside.

Making Dhansak

  1. Heat ghee in a pan or pot.
  2. Add chopped onions and sauté them till they soften.
  3. Add the ground dhansak masala paste and sauté it for 3 to 4 minutes or until the oil separates on low to medium-low heat.
  4. Now add the mashed lentils and veggie mixture.
  5. Simmer for a 5 to 6 minutes and then add the tamarind pulp.
  6. For a slightly thinner consistency, you can add some hot water.
  7. Simmer for some 5 minutes or more till the raw aroma and taste of the tamarind goes away.
  8. Serve the Veg Dhansak hot with brown rice or steamed basmati rice or even with veg pulao, jeera rice or ghee rice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.