Vegetarian “Dhansak”

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I love curry and make it loads, and loads. It is easily my favourite food and luckily it is my mum’s as well so I always have a willing audience for my curry. Usually when I make curry I use cookbooks, mainly to give me the correct spice balance, which can be very tricky.

When I go to an Indian restaurant I love to have Dhansak, I love the combination of flavours and the lentils and look around the internet for a recipe. I couldn’t find one that really grabbed me and I like the look of more than one so decided to combine them and see what happened.

I have to say I like my curry hot and the flavour of this one was lovely but I have to warn you it is not like a Dhansak you get in a restaurant, maybe the lentils could have been mushed up a bit more to give a different consistency and to do that I would have needed to cook it in a different way. If you check out the notes for the recipe I will give you some information on how to get your lentils a bit more mushy.

The flavours of hot, sweet and sour are definitely here in this recipe, the only problem I found with it was I just could not stop eating it! I always make big batches of curry as it can always be frozen, or even better lunch the next day.

Vegetarian Dhansak

Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 40mins, Cook Time: 60-90mins, Total Time: 100-130minutes
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

70g / 1/2 cup each of Chana Dahl, Urid Dahl, Moong Dahl, Red Split Lentils
Half a medium butternut squash, peeled and chopped
2 large portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 large tomatos, pureed
1 large onion, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, pureed *
20g/2in Ginger, pureed *
10 Black Peppercorns
8 Cloves
2.5cm/1in piece Cinnamon Stick
2.5cm/1in piece mace
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
2 large Bay Leaves
1 Star Anise
3 Dried Red Chillies
1 tbs Cumin Seeds
1tbs Coriander Seeds
1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1 tsp Seasame Seeds
1 tsp Tumeric
1/4 tsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Mango Powder
1 tbs Tamarind Sauce *
1 large punch of Coriander Leaves, chopped
1/2 large bunch Mint, chopped
50g/ 1 handful Pineapple, diced and then finely sliced
1l/4 cups Vegetable Stock
1 tbs Olive Oil (medium or mild)

Instructions

1. Thoroughly wash the lentils then put them in a large saucepan with the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.

2. While the lentils are boiling, heat all of the whole spice in a pan (it must not be non-stick). Once the spices start to release their aroma remove from the heat and allow to cool. 

3. When the spices are cool use a mortar and pestle or a mini blender to grind the spices to a fine powder. Add the ground spices to this mix and set aside

4. When the lentils have come to the boil, remove and scum from the top and add in the butternut squash, mushrooms (and/or any other veg you want to add) and all of the ground and powdered spices. 

5. Cover and allow to simmer.

6. While the curry is simmering, heat the oil in a non-stick pan and add the onion, fry until the onion softens and starts to brown on the edges.

7. Add the ginger and garlic to the onions and cook until the garlic begins to smell cooked, about 2 minutes.

8. Add the tomato to the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer until the tomato has cooked down and you have a think mixture.

9. Once the vegetables in your curry are soft add the tomato mixture and stir well, season to taste.
Allow your curry to simmer until all the flavours are combined and well established.

10. About 5 minutes before serving stir in the tamarind sauce, pineapple and fresh herb, then remove from the heat and allow it to rest.

11. Serve with brown basmati rice

Notes

1. To puree your garlic and ginger, place them in a mini blender with a small amount of water and blend until you get a paste.

2. For the Tamarind Sauce I get a solid block of tamarind and then put about a tbs in a small pot with 2 tbs of hot water and mix. Allow this to rest for around 30 minutes and then pass the mixture through a sieve.

3. If you want the lentils to be less defined then cook the lentils completely before adding the veggies and spices, then you can use a masher or the back of a fork to mash the lentils slightly, don’t completely puree it. Then you will need to add the veggies and spices and cook up. This will probably add an extra hour to your cooking time though.

4. If you can get fresh fenugreek leaves then add them with the coriander and mint, otherwise cook the dried fenugreek leaves with the whole spices and blend.

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