Dhansak

Here is a Parsi dish called dhansak which is a very healthy & tasty curry tht goes well with rotis as well as rice...

Dhansak is traditionally prepared using mutton... chicken also can be used...The dhals should be cooked a bit more(actually I cook it until all dhals except channa is mashed up...only the channa dhal will be intact... ) than that shown in the picture.

It's served with parsi brown rice...it's nothing but rice cooked in caramel water which lends the rice a nice brown color & a slight sweet taste...

Dhansak

1. cook 1/2 cup thuvar dhal+ 1/4 cup yellow moong + 1/4 cup channa dhal + 1/4 kg yellow pumpkin cut into big pieces + asafoetida+turmeric pwd for 3-4 whistles...

2. Grind 7 red chillies,1 tsp pepper, 1" cinnamon, 2 cardamom pods, 1 tsp each cumin & coriander seeds , 6-7 pods garlic & 1' ginger to a paste. In case u want to simplify the process, u can make a dry masala by grinding the dry masalas alone & gin-gar paste can be made when req. Increase the dry spice measures in that case.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Add 1 onion chopped & fry till brownish. Add in the ground paste & fry till raw smell diappears & the masala becomes flavourful... Add 2 chopped tomatoes & a small bunch of clean greens(u can use any one or a mix of these- mulai keerai, kaatu keerai, arai keerai, siru keerai, spinach , methi). If u r using methi, u neednt chop it. cook till the tomato breaksup & becomes mushy.

4. Add in the dhal mixture, salt & let it boil for 3-4 mins. Add water if req. The consistency of the dhal will be bit thick. Dosa batter consistency. Done.

Variation: u can use a mix of tomato & tamarind fr sourness or even tamarind alone. But i like mine with only tomatoes.

U can use masoor dhal or green moong or any of ur fav dhal tht'll cook within 3-4 whistles.

U can use any combination of vegs u like. brinjal,potato,carrot, raw mango etc can be used. But I ike the pumpkin dhansak...