Friday, July 10, 2009

Parsi Dhansak

@Gaurav : Hope you like the version I've already given you :). With the masala Ive given you , this should turn out even better ! lemme know how it goes and have fun cooking ... bon appetite

For the Dal:
1 Cup Oily Toor dal ( Or mix with 1/2 Cup Masoor dal & 1/2 cup oily toor )
1/2 Cup Green Toor ( Green split peas )
1/2 Cup Split pink masoor
1/2 Cup Pumpkin roughly chopped
10-15 mint leaves
Coriander & Lime to garnish
3-4 tbspn oil
1/4 tsp tumeric

For the spice blend: ( in case your not as fortunate as I to have the original parsi dhansak masala )
1 star anise
1 mace
5-6 dry red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 piece cinnamon
1 tsp grated nutmeg

For the meat and stock:
1 1/2 lb Lamb with bone
8 Cups water
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2-3 bay leaves
2-3 Cloves
7-8 Peppercorns
3-4 tbsp oil

Procedure
For the masala :
Dry roast all the masala for 3-4 minutes. Then grind to fine paste and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add the peppercorns , bay leaves & cloves and fry for a couple minutes. Add the onion and allow to cook until translucent. Add the lamb and the water and pressure cook for 15-20 minutes ( you may need to adjust the time to pressure cook the lamb in accordance with your taste ). Allow the pressure cooker to cool and strain the stock. Preserve both the meat and the stock.

Mix the dals in a separate bowl and wash. Now add the washed dals to the lamb stock. Add the pumpkin & mint leaves into the dal mixture and pressure cook for about 12-13 minutes. Allow the dal to cool. At this point you can either blend the mixture with a hand blender for a smoother soupy consistency or hand mash the mixture to a more coarser texture. Add the strained lamb mixture. In a separate sauce pan heat the oil and add 3 table spoons of the ground spice mix and the turmeric powder. Allow the mix to fry for 2-3 minutes and add then add it to the dal and lamb mixture. Add salt to taste and allow your dhansak to simmer ( on a low flame ) for 15 minutes. Garnish with coriander and lime.

Traditional parsi dhansak is had with brown rice ( brown from caramelized sugar ). To your normal rice (1 Cup ) prep do the following :

In a small sauce pan take 1 Tblspn of sugar & 1 tblspn of water and heat over a medium high flame. Once the sugar melts turn the flame down to low until the sugar turns light brown stirring constantly. Once it is light brown transfer it to your rice cooking vessel and add rice ( with water ) to it. In another sauce pan heat 2-3 tblspns oil and fry 3-4 peppercorns , 2 bay leaves , 1 piece cinnamon & 2-3 cloves. Add it to the rice mixture and cook the rice as you would normally ( Should turn out brown !).