Indian dish
Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, herb ...
, originating among the
Parsi
Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
Gujarati cuisine
Gujarati cuisine is the cuisine of the Indian state of Gujarat.
The typical '' Gujarati thali'' consists of '' rotli'', '' dal'' or ''curry'', rice, and ''shaak'' (a dish made up of several different combinations of vegetables and spices, which m ...
. Dhansak is made by cooking
mutton
Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...
or
goat meat
Goat meat or goat's meat is the meat of the domestic goat ''(Capra aegagrus hircus)''. The common name for goat meat is simply "goat", while that from young goats can be called ''capretto'' (It.), ''cabrito'' (Sp. and Por.) or ''kid''. In South ...
with a mixture of lentils and vegetables. This is served with caramelised white rice, which is rice cooked in water, whole spices, and caramelized onions. The dal cooked with mutton and vegetables served with brown rice, altogether is called dhansak.
The technique of extending a relatively expensive ingredient (meat) by combining it with vegetables and/or lentils in the same recipe is widely employed in Persian cooking. ("Dhan" is Gujarati cereal dish mentioned in
Kanhadade Prabandha
''Kānhaḍade Prabandha'' is a book by Indian poet Padmanābha written in 1455, in a western Apabhramsha dialect. The book tells the story of Raval Kanhadade (Kanhadadeva), the Chahamana ruler of Jalore.
Textual history
Padmanabha wrote ' ...
in 1455 AD; "Sak" (derived from Gujarati "shaak" meaning vegetable greens or cooked vegetables.) The Gujarati element of the recipe is the liberal use of a variety of Indian spices and condiments, in contrast to the more mellow Iranian recipes.
In Parsi homes, dhansak is traditionally made on Sundays owing to the long preparation time required to cook the lentils and vegetables into a mush (in the days before pressure cooking was employed).
Dhansak is also always had on the fourth day after the death of a near one. There is no meat consumed for three days after the death and dhansak is used to break this abstinence on the fourth day. Hence, Dhansak is never prepared on auspicious occasions like festivals and weddings.
Ingredients
Dhansak is made by cooking mutton cubes with a mixture of various lentils and vegetables. Traditionally, four lentils ( arhar dal, Bengal gram or chana dal, red masoor dal and brown masoor dal) are used, but one or more of the lentils may be omitted or substituted. The vegetables include
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...
,
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
,
brinjal
Eggplant ( US, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world' ...
,
pumpkin
A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
and fenugreek leaves: again, substitutions, such as squash for pumpkin, and sweet potato for potato, may be employed: it depends on what vegetables are conveniently at hand. After prolonged cooking in the traditional recipe (or the use of a pressure cooker), the vegetables are more or less homogenised with the lentils, which are also broken down, so that the result is a thick stew rather than a curry.
The recipe has evolved over time. The Parsees, who are adherents of Zoroastrianism, came to Western India as religious refugees in the 8th century CE, after the Arab conquest of Persia and the fall of the
Sassanid Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
in 651 C. They brought with them the tradition of cooking meat with lentils and/or vegetables. However, tomatoes, chilies, pumpkin and potatoes are native to the Americas and were unknown in India until some time after the Portuguese (who in turn got them through trade with Spain) brought them to India in the 16th century CE.
The dhansak is flavoured with a spice mixture called "dhansak masala", which is similar to "garam masala" except that the spices chosen are more aromatic and sweet rather than pungent.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakf ...
,
cardamom
Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera '' Elettaria'' and '' Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They ar ...
,
cloves
Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or Aroma compound, fragrance in fi ...
,
nutmeg
Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...
, dried
ginger
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...
Onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...
and
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...
are browned to serve as the stew's base, and coriander leaves, green chilli and
mint leaves
''Mentha'' (also known as mint, from Greek , Linear B ''mi-ta'') is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae (mint family). The exact distinction between species is unclear; it is estimated that 13 to 24 species exist. Hybridization occurs nat ...
are employed as garnish. While "dhansak masala" is sold as a ready-made mixture, the individual cook may make the spice mixture from scratch, altering the combination and proportion of spices based on personal preference. Within the Parsi community, dhansak usually contains
goat meat
Goat meat or goat's meat is the meat of the domestic goat ''(Capra aegagrus hircus)''. The common name for goat meat is simply "goat", while that from young goats can be called ''capretto'' (It.), ''cabrito'' (Sp. and Por.) or ''kid''. In South ...
or mutton; it is rarely made with other meats, such as chicken, or without meat.
International recipe variants for the dhansak sometimes call for pineapple chunks to provide a sweet flavour, but traditional Indian recipes prefer the use of pumpkin, squash or gourd.
See also
*
List of lamb dishes
This is a list of lamb and mutton dishes and foods. Lamb and mutton are terms for the meat of domestic sheep (species '' Ovis aries'') at different ages. A sheep in its first year is called a lamb, and its meat is also called lamb. The meat of a ...
*
List of goat dishes
This is a list of notable goat dishes, which use goat meat as a primary ingredient. Goat meat is the meat of the domestic goat ''(Capra aegagrus hircus)''. It is often called chevon or mutton when the meat comes from adults, and cabrito, capretto ...
*
Parsi cuisine
Parsi cuisine refers to the traditional cuisine of the Parsis of India and Pakistan.
Primary meals
The basic feature of a Parsi lunch is rice, eaten with lentils or a curry. Curry is made with coconut and ''ras'' without, with curry usually be ...
*
Indian cuisine
Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, her ...