🇮🇳 Indian Cuisine

Dhansak

Parsi Lentil and Meat Curry

Prep Time 90 minutes
Servings 6
Difficulty hard
Calories 400 kcal

A signature Parsi dish combining lentils, vegetables, and meat in a complex sweet-sour-spicy gravy. Traditionally a Sunday lunch staple in Parsi households, served with caramelized brown rice.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1 Cook all lentils with vegetables (pumpkin, eggplant, fenugreek) until very soft. Blend into a thick puree.
  2. 2 In a separate pan, brown the meat with onions and ginger-garlic paste.
  3. 3 Add dhansak masala, tomatoes, and cook until meat is tender.
  4. 4 Combine the lentil-vegetable puree with the meat. Add tamarind and jaggery for sweet-sour balance.
  5. 5 Simmer together for 20 minutes. Serve with caramelized brown rice (brown rice cooked with fried onions and sugar).

Did You Know?

Dhansak is considered the national dish of the Parsi community. It is traditionally only eaten on Sundays, and making it on other days is said to bring bad luck.