What Is A Dhansak Curry?

vegetarian dhansak curry

What Is a Dhansak Curry?

A dhansak (dansak) curry is a hot curry that is made from dal (daal, dahl), vegetables and spices. Traditionally dhansak also contains lamb meat although nowadays any meat can be in a dhansak curry or a dhansak curry might be a vegetarian dish.

A common mix of vegetables is aubergines, tomatoes and spinach.

A dhansak is known as a hot, sweet and sour curry where heat comes from chillies, sweetness comes from sugar and sourness comes from lemon juice or lime juice. Some people add pineapple instead of sugar to provide the sweetness.

How to Make a Dhansak Curry

There are lots of recipes for dhansak curries but most recipes are based on the following steps.

1. Cook the dal (daal, dahl) – often there is more than one type of dal in a dhansak

2. Cook the spices

3. Brown/seal the meat (if using meat)

4. Put all of the ingredients in a large saucepan, including adding any vegetables and cook everything together

5. Add the sweet and sour ingredients and cook for a few minutes

6. Serve on rice

Where Does Dhansak Curry Come From?

The dhansak curry is a culinary dish that was introduced to India by Parsee (Parsi) refugees who settled in Gujarat sometime between 700AD and 950AD. Since then the Parsee population has drifted a little to the south and can now be found in Mumbai (Bombay).

The Parsee refugees came from Persia (now Iran) and brought their cooking style with them and this joined with Gujarat cuisine to create the dhansak.

Where to Find Dhansak Curry Recipes

There is a category for dhansak curry recipes on the Curry Focus website that has some easy dhansak curry recipes. More dhansak curry recipes will be added to this curry category when they are published on the website.

If you have a favourite biryani curry recipe then you can share it with us from the new dhansak curry recipe page or you can just email the recipe to us. We will format the recipe for you and publish it on the website.

Remember to give us your name so that we can publish your name with the recipe.

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