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Dhansak Sauce

February 20, 2011 By Dan Toombs 6 Comments

Make this dhansak curry sauce recipe and add the main ingredient of choice

If you are looking for an amazing dhansak curry sauce recipe, you’ve come to the right place! I have made this British Indian restaurant (BIR) classic many time. Make it and your dhansak curries will be just like those you find at the best curry houses.

dhansak sauce

You can add the main ingredient/s of your choice to this dhansak sauce.

The history of the dhansak curry.

Dhansak is a Parsi Dish. The Parsi people have lived in India for about 1300 years after migrating from Iran. Parsi cuisine is a mix of Gujarati vegetarian food and non-vegetarian Iranian food.

 

In India, dhansaks are special curries, usually cooked for special events like weddings. Although they are often vegetarian, they are usually made with mutton and two or three vegetables and served with brown rice. A selection of popular lentils are also added.

Dhansaks – British Indian restaurant BIR style

The curry house version of a dhansak is a lot simpler to make and contains fewer ingredients too.

Many chefs add pineapple to their dhansak curries to give it a sweeter flavour.

Not all chefs do though so you will have to decide whether or not to add the pineapple in this recipe.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of pineapple but it does work well in this dhansak curry sauce recipe.

At curry houses, the chefs usually only add one time of cooked lentils. These are usually the red split lentils but feel free to try others. 

Using a base curry sauce.

Curry house style dhansak curry sauce calls for a prepared base curry sauce. My ‘go to’ recipe is right here. 

Planning ahead

If you are planning a curry feast or just want to make serving your dhansak easier, you can make this recipe a day or two ahead of serving. 

In fact, the sauce will get better as the flavours develop!

 

If you love this Dansak curry sauce recipe you might like to try some of these.

Tikka masala sauce
Korma sauce
Pasanda sauce
Chasni sauce
Chilli garlic sauce
Ceylon sauce
Pathia sauce
Jalfrezi sauce
Keema sauce
Bhuna sauce
Methi sauce
Madras sauce
Vindaloo sauce
Phaal sauce

Yield: 1 - 2

How To Make An Authentic Indian Chicken Dhansak

dhansak sauce
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 2 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tbsp mixed powder
  • 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 70ml (1/4 cup) tomato puree
  • 250ml (1 cup) base sauce
  • 90g (1/2 cup) cooked red lentils
  • 60ml (scant 1/4 cup) pineapple juice 
  • 3 tinned pineapple rings - cut into cubes (optional)
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) finely chopped
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for about 30 seconds to cook off the rawness.
  2. Stir in the turmeric, mixed powder and chilli powder and stir the spices into the garlicky oil.
  3. Now add the tomato puree and bring it to a simmer. Then add about half of the base sauce and bring this to a simmer too. Only stir the sauce if it looks like it is sticking to the pan.
  4. Add the remaining base sauce and the pineapple juice. If you don't like pineapple juice, you could add some stock or a little more base sauce.
  5. Now is a good time to add your main ingredient of choice. This could be chicken lamb, prawns, whatever you like. If you are just making the sauce for use later, you don't have to add any main ingredient.
  6. Stir in the lentils. Be careful not to burn them. If your curry sauce is looking dry, you could add more base sauce.
  7. To finish, stir in the pineapples chunks (if using) and garnish with fresh coriander (cilantro). Taste and season with salt to taste.

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: Indian / Category: Main

 

I hope you enjoy this dhansak curry sauce recipe. If you do try it, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. 

 

Filed Under: BIR Curry Sauce Recipes Tagged With: Chicken curry, Chicken dhansak, Dhansak recipes, Indian food

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Comments

  1. Jos Hens says

    August 29, 2020 at 6:39 pm

    Thanks Dan,

    made this tonight with mixed vegetables ( onion, bel pepper, chickpeas), that I baked in advance,
    any spicing you’ d recommend?

    where does the lemon juice come in?

    thansk for sharing all these great recipes!!

    Best regards from the Netherlands

    Jos

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      August 30, 2020 at 6:36 pm

      Hi
      Just add a little lemon juice to taste at the end.
      Thanks
      Dan

      Reply
  2. David Fine says

    January 15, 2021 at 6:49 pm

    Really enjoy your recipes and your book, The Curry Guy. I love a traditional dhansak as enjoyed while I lived in London for many years, but I’m surprised this recipe does not include what I understand is some of the staple ingredients to give it that sweet, spicy tang; Tamarind, vinegar and sugar. Maybe the pineapple juice does the trick, but I would be surprised you don’t need any sugar. Wonder what your thoughts are on those ingredients. Oddly, here in Vancouver, I have not found a single restaurant that does a dhansak, so making my own is the only way. Cheers!

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      January 18, 2021 at 1:48 pm

      Feel free to add sugar if you like it sweeter, I don’t like it sweet but that is up to you. You can also add a teaspoon of tamarind if you like that flavour.
      Thanks
      Dan

      Reply
      • David Fine says

        January 20, 2021 at 1:50 am

        Thank you. How important is Kashmiri chilli powder. I can’t find it in Vancouver. And what do you think of aluminium cooking pans. I don’t use any, but I see them used in restaurants, so wonder why they are better than non-stick or stainless steel.

        Reply
        • Dan Toombs says

          January 20, 2021 at 11:22 am

          Just use whatever chilli powder you can get hold of. Kashmiri is a mild one so just add to taste.
          aluminium pans are good for allowing caramelisation of the curries and you scrape the sauce as it caramelises on to side into the curries. You can use non stick or stainless steal but is harder to get the caramelisation.
          Thanks
          Dan

          Reply

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