Chicken dhansak is a delicious, mildly spiced curry with lentils.
There is a bit of a debate in the UK about how a chicken dhansak should be cooked.
Some insist that it have pineapple chunks in it. Others, of which I am one, prefer to leave the pineapple out.
That said, I developed this chicken dhansak recipe the way it is most often served, with pineapple.
Hey, you’re making this curry so don’t feel like you have to add pineapple just because the recipe tells you too! If you don’t want pineapple in you chicken dhansak, then leave it out.
Chicken dhansak is even amazing paired with a good beer or two.
What exactly is a dhansak curry?
The chicken dhansak you get when you order at your local curry house is nothing like what you would get in India.
BIR (British Indian restaurant) chicken dhansak is a play on curry that was made popular by the Parsi community around Mumbai.
There, it is usually made with goat meat or mutton and it’s a real party piece.
Traditionally, it is served with brown rice and also has vegetables like pumpkin, aubergine (eggplant) and potato added to the sauce as well. Often, many different varieties of lentil are used to make the sauce along with a long list of spices.
Our curry house style dhansak is a lot less complicated, though it is a sweet and sour curry like the original. Cooked red split lentils are added to the sauce, with lemon juice as a souring agent and pineapple juice and pineapple (sometimes) added for sweetness.
Working ahead.
This chicken dhansak recipe represents the best of curry house style cooking.
In order to get it right, you will need to make a base curry sauce and also pre-cook your chicken. Pre-cooking the chicken not only speeds up the cooking process, it also adds another layer of flavour.
Curry Sauce
Each of the authentic British Indian restaurant (BIR) recipes on my blog require a base curry sauce. There is a link to the recipe in the recipe below. Once this is made, you can make many different curry house style curries in about ten minutes.
Pre-cooked chicken
I pre-cook chicken in two ways. Most Indian restaurants use this method to prepare their chicken for this curry. In this recipe, the chicken pieces are slow cooked in a spiced broth. You could add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking juices to your curry for extra flavour.
You could also add tandoori style chicken tikka to this recipe if you’d like to create tandoori Chicken Dhansak.
Substitutes for chicken…
This chicken dhansak can be made with other ingredients too.
Just like when you go out for a curry and see dhansak on the menu, you can choose what goes into the sauce.
King prawns, lamb, keema, paneer are all good substitutes.
Following are step by step photos of me cooking chicken dhansak…
Always prepare your ingredients before starting. This saves time and it also makes the cooking process easier.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat and stir in the garlic and ginger paste and turmeric. Fry for 30 seconds.
Add the spices and stir. Then add the tomato puree, stirring again to combine.
Add the lentils and a ladle of the base sauce. Top up the sauce as needed.
Stir in the pre-cooked chicken.
Bring to a simmer and add more base sauce if looking dry. If too saucy, cook it down.
Stir in the pineapple juice, pineapple pieces (if using) and lemon juice. Season with salt to taste and garnish with the chopped coriander (cilantro).
Here are some more curry house favourites you might like to try!
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken Korma
Chicken Madras
Lamb Rogan Josh
Lamb Vindaloo
Chicken Chilli Garlic
Chicken Patia
Lamb Bhuna
Delicious served with Basmati rice.
Dig in!
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. This data was put together using a program. It may not be correct but is a good guide. How To Make Chicken Dhansak
Ingredients
Instructions
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 728Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 705mgCarbohydrates: 88gFiber: 17gSugar: 48gProtein: 23g
This is my favorite curry and this recipe was great. I’ve never made it before, in fear of it not being as good as it is in restaurants, but it was!! All my friends loved it too.
Great to hear that it worked out for you. I make this all the time and love it too.
Made this for the first time this evening and I was very pleased with the results and just how fast it was to make.
My local takeaway produces a Dhansak that has a distinct fruity taste but no fruit pieces so I was interested to see the mention of pineapple juice in your recipe.
The taste and texture of your recipe is almost identical to my local which is what I wanted but its clearly not pineapple juice they are using. I suspect they are using orange juice so I will give that a try next.
Thanks for your hard work.
Hi Ken
I’ve found that a lot of the better restaurants mix in papaya pulp or juice. This works really well. I’ve never tried orange juice with a dhansak so I look forward to hearing what you think.
Cheers.
Dan
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Regards, Adrian
I moved to CANADA 3 tears ago and miss my favourite Chicken Dansak. Will try this but my cooking skills are very limited hope my BIR curry sauce is as good as hours to complete the Dansak…
Just let me know if you have any recipe questions Noel. Good luck. 🙂
Dan
I have been looking for a recipe for this for ages and am keen to try it, I have been cooking curry fir a long time but have never come across curry gravy?!
Hi Lauren
It’s often called a curry sauce or base sauce. Base sauces aren’t used in authentic Indian cookery so if you purchased an Indian cookbook, you wouldn’t have seen it. This recipe is for British Indian restaurant style food. The recipe is very close to what you’ll find at a curry house.
Hope you get a chance to try it.
Dan
Will try this. Just curious about the pineapple juice though, is this the type of pineapple juice that you would use as a drink mixer, or the juice from a tin of pineapple rings? Two different things or does it matter?
Thanks
Hi Dave
Use fresh pineapple juice. The juice in the tin of pineapple rings will do the job just fine. 🙂
Dan
Could you clarify something for me please? Is it one cup of cooked lentils or one cup of raw lentils, cooked? One cup of raw lentils once cooked, seems an awful lot.
Love the BIR recipes, by the way. Garlic chilli chicken is a favourite!
Hi Adam
I better have a look at my wording. It is a cup full of pre-cooked lentils. As with more curry house food, the food is almost always pre-cooked and then assembled again when ordered.
Dan
A few tablespoons of lemon juice and some sugar achieves that sweet and sour flavour of a good Dhansak.
I have seen Dhansak described as Sweet, Sour and Hot.
I made this recipe and followed it exactly but it seemed to be lacking sweet and sour. It was plenty hot with the 1 TBSP of Chili Powder.
I did add more pineapple juice but the heat still over powered the dish.
Do you have any advice how to add more sweetness? And should it have a bit of sour?
Thanks for this great website.
Hi Ryan
If you want the curry to be sweeter, add more pineapple juice. That will work fine. For the sour, add lemon juice or even a little citric acid or tamarind.
Hope this helps.
Dan
Hi You say 3 cardaman pods how many seeds is that can’t get whole pods in Cyprus.
is there a substitute for fenugreek in sauce
Hi Julian
1/2 teaspoon should be fine. Good luck.
Dan
Hi dan , just a quick query if you use the chicken from the ” pre cooked method ” do you use the WHOLE of the broth as well and combine that into the. Base sauce or just the chicken from the broth ? and would you blend that broth mixture as you do with the base sauce cheers terry
Hi Terry
I usually add just a little bit of the broth for flavour. There is no need to blend it. Perhaps a tablespoon or two of the broth. Hope this helps. I’m updating this recipe soon with step by step photographs.
Dan
Making this tomorrow. Just finished my base sauce. Dhansak is by far my favourite curry and can’t wait to eat this.
Great to hear Harvey. I’m just about update this recipe. Hope you enjoyed this version.
Thanks
Dan
I’ve done the base sauce but would prefer to cook chicken in smaller batches. Is there an alternative method without making a broth ?
Hi Lloyd
You could actually just add the chicken raw if you want. The pre-cooked method gives a little more flavour but that isn’t really important as there are so many nice ingredients in the sauce. You could also use leftovers from a chicken roast or simply fry up some chicken before adding. Hope this helps.
Thanks
Dan
Wow! Used the basic curry sauce, and this recipe, to make one of the best curries I have ever cooked. As close to a curry house dish as I have managed to create in 25 years of trying. I varied it slightly by using raw chicken thigh fillets which I fried up with the garlic/ginger paste and turmeric at the start.
Thank Mark. I’m really glad you liked the recipe. It’s great to have this kind of feedback. 🙂
Dan
Hey Dan,
I am a first timer, I actually hate cooking, but found your recipes quite interesting, might try to cook 1 of these days, howerve in your chicken dhansak recipe you mentioned Check for seasoning, kindly do forward the recipe for the same, I have no clue what it means, thnx
Hi Carol
Thanks for stopping by. All that means is try it. If you think it needs a little more salt, chilli powder etc, add it at that stage. Hopefully you will not need to add anything.
Thanks
Dan
Love curry, when I ask people to the house for dinner, I am always being asked to make curry! I make two or three so they can try different flavours, now will try even more with you on tap to guide me. Many thanks
Great Stephanie. Thanks for stopping by and happy cooking.
Dan
what is base curry sauce? and how do I make it please?
Hi Arron
Looks like there is a problem with the link on the page. I’ll have to look into that. Here is the link to the sauce. https://www.greatcurryrecipes.net/2013/12/31/make-indian-restaurant-style-curry-sauce-large-batch/
Thanks
Dan
I’ve noticed that this recipe is slightly different to the one in your book I downloaded from amazon. Which one would you say is better.
Hi Gavin
They are only slightly different. I tend to change my recipes often. I wouldn’t say that this one is any better than that in the book. 🙂
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan
I’m about to make a chicken Dhansak for the first time after reading lots of good reviews about your curry recipes and the curry base, on looking through the ingredients it mentions 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves but when reading through the steps on cooking the spices it doesn’t say when to add the fenugreek leaves, could you lease advise.
Regards
Davey
Thanks for noticing Davey. Just add them at the end. I’ll have to fix that.
Cheers
Dan
Dan
Thanks for the recipes – we cook often and eat a lot of asian food. Indian and Bangladeshi recipes never turn out as expected, still delicious, but different. Your base curry sauce really helps.
The dhansak was brilliant – exactly like a takeaway one, which is EXACTLY what we wanted.
Paul
Thanks Paul
Great to hear you liked the recipe!
Dan
Hi Dan,
I use my dad’s curry base and follow your other added ingredients to make your curries. I love this technique as it allows me to use mixture of my dad’s (who sadly passed away) recipe and help from you to make all these delicious curries.
Thanks
Pete
Hi Peter
Really glad you like the recipes. Sorry to hear about your dad. It sounds like a good way of remembering him.
Dan
Dan can you please tell me how many garlic I should use to make the 9 tablespoons of paste . Also the size of ginger please?
Hi Saf
It’s about 100g or each. Hope this helps.
Dan
Hi, the recipe calls for 1 and a half tablespoons of cumin and coriander powder, is that three quarters of a tbs for each one or one and a half of each?
Hi Sally
It is really to taste but I always do a 50/50 mix.
Dan
Hi,the curry tastes lovely ,but the colour was wrong ,it was quite a pale more like a korma look
Hi Liz
Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you liked the recipe. As for the colour, it is probably down to me using more chilli powder or tomato paste than the recipe calls for. I’m really not sure but I rarely use exact measures. The measures in the recipe are there as a guide. I like my curries quite spicy so it is probably down to the chilli powder I used. If you like a redder colour but not hot spice, try a sweet paprika.
Cheers,
Dan
i am working bengali curry house ,
up northern england the dansak recipie for us is of more creamy consistancy .
you recipe is near but we make a spiced lentil pulp by slow cook lentil in water and spices then allow to dry putting in fridge
then making dansak similar to korma but adding pinapple must be from tin 1 ring
also add lemon and yes uht cream at the end after cooking high with gravy
less lemon used up north
further south they prefer more sour
the samba curry very similar
Hi Abdul
Where are you? I live in North Yorkshire. I would love to stop by and watch you cook and perhaps learn a few recipes. What is the name of your restaurant?
Cheers,
Dan
Hi Dan,
The Dhansak is my favourite curry. And I have been trying to master it for a few years now. I don’t use a base sauce(yet) and recently have been experimenting with a slow cooker. I’m finding my sauce to be on the thin side however. Any tips for thickening without compromising flavour? Instead of pineapple I use mango chutney which helps thicken a little but not enough. Maybe the base sauce is the way forward!!
Darren
Hi Darren
The base sauce is definitely the way forward. It is thin like water but it thickens up when cooked in the curry quickly because of all the other ingredients. Give it a try. That’s how it’s done at the curry houses. 🙂
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan.
I’m deciding between and chicken and lamb dhansak to cook this weekend. I read both your recipes and they are quite different. The lamb dhansak is much simaplerr and doesn’t have the garlic/ginger paste. Can you elaborate on the differences ?
Btw I have the app and o am loving the recipes. Dopiaza and especially the Madras are stand outs for me. !
Andy
Hi Andrew
Thanks for stopping by. I always say, adjust the recipes to your own personal taste and tweak them if you need to. Hope you enjoy those other recipes.
Thanks,
Dan
Just about to have my first try with your recipes! When you use paprika, is it sweet or smoked?
Thanks.
Hi Steve
For this one I usually use sweet paprika but there’s no reason you couldn’t use smoked. If it sounds good, do it.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi
Great recipe,
So first of all thanks for sharing!
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it already but for extra flavour I saved the chicken poaching liquor to cook the lentils in.
I won’t be spending out for take away any more as this is absolutely delicious!
Thanks
Dan
Great to hear Dan. Good idea too. Lots of great flavour in the stock.
Cheers,
Dan
Hi,
Is the 700ml of base curry sauce you use in this recipe the thick version before you water it down or is it 700ml of watered down sauce? Also is this recipe for 4 people
Hi Darren
You always cook with the watered down sauce. This recipe should serve 4 or more as part of a multi-course meal.
Thanks,
Dan
do you think this could be slow cooked?
Hi Rebecca – That should work fine. It will taste different as these curries should be cooked over medium high to high heat for optimum flavour but I think it would still be good. To be honest, I’ve never done it so please let me know if you do. 🙂
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan,
We moved to Australia 11 years ago and until we found your recipes we were starved of a good curry. So thanks a lot.
For the Chicken Dhansak please can you confirm that it’s 1 Tablespoon of chilli power and not 1 teaspoon like most of your other recipes?
Also, I’ve had to resort to scouring the internet for your recipes as my 2 attempts to purchase your book have failed. Amazon UK refused to deliver to Australia and Amazon Australia took my order and then gave up 3 months later when they couldn’t get a copy of your book. More than willing to pay for your excellent research and more recipes and if you have any ideas please let us know?
Cheers Alex.
Hi
It is 1 tablespoon of chilli in the Dhansak but please do put less in you feel this is too much.
Books Depository in Australia carry all my books online I think so I hope you can find them there.
Thanks very much.
Dan
Hello, I’m new to your site so I apologise if you have answered this many times before. When you say 700ml of base sauce is that 350ml plus stock or water to thin it or 750ml of the thick sauce which I have frozen? Thank you,
Hi
The 700 ml is 350 ml of base stock plus the 350 ml of water so 700 ml of liquid in total.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan. Love all your recipes I’ve tried so far over 2 years and only just found out the base sauce is watered down for the Dhansak etc! Have been using 700 neat base sauce which is delicious but a bit wasteful of the base sauce making effort! Can I check please if 250 ml lentils is the same as 250g, or should I use a measuring jug for them?
Hi – I am really glad you are enjoying my recipes. I would say that 250 ml is about the same as 250 g of lentils but feel free to adjust how much you put in toy our own prefereance.
Thanks
Dan
Hi. I have already made this once and it was the best curry I have ever made. In the recipe it says 1.5 Tbsp of cumin and coriander powder. Is this 1.5 Tbsp of each or .75 Tbso of each ?
It 1.5 tbsp combined.
Thanks for checking.
Dan