Lamb Dhansak

Lamb Dhansak is my absolute favourite Indian dish. Not only is it tasty, creamy, and satisfying, but it is also quite light in comparison to other curries. The combination of earthy lentils and the rich spicy sauce is simply fantastic, so if you want to impress with a curry, then this is it! This particular recipe is mild-medium hot. There are 2 parts to this dish; the cury base, and the Dhansak itself.

 Ingredients for the curry base

• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1 onion
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 2 inch piece of fresh root ginger (the same volume as the garlic when chopped)
• 1 green chili
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• 5 tbsp tomato passata, or 1tbsp concentrated tomato purée paste diluted in 4 tbsp of water

Ingredients for the Dhansak

• 3 tbsp ghee 
• 200g dried red split lentils
• 250g cooked green lentils (1 large can)
• 500g lamb cubed (shoulder or neck - lean)
• 6 whole cloves
• 4 cardamon pods
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1½ tsp paprika

Serves 4 generous portions. Approximately 590 kcal per portion.

This dish is quite time consuming if you are starting from scratch but it is definitely worth it. So it is not for those in a hurry or wanting to take the express route! The difficulty is not high so it’s just a case of having quite a few steps to follow and being careful not to burn any of the spices.

Firstly, wash the red split lentils and place in a pan with enough water to cover over them by about 1 inch. Bring this to the boil and boil for 10 minutes, and then reduce the heat and cook gently for a further 20 minutes. Add more water if at any point it starts to look dry. Once they are cooked just leave to stand until ready to use.  

Heat the ghee (if you can’t find ghee then vegetable oil will do) in a pan on high, and add the finely chopped onions. Stir until they go transparent, careful not to burn them. This should only take a few minutes. Then add the finely chopped garlic, green chilli, and ginger and bring down the heat to low, again with care not to burn or brown them, and cook for about 10-15 minutes. 

While these are cooking you can prepare the meat and the spices for the Dhansak. I prefer my meat to be lean so I cut of as much fat off as I can and it should be cut to bite-size pieces. For the spices that will go directly into the Dhansak sauce you firstly need to grind the whole cloves in a mortar together with the seeds of the cardamon pods. These are very easy to cut open with a knife. Just empty the contents into the mortar and grind finely. While you are at it you can add the rest of the spices for the Dhansak sauce into the mortar so that you have them at hand to add when necessary.

Return to the curry base, and now you can complete the sauce by adding the rest of the spices and cook for another few minutes, and then blending it all with about 100ml water until it becomes a smooth sauce. This should already smell like the beginnings of a curry sauce. Add the 5tbsp of tomato passata and put back in the pan. Ideally this should be cooked for another 20-30 minutes on a gentle heat until it goes an orange-brown colour with care not to burn the sauce or spices (otherwise it will go bitter and will taste awful). However I think that as long as the sauce is reduced and darkens somewhat over 10 minutes or so with care not to burn it, then that is sufficient. While the sauce is reducing you can start on the Dhansak sauce.

To finally start on the Dhansak add 1tbsp of ghee to a large hot pan to brown the meat. This should only take a few minutes. Once they are browned and sealed remove from the pan and allow them to rest for a few minutes. In the meantime add the rest of the ghee and turn the heat to low. Add  2 tbsp of the curry base and stir around. Then add the rest of the spices (which should be in the mortar) and fry gently for a minute. You should see that the mixture starts going a dark brown. Take care not to burn it though, but this is your cue to add in the rest of the curry base, the meat, the red split lentils (together with whatever cooking liquid is left from it providing it isn’t too much) and the washed cooked green lentils.

Leave to simmer for about 30 minutes in order for the sauce to reduce. Take care that it does not stick or burn.

This dish is best served with Basmati rice or Pilau rice and the end result is definitely worth the wait and effort!