Mar 21
No blog by a parsi who loves to cook (and eat) will ever be complete without his recipe of Dhansakh! 
And since today is Parsi New Year, here is a fantastic recipe for all of you… cook and enjoy with friends, family and loved ones!
A quintessential Parsi speciality!
Made for lazy Sunday dinners, and as part of any wedding feast… Its quite simple to make, though the list of ingredients that go into it can be daunting… Assemble everything you need before you start. Also it will need preparation, and you will need to start at least 7 hours in advance of the meal, preferably a day. This recipe is an amalgamation from the techniques used by 2 of my grandmothers, 3 of my aunts and my mom, along with some very personal twists of my own
Dhan is rice, Sakh (shakh) is the mixture of dals and veggies. Traditionally Dhansakh is served with brown rice, but i really don’t like that rice so i serve mine with a very light white rice pulav. Please read the entire recipe once or twice before starting to cook.
For the Dhan (Rice):
Take 1 big fistful of rice for each person you are cooking for. Wash the rice well.
Peel and cut 2 big carrots into long thin strips.
Cut 2-3 big potatoes into medium sized chunks
In a cooker, melt a dollop of butter or ghee and add 4 cloves, 2-3 1 inch pieces of cinnamon and 3-4 pieces of crushed cardamom. Add salt to taste and cook for a few minutes.
Add two generous handfuls of green peas, the chopped carrots and potatoes. Add water to cover the rice by about 1/2 an inch and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Allow the cooker to cool down by itself before opening it, around 15 minutes or so. Before serving, carefully empty into a flat dish, taking care not to break the rice.
For the Dal:
7 measures of Tuvar Dal to 1 measure each of the other non black dals: orange masoor, yellow moong, white urad, yellow channa dal
Wash these well (at least 3-5 times) in warm water. And then soak in water for at least 5 hours, preferably overnight.
Wash and cut roughly into medium sized chunks the following vegetables (the measure used here is of 1.5 Kg of Tuvar Dal, and will be enough for about 10 hungry people… When you are cooking Dhansakh, its traditional to have friends over!)
1/2 a small cauliflower
1/2 a small cabbage
small piece of orange pumpkin (about 5-6 inches)
3 big carrots
3 small brinjals (eggplant)
4 small or 2 big potatoes
15 french beans
a generous handful of green peas
1 big bunch of spinach
1 big bunch of methi
10 big tomatoes
Keep aside for the vaghar (seasoning):
1 big piece of ginger (4-5 inches) finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic finely chopped or crushed
3 sprigs of curry leaves separated
4 dried red chillies
3 big tomatoes roughly cut
7 big tomatoes pureed
100 gms Dhania jeera powder
50 gms garam masala
250 gms Dhansakh masala (this is store bought and currently i prefer everest or maharaja to other brands, though soon we will have prakriti network Dhansakh masala and that one will be the best to use)
In a very large (non aluminum) cooker or a very big heavy bottomed (non aluminum) vessel heat up 150 gms of butter or ghee. Add a 3 teaspoons of turmeric powder (haldi) and salt to taste. Add to this all the vegetables and cook for about 10 minutes on high heat. Then add all the dals to it. Add water to cover the dals and the vegetables, be careful that you don’t add too much, the dhansakh dal is supposed to be quite thick. Remember to add salt
If its in a cooker, let it cook for 5 whistles, then simmer for 15 minutes or so, and then let the cooker cool down completely before opening it. If using a big vessel, cover with a tight lid add some water on top of the lid and cook away until all the dals and veggies are completely soft. In a big vessel, do remember to stir occasionally so that things dont get stuck to the bottom, and everything is cooked evenly. On the normal gas stove at home, in a big vessel, it takes about 45 minutes on high heat.
Now in another heavy bottomed pan, heat up 100 gms of butter, add the vaghar stuff, the dried red chillies, ginger, garlic and curry leaves and cook until lightly browned. Next add dhania jeera powder, garam masala and dhansakh masala. Add salt to taste as well… though you need to remember how much you added to the dals and veggies and adjust accordingly.
Cook until it browns a bit and you can start to smell its fragrance. Next add the cut tomatoes and cook for another 10ish minutes. Finally add the tomato puree and cook until the oil separates out. Then cook just a bit more. The masalas have to be thoroughly cooked.
Now add the cooked masalas to the cooked dals and let it merge and combine properly on high heat for another 5-7 minutes.
With a hand grinder, blend this mixture completely to a silky smooth consistency. Let this boil on very low heat for another 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally… the longer it boils the better, my grandmother used to boil it for almost 2 hours! Though i find that 15-20 minutes is fine
Put rice on a plate and add the dal to completely cover it. As kids we would make a well in the center of the rice so we could get even more dal . Squeeze some fresh lime juice onto this. Eat it with a simple cucumber and tomato salad (add some finely chopped cucumber to the recipe) and some lovely fried cutlets on the side.
Always serve piping hot!
As we Parsis say, Jamwa Chaloji! (Cmon everyone, come and eat!)
Sal Mubarak!! A very Happy New Year to all…
Jai Gurudeva!
love
bawa
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Saal Mubarak Bawa !
JGD
Saal mubarak bawa!!!
Jai gurudewa!!!
WOW bau ..already a year is gone..remember last year in your blog, you gave us a history/story of the Parsi New year!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Sal Mubarak Bau!
Jai Gurudev
Saal mubaarak Bawaa!!
A Very Happy New Year to U & Family!!!
Saal Mubarak!!Happy new year, bau, jgd
saal mubarak bau
Saal Mubarakwa
the dish looks fantastic, when are you going to make it for us?
in the coming YES!++??
Love and blessings and regards )
Saal Mubarakh .. !!
Jai Gurudev!
Sal mubarak bau!!!
The spread looks to yummy, still can remember the taste of the dhansak you fed us on the last day of DSN
Tame kyare jamva bolavsho??
Saal Mubarak !
)
( everybody till now has written this over here so even I wrote that !
Cooking this requires a lot of labour ! I would prefer to win some competitions on the blog and enjoy only eating them instead
Happy Parsi New Year Bawa…
I am single, away from home and a lazy folk. cooking this recipe is like climbing Mount Everest twice for me.
What should i do to get this recipe esp cooked by you
Saal Mubarak.
Jai Guru Dev.
Looks like an excellent recipe
happy new year bawa…
saal mubarak bau !!! God bless you !!! Jai Gurudeva
Mane pan jamwaanu khaavu che!!! Tame tu purna rasoiya laag cho. Nutan varsha abhinandan! Jai Gurudev.
Sal Mubarak to the most happening Parsi on earth!!
Saal Mubarak Bau !
Hope it be blissful !
Jai Gurudev..!!!
Saal Mubarak Bau..!!!
will definitely try out this recipe..!!
Looks scrumptious!!! Arranged very well! Saal Mubarak!!
Sal Mubarak Bau… I really liked the title for u… one of the most happening Parsis on earth…
Jai Gurudeva!!
Jai Gurudev Bau,
How are you? Saal mubarak to the parsi who can par-see…. and who has the power to SEE….
love u and thanks for the recepie of Dhansakh…i remember the yummy dhansakh you made for us during DSN!
Bau do you remember me? Cockroach fearing girl in the Mulund DSN years ago
Dear Bawa, Happy New Year! Isn’t it beautiful to have so many festivals in our culture? They keep our year cheerful! Just when you think Navaratri and Diwali are gone, pop comes the New Year day!
I love reading your blog…it is inspiring and uplifting
Lots of love and Jai Guru Dev from Atlanta…
Dear Bawa,
Happy New Year! Isn’t it beautiful to have so many festivals in our culture? They keep our year cheerful! Just when you think Navaratri and Diwali are gone, pop comes the New Year day!
In Kolkata where I come from, it is said “Baro maase tero pujo” – meaning we have 13 pujas in a span of 12 months
Anyways, I love reading your blog…it is inspiring and uplifting
Lots of love and Jai Guru Dev from Atlanta…
happy new year bau ji
lots of love
hey bau
Happy New Year 2 u
Superb receipe , would love to try it out soon
love
Mister where’s today’s article??
Next article on tuesday!
I think i have been a v good boy and written lots this week 
and i have got 2 more whats the govt up to articles almost ready … expect them soon …
meanwhile cook and eat the Dhansakh!
Jai Gurudeva!
love
bawa
Belated Happy New Year!!
A very happy new year to you and your family
Jai guru Deva
Happy New Year Bau,
I am from those lucky batch when you had made dhansak for all of us at DSN years ago.
It tasted awesome……
Wish you all the love, luck and happiness of life!!!
Jai Gurudev
mmm… i can smell it here!!!
happy new year bau!!!
jai gurudeva!
love
manish
wow bau mouth watering
Happy new Year !!
love,
santhu
happy new year
belated tough!!!
i was hunting for the recipe of dhansak as i still cannot get over the dhansak that u made for us on the last day of our DSN course in Goregaon, Mumbai oct 2008.
thank u sssooo much bau..
will definately make dhansak!!!!
an extremely belated happy new year!!
jgd
my hubby had a gr8 craving for dhansakh…he is a real time big foodie…i always tried and learnt all he liked…till date i dint find any proper recipe for dhansakh….thanx bawa…for this mouth watering recipe..i just loved it…
Jai Gurudev Bawa,
I dug this recipe out of the archives and made it over the weekend. Thanks a lot for the wonderful recipe. It is the prefect recipe for all mothers because it contains all kinds of vegetables without kids knowing anything about the veggies. My kids ate up all that was served without fussing about the paalak, methi, gobi et al
Thanks, Jai Gurudev!
Mridu
Dear Bau – This is a super-hit dish – Priya made it yesterday & couple of our devotees came & fell instantly in love. Today we ate it for lunch & dinner as well
. Also Priya’s collegues at work tried & just couldnt resist.
We didnt get all the ingredients but got like 90% & it is simply fabulous…keep posting your creations
Love
Arvind & Priya