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Parsi Dal Dhansak

Hi everybody, this is a request recipie that someone in my group in Facebook called Benazir’s Blog a Cooking Guide. I said I will do this recipe and please bear in mind that this is my first time ever I made this dish. However I simplified how this dish is really made. I looked to see how this is made and some add potatoes which is not apart of my recipe. I never been a fan of carb mixing even way before I became diabetic. Now I have diabetes that I am more careful about what I eat. First you will need this link Dhansak Masala.

From left to right first is the dhamsak masala make this first before cooking. The link is above and the second one is a throw in my instant pot, You can also use a stovetop pressure cooker or another multi functional cooker it consists of 2 baby eggplants, 1 tomato chopped, 1 kadoo (bottle gourd) either 1 small acorn, butternut squash, a small piece of pumpkin or another type of winter squash that is similar, 1 green chilli, 1 small knob of ginger peeled, 1 turnip and mixed dal that follows. the mixed dals are 2 handfuls each of moong, masoor, toor, chana, and mash ki dal. Rinse until the water is clear and peel turnip and cut in to small pieces add them all to the cooker along with the squash that has been deseeded. No need to peel pumpkin or acorn or even butternut squash.

The skin is edible and will get mixed in with the dal eventually. The kadoo is the only one that gets peeled and deseeded and cut in to small pieces. Add the dhamsak masala then again use the mortar and peslte or spicce grinder to make additional masala for this dish. Add 1 PInch each of turmeric, red chili powder, either fresh or frozen kasoori methi, either fresh frozen or dried mint, pink salt.

Add either 1 capful of either lemon or lime juice, 2 liters or 1/2 gallon of water just make sure it is barely covering the dal and vegetables in the cooker. In mortar and pestle or spice grinder add either 1 kashmiri chili or 1 whole round red chili, 1 clove, 1 broken piece of cinnamon stick, 1 pinch each of cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, black peppercorns, coriander seeds which gets ground in to a coarse powder.

Add this to the multi functional cooker such as instant pot etc. or a stovetop pressure cooker. The only thing does not get added until the end are garlic and onions because there is a tarka at the end that I want to add. The tarka makes the dal dishes taste fantasic. If using the stovetop pressure cooker it is 20 minutes after the float button pops up and for multi functional cookers like instant pot etc. just close the lid, and select pressure cook and make sure it is on sealing. On the duo crisp that the quick release button has to be in an up posistion so make sure that it is not pressed down in any way. Select pressure cook and it would say either high or low. Mine said high so I did mine on high for 20 minutes.

After 20 minuts on stovetop just shut the heat off. Before you set the timer on the stovetop one just have on high heat so the pressure can build making that button pop up then lower the heat to medium high. When done shut the heat off and let the pressure subside and at this time you can be doing something else. With a multi functional cooker there is no need to babysit it unless you are using saute method. When time is up on these babies the cooker turns itself off. All you have to do is get a steam diverter and Amazon has them. I point mine in the direction of my kitchen sink so my cabinets are protected. You can either do natural release or quick release. Either way wait until it has slightly cooled then take a potato masher and mash the vegetables and the dal.

The picture in the middle of the offset shows how it looks as I am blending it and for this you will need to take the inner lining with the dal and veg in it and set it on the counter. Do not use an immersion blender or potato masher while it is in the cooker base. The stovetop pressure cooker you don’t have to worry about this problem at all but you want to keep your kitchen equipment in top working condition. I plulsed this until it was nice and creamy and looking delicious. If you are using a multi functional cooker and are done blending this then you can place your inner lining with the food back in to the base of the cooker. With stovetop pressure cookers you just go ahead and place the lid back over it until you make the tarka.

Now to make the tarka. This part is only on stovetop sorry. You will need a wok or a frying pan and slice either 1 onion or shallot also you can use 5 green onions in its place and 4 cloves of garlic. The garlic gets a rough chop and the green onions too if using or 1 onion or shallot cut in to half moon slices. On high heat add 1/4 cup of either corn, canola, vegetable, olive, sunflower or safflower oil and fry the onions and garlic. Both must be carmelized and you may add either 1 pinch of pink salt to speed up the process and 1 tsp of either coconut oil, mustard oil or butter ghee. It is a matter of choice and mine for the moment was mustard oil. The last picture is the completed Parsi dal dhamsak with the tarka already mixed in. When I got the request for this dish I got can i do a post on Parsi vegetable dhamsak and when I looked it up this is excactly what came up on my search engine. To the gentleman who requsested this dish, when I made it also my husband enjoyed it too. So It is a win win situation and I do not mind making this dish again.

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