Topic: Dhansak/Pathia

[Peripatetic Phil]

"Kosher salt" really is a mis-nomer; it is salt intended for koshering (the process of removing blood), not salt that has been certified as kosher by an approved authority.

[Secret Santa]

"Kosher salt" really is a mis-nomer; it is salt intended for koshering (the process of removing blood), not salt that has been certified as kosher by an approved authority.

Quite. But the truth is that any old salt will do in this recipe; maybe even road salt.

[George]

"Kosher salt" really is a mis-nomer; it is salt intended for koshering (the process of removing blood), not salt that has been certified as kosher by an approved authority.

Quite. But the truth is that any old salt will do in this recipe; maybe even road salt.

I agree, so the requirement to use Kosher salt is pretentious nonsense. There are other aspects of the recipe which I find highly irritating, too, like saying to use a 'little bit' of lentils.

[mickyp]

I did a Prawn Pathia tonight as per the recipe with the exception of 1x tbl spoon of Tamarind, i used 1 x tsp which worked for me.

[romain]

Den - I am glad you enjoyed them! MickyP - hope you liked it as well.

I use kosher salt. Diamond Crystal to be specific. You can use whatever salt you want. Just know that kosher salt has a granularity that is generally coarser than table salt and is therefore less NaCl than an equivalent volume of table salt. By mass it is the same - by volume it is not. I specify because otherwise people will wind up making something saltier than I have tested.

To those that feel I am pretentious or are irritated by the fact I say that you can make a tarka and put aside a bit of lentils for when you make a dhansak please just get your recipes elsewhere. I am sure you will be much happier for it.

[romain]

Looking at the dhansak recipe, I was trying to figure out where the sweetness comes from as we all know BIR dhansak is sweet and sour in flavour and he clearly states just tamarind (or, actually, tamarind sauce). It's only when I read the addendum that I see he means a sweet and sour tamarind based sauce such as Maggi's Tamarina. If people make this with just tamarind sauce they're going to get a sharp surprise.

The main ingredient in Tamarind Sauce is sugar. The tamarind is only 15%. They also add chilli and a few other things to give it more flavour.

When I looked at the Glebe Kitchen dhansak recipe, I was trying to figure out why Kosher Salt is specified. Absurd, if you ask me. I may try the recipe this evening but, to be honest, I don't have high expectations. It's missing ingredients which I firmly believe need to be in a half-decent dhansak. The author speaks with the tone of an expert but I don't accept he knows as much as many of the people here.

The author is here. The author is half Indian. The author has over 30 years of advanced cooking experience and about 50 of eating Indian. The author has been to the UK many times. The author has eaten curries around the world. The author has been in Indian restaurant kitchens. The author worked in restaurants while going to university. The author has 3M visitors to his blog a year and that number continues to grow. If you google pathia or dhansak (or many other Indian restaurant dishes) you will see the author's work in the top results.

Can you point me to something that demonstrates your credentials? I searched back through your posts for 3 years and I couldn't find a recipe. Perhaps they are further back? I admit I didn't look as hard as I should have. I did see a lot of criticism levelled at others though...

[den]

Phil.i used a tamarind block that a friend brought back from abroad.Cant remember where but boiled it up to make a sauce,All I can say is this is the closest I have found to my local curry house and will continue to make the Pathia and Dhansak with a few tweaks as I go.

[Secret Santa]

Phil.i used a tamarind block that a friend brought back from abroad.Cant remember where but boiled it up to make a sauce ...

But did you add a sweetner as well?

[Secret Santa]

I use kosher salt. Diamond Crystal to be specific.

Why? Genuinely interested as there is no discernable difference in taste to cheap salt. I used pink Himalayan salt on my chip snack last night which, despite the extra minerals and pretty pink colour, had the taste of ... salt.

I specify because otherwise people will wind up making something saltier than I have tested.

Which is why it's probably wiser to just say add salt to taste as people's affinity/tolerance is markedly different between individuals (looking at Phil).

[romain]

Secret Santa - I use Diamond Crystal because I only stock one type of salt in that rough grain size.  I prefer it for salting for two reasons. I find iodized salt to have an odd background smell I don't detect in DC. That's the reason I got into the habit of stocking DC years ago. Now, as my sense of smell deteriorates with age, the main reason is that it is less salt by volume. I salt to taste and I find it easier to avoid over salting. That and the shape of DC salt makes it easier to salt by hand. If you have the chance and inclination to buy some you'll better understand what I'm talking about.

It is not religion for me certainly and I never expected to get flamed here for using it. It's just what I am used to. YMMV. I like salty but only to a point. Over salted is one of my least favourite things to eat so I am particular about my salting methods.

Salt is only slightly more expensive than dirt so I don't worry about it.