Hello all,
Definitely by far the best hot, sweet and sour dhansak that I have made or tasted from anywhere ? to die for.
Chicken Tikka Dhansak
To make the chicken tikka I used my recipe for 2.5 kilo of chicken marinated, prepared and cooked as listed in tikka and tandoori section.
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5586.0 I used a nipoori oven but any other tandoor or other apparatus capable of creating the high temperature charcoal cooking environment should suffice.
For the curry base I used KDs sauce ingredients and method accept for the addition of 1 tsp of tandoori masala, changing the tin toms for passata and by grating and frying the ginger/garlic before adding to the boiled onions - I also fried the spices in the g/g mix.
Ingredients
350g red split lentils
350g yellow split peas soaked over night
450g parsnip peeled and quartered
3 onions peeled and quartered
5 cloves of garlic peeled whole
1 inch cube ginger peeled and grated
12 tbsp oil
2 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp turmeric
3 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
540g tin pineapple pieces pureed.
2 tbsp tamarind concentrate
1 tbsp ground black pepper.
4 tbsp garam masala freshly made.
100g chopped fresh chillies
Bunch chopped fresh coriander
Salt, sugar
Spice mix
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground paprika
1 tbsp cayenne
1 tbsp chana masala
Method
Cook the red lentils in 3 pints of water with 1tsp each of ground ginger, turmeric and salt for 30 mins boil for ten then simmer skimming of any scum on top - do not drain. Cook the yellow split peas in 2 pints of water in the same way but drain when done and reserve the stock.
Toss the parsnip, onions and garlic in oil with a little sugar in a baking tray and roast in a hot oven 200c for about 50 mins until nicely caramelized. Then puree the whole lot in a blender with the reserved stock from the yellow split peas.
Heat 12 tablespoons of oil in large pan and when smoking hot add the cumin and black mustard seeds for 10 seconds until popped then add the grated ginger and fry for about 1 min until brown. Then add the combined spice mix ingredients for 30 seconds - I cool the oil with a spoon or two of the curry base to help prevent the spices from burning. Add the rest of the curry base sauce and fry for 10 mins on a high heat.
Add the red lentil mix, yellow split peas, pureed pineapple and the blended parsnip, onion and garlic mix. Keep on high heat until back on the boil and then turn down to a simmer. Add some boiling water if the sauce appears to thick ? I added about a pint and a half. Now add the chillies, concentrated tamarind, fresh coriander, black pepper and the garam masala. Salt to taste and leave to tick over quietly with the lid on for an hour or two ? whilst sorting out the tikka.
Portion up the tikka, pour on the sauce and serve garnished with a lemon, coriander and bay leaf garnish or freeze.
Here's some pics.
Base sauce
Roasted onions, garlic and parsnip
Dhansak sauce
Marinated chicken
Bon Dhansak