Dinner 16.03.2011

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Last night we decided to cook using the 'Fifty Great Curries of India' book by Camellia Panjabi. I hadn't used it before, but it's a good one- the recipes seem pretty authentic and there's a good variety.
We varied the chicken Dhansak recipe, using pork instead- and butternut squash in place of pumpkin.
The recipe called for lentils, ginger, aubergines, turmeric and fresh mint, amongst a wide range of spices and created a mild and creamy curry, that was delicately flavoured and gentle.
I really love this dish! The slow cooked dish has a lot of vegetables in, but with the lentils, the result is a thick and smooth curry with very little bite.

To accompany it, I made chapatis. It was my first attempt since I made them in India, but using only three ingredients and none of the proving of traditional western bread, they are incredibly simple and turned out really well - a very good accompaniment for the curry.

We also always serve our curries with a salad of chopped tomatoes and raw white onion, and a dish of chopped banana and squeezed lemon. I don't know where this stemmed from, but I like the sweetness of the banana with the sharpness of the lemon. The banana is always soothing with a hot curry and the lemon spices up a mild one.

I realised mid meal (to great great excitement, as ever) that I could use my new found skill to make roti wraps, as appears to be the fashion right now! I'll follow this post with another with a guide to chapati making and some home mad rotis to rival the likes of Chaiwalla and Mooli's!

According to Camellia Panjabi Dhansak is a Parsee dish The word originates from dhan meaning wealth and sak, meaning vegetable. In Parsi, Dhaan mans rice. It is often eaten on Sunday's and is customarily served at funerals.

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