In my quest to try new cuisines, I have a delicious savory ‘Parsi Dish’ today. Parsis, meaning Persians, are the followers of the ancient Persian religion known as Zoroastrianism. They emigrated to India from Persia to avoid religious persecution by the Muslims.
Parsi Cuisine:
Parsi cuisine is a delicious fusion of Persian and Indian cooking. Vegetables, meats, eggs and dairy products are the foundation of Parsi diet. Spices are used generously in the dishes. While looking for Parsi dishes, I came across this lovely post by Peri. She is a Parsi blogger and her blog has tons of delicious Parsi (and non-Parsi) recipes. In that explains, she explains the different between Indian and Parsi food and how parsi cuisine is unique. Do check it out more details.
Parsi Vegetable Dhansak:
Dhansak is a popular Parsi dish - it is a dish that beautifully combines Gujarati & Persian flavors. Traditionally it is made with mutton (goat meat), lentils and vegetables. Since I was making it vegetarian, I skipped the meat altogether.
Vegetarian Dhansak Recipe:
Recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal’s site. The aromatic spice blend adds a lot of flavor and spiciness to the dish. Dhansak masala can be freshly made or can be store bought. The spice paste is quite easy to make with basic pantry ingredients.
Ginger Garlic Dry red chiliesFresh Green chilies Spices (cardamom, peppercorn, coriander seeds, cumin seeds)
Lentils & Vegetables:
A mix of lentils are used to make this dish. There are recipes with 2~5 different lentils on the internet. I used 3 different types of lentils - toor, masoor and moong. Dish is also packed with choke full of veggies. I used potato, bottle gourd and pumpkin. But the good thing is the recipe is very versatile. Other veggies like eggplant, zucchini, kale, any hard squash, sweet potatoes, spinach etc can also be used. Lentils and vegetables are cooked until very tender and then ground to a smooth soup like consistency. The spice paste is mixed in and dal/ soup is simmered until all the flavors have mingled.
How to serve Parsi Vegetable Dhansak?
Traditionally it is served with Parsi brown rice and a kachumber salad (cucumber salad). I didn’t make the rice, so served it with roti. But the dish goes well with either plain rice or roti. Serve Parsi Falooda for a delicious sweet ending.
