Could you tell me please, is dhansak the actual name of the curry cause of the lentils, or it is called dhansak as in relation like 'madras,'korma' vindeloo for example.

Dhansak is an Indo-Parsee dish, made with meat/chicken, pureed lentil and vegetables and it is eaten with rice. There are many versions, most families having their own way of making it.

It is not a name invented by British chefs. As I understand it, the word Dhansak is made of two words, Dhan=rice or grain and lentil; sak or shak meaning vegetables.

If you put Dhasak in my search window, you will find 5 recipes; http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_search.php?submit=Go!

Mamta

Thankyou Mamta for your reply.

Dear mamtas,

So the 'sak' in 'Dhansak' is the same word as the 'sag' in 'sag aloo'?

Phil

Hello Phil

Sak in Dhansak is a corruption of the word ‘shak’, meaning a vegetable, any vegetable. It is pronounced as shaa+k. 'K' is a soft sound, as in ‘cup’. It is synonymous with the word ‘sabji’ or ‘bhaji’, more commonly used words for vegetables in North India. To make it more confusing, people from Bombay/Gujrat often call Pakoras as Bhajis!!

Saag in ‘aloo saag’ means a leafy vegetable, in this case spinach, often mixed with fenugreek leaves. It is pronounced like saa+g, 'g' being soft as in 'gut'. Any leafy vegetable can be a saag, like spinach, fenugreek leaves, amaranth leaves, bathua or pigweed, kulfa, radish leaves and so on.

Mamta