OMG, Al !!! You've saved us. My British husband hasn't been able to find a decent Dhansak (his favorite curry) since we left the UK. When I prepared this for him, he told me it was the "best dhansak....ever"! We have been on an eternal quest in Florida for a good authentic restaurant that serves ANY good curry....we now cook your curries at home 2-3 times a week and we're oh so happy!! Not only are you saving us tons of money, but we can prepare them quickly and easily with our homemade base gravy, garlic/ginger paste, and pre-cooked chicken. Next for us will be a Lamb Dhansak, but hard to find good cuts of lamb or mutton over here in " 'Murica". Thank you so so much and look forward to seeing your new posts. (PS, only tweak for us on this one, is adding an additional tsp of tamarind puree in addition to the lea & perrin worchestershire sauce. Also, we really cook down the lentils.... 1 1/2 hours to make the sauce thick and creamy). We might have to try the pineapple variation, from Ian Roberts, as it sounds good. Keep up the great work.
rose wojcik I cooked my lentils for about 30 mins on very low - of course this means you cannot then drain them and I was a little concerned they would be a bit wet and gluggy for the mix but it worked well and there was still a little definition to them. All a question of taste really and you can vary the quantity of the lentils to suit
Hi Al..I'm an expat living in the USA. I just returned from a short visit to Blighty where I ate in curry houses every night..I forgot how much I missed it. Anyway I tried this and it was great! I don't need to miss it anymore! you're gonna make me a very popular guy amongst the British expats I. Florida! I'll make sure to tell them where I got it from though. Thank you so much!
Hi Al my dinner parties have grown from 4 now to 16 using all your recipes starters,side dishes and main.Please keep new dishes coming your No1. Now i got 18 coming next in feb.all the best Len
Well Al, I made it as per your recipe but with Pre cooked lamb (as your recipe) and it was absolutely tremendous! 100% authentic BIR. The flavours were amazing! Thank you Sir!
Hello Al, Ive been marking BIR for a long time now. I use my own gravy, similar to yours. Made your dhansak tonight and it was bloody lovely. Way better than our local. First time ive cooked lentils as well, i must be a tree hugger now !!!
That looks absolutely sensational Al! It's my favourite curry, and I can't wait to try this for me and my buddies here in New Zealand. It's good t see a curry that serves four, and there are four of us in my little curry club! Thank you very much Bro!
Al I just did danshak following your recipe and base gravy. I have been trying to do authentic curries for years following recipes in books which were a waste of time. Base gravy is key and it was superb. Actually better than a lot of my local take aways.
Fantastic video Al. Living in the States (Londoner been here for 17 years) so is difficult to get a really good BIR curry, been watching your videos for the last two days, and have made the base and am about to attempt the Dhansak. Great videos and commentary - keep up the terrific work, thank you.
Thanks Al, your recipes are great! I also like you adding ingredients and quantities in the description box! It saves a lot of time used for pausing and writing down the ingredient list.... Keep up the amazing work!
Hi Al. I'm more of a chicken Madras / Vindaloo person, but judging by the amount of curry powder, chili powder you have added to this Dhansak I will give this a go, it looks delicious . If this Dhansak is as good as your Madras then it's a sure winner. Thanks for sharing PS I have never tried pulses before..........here go's
Hi Al I am from Birmingham but now live in southern Spain. I could never get my curries to taste like they did on Stratford Road until I made the base gravy and pre-cooked chicken. Yay Brum in the sun😉😉
Al I’ve just had to stop eating this half way through, this is the finest curry I’ve ever made thanks. Can’t wait to try others with all that onion gravy I’ve now got!
I've been hunting for the perfect BIR Dhansak, it turned into a quest for the Holy Grail. Then I found this, what an amazing recipe. With the base gravy 2, my life's quest is complete! Cheers Al
Just made this Al, after making the base gravy mid-week. Wow - this recipe and your cooking tips and general guidance in this video really delivered ! :) My first ever curry that genuinely compares to one you would get in a BIR. Years ago I bought The Curry Secret by Kris Dhillon and although I could see that by following the guidance in that book I was heading in the right direction, for some reason my curry's didn't seem to rise above my usual efforts and all seemed a little one dimensional and, especially when I tried the Dhansak, flat and bland. I think the amount of coriander, including in the base gravy, is key to getting some BIR style complexity to the curry as is achieving some caramelisation of the onion in the base gravy when making the curry. My sincere thanks Al - I'm now quite excited to try the other recipes on your channel - especially since I now live in Australia and cannot easily get to a decent British style Indian. On a side note - I blended my base gravy with a food processor but no matter how long and/or fast I blended it - it didn't blend as smooth as I felt was needed - for example, you could still see flecks of coriander leaf. But - my first use of it, admittedly in a curry where a lot of the consistency is dependent upon the Dal, it did the job I was hoping.
Thanks for trying the recipes. I try and deliver the recipes and methods in a way thats easily understood. You will get even better the more you practice. Also by watching other videos, there is usually a tip or two in each one. I have many followers in Australia, make sure you tell everyone about the channel and get them to follow too. Thanks. If you follow me on facebook, im always around to offer help live via messenger. All the best. Al
What can I say. I've tried a few of your recipes now Al and we've just had your Chicken Dhansak. Amazingly good and better than most take away's we've had. Our local store ran out out of fresh coriander today so I missed it out but it was still first class. I do like the idea of pineapple in a Dhansak so i'll add that next time. Thanks again
What can I say al Wow just done this curry for the other half she loved it best dhansak she ever had keep up the good work keep them curries coming 👍 many thanks Rozza
Thank you for this Al! Just cooked the Dhansak and on the taste test, it was great, the best!! I am from the blighty but live in Australia and they never have Dhansak in the restaurants here, so I am so happy right now :) I used Toor Dal and worked very well, just cooked it for a bit longer initially. Next time I am tempted try to use Tamarind instead of lemon juice as I have a huge pot of it in the fridge, tastes so good the way you demonstrate though. Waiting for my partner to finish work then will have a beer and eat, will be just like being in Brick Lane :)
Hi Al, I know it might sound a bit stupid but what do you do with your base gravy? Do you freeze it in batches or do you because you have a lot of curries leave it on the counter top? Thanks Bob Oxford.
Great stuff Al, one of my all time faves! Always remember in Brum they used to serve it with pineapple chunks! Not everyone's cup of tea I know but I loved it!!
Looks amazing Al. Going to try this next weekend. The one Ive always done is similar but it has its own spice mix which is faffy to prepare grinding up all the spices etc. Only thing I would add, and maybe this is regional (im in the North East), is a small amount of onion chunks and some pineapple chunks Inc a bit of the juice which gives it a sweet & sour taste with the lemon juice. Thanks for sharing :)
Ian Roberts Hi Ian, I'm also from the North East and all the Dhansak I've tried have pineapple in them too. I will try this recipe 'as is' and perhaps add pineapple the following time as a taste test.
fantastic you sir are brilliant your recipes are so good please make more of these videos im going to make every single dish you have on your channel thank you so much for sharing your amazing food with us
Hi Al...Been watching your videos for weeks. I started by making the chicken methi followed by the 5 spice madras..all set to make this one tonight. Thank you so much for sharing your skills..I have never tasted curry as nice,never thought I’d be able to cook one. Could you do a Samber?
Great video, I'm going to give this a try. I was talking to an Indian chef a few years ago and Dhansak. He said that pineapple is always added to a Dhansak. Regardless, this looks a great curry and I'll give it a go. :)
I made this AL and its gorgeous. My wife prefers your version to our local takeaway. Great video, very informative. Any chance you can do a Als kitchen version of a Malaya? The sweet/spicy combination will be fantastic.
Hi again Al, just a thought but could you do a video on cooking Dal's and Pulses, as I have never been shown how to do this. I do know there is many to choose from but what go's with what is a mystery to me.
Looks good, Al. I'll be trying this and probably partially mash the lentils. I think this is one where you can try a few variations before you settle on your own preferred ratio of base gravy to lentils. Do you recommend boiling the lentils unsalted?
Hey, Al! I have a few questions. 1: Is a chef spoon just any metal or steel spoon shaped like the one you used? 2: If I were to make my own curry recipes following your method of adding ladles at a time, how many ladles would equal one serving? 3: Continuing the last question, how long do I cook each ladle of gravy for? 4: For a Chicken Tikka Masala or Butter Chicken, should I follow the same method of caramelizing each ladle of gravy?
Hi Nathan. The chef spoon is a large spoon like im using in the video. I use around 2/3 ladles per curry, but judge it by how much is in the pan rather than ladle numbers. Cook each ladle until the oil rises to the surface. Follow the same methods as i do. Thanks.
Cheers mate, I’ve been cooking curries to a good standard for years but I always avoid doing a prawn curry. Tried your chicken bhuna today and it was the closest I’ve ever got to a real BIR curry, great stuff.
Nice one again Al. I for one would love a little more guidance on factoring spices for more people. This Dhansak is for four but I'm sure that halving the spices won't make a good curry for two. You wouldn't double the chilli in a Phall just for one extra portion so what are the guidelines? Any pointers?
Hi Al, have you tried making these curries with less oil? How much do the results differ? In every recipe I've seen there's so much oil contained in them...
Matt Brown Hi Matt. The oil is pretty essential in Indian cooking. The spices carry in the oil. Saying that, my curries have far less oil than in restaurants and other youtubers I've seen. Some oils are not bad for your health but can be good for your hdl cholesterol. Remember that total calorie intake is the important thing whether it contains oil or not.
Ah that is where I am going wrong, adding my frozen base gravy cubes into the dish. Not getting the heat right. Thank you, still learning. More practice.
pineapple is often used north of the watford gap,in south of england,you won't find it much,this is because different people from different regions settled in the north and south,i personally dont use it,but thats just my personal taste
We always tend to get pineapple in our Dhansak, but I always leave it to one side as I am not that keen on that much sweetness - and living in South Shields I am well North of the Watford gap ;-) BTW Al - Dhansak has to be my all time favorite curry, so thanks for this!
try adding some chopped onion/coriander and fresh chopped and fried garlic when boiling the lentils,and some turmeric to get that bright rich yellow colour associated with dhansak..yes
Pineapple isn't authentic to a dhanask, sadly that's something us westeners have introduced and ruined such a fine dish, I'm more concerned about al using Lea Perrings in this
