Work from home lamb dhansak
I do not particularly enjoy working from home but I do enjoy a big stew. I’m also a fiend for a naff curry house classic. So here’s a mash up.
The idea is that if you’ve got plenty of time to slow cook something, but maybe not much time to hands-on fiddle with it, you can throw it all into the oven through the afternoon, and poke it a bit in the odd five minute gap between calls.
Honestly, there’s nothing revelatory here. Most dhansak recipes will slow simmer some tough lamb with lentils and vegetables until everything falls apart. All we’re really doing is acknowledging the fact that with such a slow cook, the flavour gains from pre-frying anything will be pretty marginal, and saving ourselves twenty minutes’ prep time so it fits into your lunch break. Or I guess you could put it on in the morning for lunch.
Ingredients:
Lamb neck fillet, 500g (see notes)
Toor dal, 100g
Red lentils, 100g
Carrots, 2 medium
Onions, 2 medium
Aubergine, half a big one
Green pepper, half
Tomatoes, 1 tin or about 250g fresh and a dollop of puree
Sweet potato, 1 small or about 200g
Garlic, 6 cloves
Ginger, about 5cm or 20g
Sugar, 2tsp
Garam masala 2tsp
Coriander powder 1tsp
Five spice, 1tsp
Cinnamon, 1tsp
Amchoor, 1tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek powder, 1/2 tsp
Dried dill, 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder, to taste (mild is fine)
Serves 4 with rice and/or naan, probably more with other sides.
Notes:
Tips, substitutions, and self justifications follow.
Five spice? Yup - come at me. I mean, don't, for all the attitude I'm easily flustered. Chinese five spice combines the anise, cloves, and cinnamon I see in a lot of dhansak recipes, plus fennel (which doesn't hurt) and Sichuan pepper. This is a bit of a swerve I'll grant, but it is also used so parsimoniously in a jar of the supermarket blend that you're just getting a light accent.
Lamb - Neck fillet is best for this, but you could use shoulder. It needs to be a slow cooking cut, so leg is marginal, and breast would be too fatty. With a quicker cooking cut I suppose you could fish it out an hour earlier, in which case chicken thighs would probably also work.
Meat quantities - On modern metrics 500g isn't a lot for four, but you get so much bulk from the sauce, and a bit of protein too. Use more if you like.
Lentils - You’ll get toor dal in a decent UK supermarket these days. If not you could use some yellow split peas, or just all red lentils.
Veg - Yes, the sweet potato and carrots might jump out at you as a bit unconventional. I’ve seen plenty of recipes use potatoes and squash. Yesterday I made this with some parsnips. Stodgy and sweet are the watchwords. It’s fine.
Prep time - I've given a version here where you leave the lamb pieces whole and cut them at the end. This is so they're easier to remove if you want to blend the sauce to smooth. But the long cook means it'll be pretty damn smooth if you don't. So if you want to trade a slightly coarser texture for even less hands-on time, you can slice the lamb into chunks up front, skip the farting about at the end, and just give it a vigorous stir before reheating and serving.
Instructions:
Heat the oven to 150c
Roughly chop all the vegetables. More finely chop the ginger and garlic. Leave the lamb neck fillets whole. Measure out the dals/lentils and keep the red lentils to one side.
Put everything except the red lentils in a big stew pot and top it up with water to cover. Probably about 600ml.
Stuff will float, it'll look weird. Don't worry. Give it a good stir, make sure the meat and toor dal are well submerged, and bring it to a simmer on the hob. Put a lid on it, and put it in the oven for 1 hour.
After the hour, stir in the red lentils, and add some water if it's looking dry.
Give it another hour. Turn the oven off, and put the dhansak back in, uncovered for at least half an hour or until you need it. It’ll keep.
It will also, again, look a bit weird. Continue not to worry. Before you serve, fish out the lamb, and cut it into chunks. Vigorously stir the remaining tasty lentil goo, or attack it with anything from a masher to a stick blender, depending on how smooth you want the sauce. If it's thicker than you like, let it out with a little water.
Check for seasoning and sweet/sour balance - you may want a little more amchoor or a teaspoon of lime juice if you like it zingy.
Add the lamb back in, and simmer for a few minutes (lid on) to amalgamate everything before you serve.