Amaranth Bhaji Dana ma Gosht

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There was a time when I found vegetables like zucchini, red capsicum and mushrooms quite cool. For some reason, these vegetables are called ‘exotic vegetables’.

When in fact, what you need to do to discover the real ‘exotic’ is to leave India for a bit and then come back. It is then that you will discover the sheer wealth and variety of produce that grows in India (Follow the hashtag #IndianFoodMovement and #KnowYourDesiVegetable on Instagram if you don’t believe me).

For example, I am ashamed to confess that I cooked properly for almost six years before I learned that chickpeas didn’t just come out of a tin. Nor did they just come in a plastic bag full of dry beans. Six long years to learn that, actually, you could eat them in their fresh green form too. After this discovery, I got braver and have tried vegetables like red amaranth (laal chawli), purple yam (kandh), sorgum grains (ponkh) and rat tail radish (laal mougri).

For a few months now, I have had about five screenshots of recipes of Bhaji Dana ma Gosht on my desktop. Bhaji Dana ma Gosht is a quintessential Parsi dish combining leafy greens (bhaji), green peas (dana), and tender mutton (gosht), reflecting our deep-rooted cultural journey of mixing Persian and Gujarati food styles.

Parsis typically enjoy Bhaji Dana ma Gosht during family gatherings and festive celebrations. On Nowruz (Parsi new year) we’ll serve it as our token ‘vegetarian’ dish - yes it has mutton but the vegetarians can eat the gravy, right. Right? It’s warming, hearty nature also makes it a popular choice during cooler months, but honestly, you can eat it whenever you feel like it.

As I was looking through my inspiration screenshots, I was also scrolling through this #KnowYourDesiVegetable hashtag and happened upon Amaranth. Apparently, it’s the new kale.

‘Ting’ the light bulb went off in my head. I decided to make Bhaji Dana ma Gosht (finally), but instead of spinach, I would use Amaranth, and on impulse, I decided to replace the green pea ‘dana’ with green chickpeas instead! While the traditional recipe uses chopped leaves, I decided to puree mine and make it into a Saagwala-esque style creamy gravy.

• 2 onions, roughly chopped

• 1/2 tsp ginger paste

• 1/2 tsp garlic paste

• 1 big bunch Amaranth leaves, roughly chopped

• 1/2 tsp coriander powder

• 1/2 tsp cumin powder

• 1 tsp garam masala

• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder

• 500 gm boneless lamb or goat meat

• 100 ml fresh cream

• 1 small lemon, sliced and deseeded

• 200 gram fresh green chickpeas (replace with fresh or frozen peas if you’d like)

• salt to taste

• 200 ml oil

• Pop your onions into a food processor and mince them into a pulp. Fry the onion paste in some oil until the moisture evaporates and they turn brown. Set aside.

• Roughly chop the Amaranth leaves and saute them in some oil. Make a paste of the leaves in the food processor and set aside.

• Peel the fresh chickpeas and boil them for 15 minutes in hot water. Keep aside.

• In a pressure cooker, add the leftover oil, the onion paste, ginger and garlic. Saute for 2 - 3 minutes.

• Add in the dry spices - cumin, coriander, red chilli and garam masala

• Once the spices no longer have a raw smell, add in the Amaranth paste and meat. Allow the meat to brown for a few minutes. Add in about 500ml of water and close the pressure cooker. If you’re in India, cook for 3 whistles and 20 minutes on slow. If you’re using an international pressure cooker, allow it to reach pressure and then cook on medium for 40 minutes.

• Release the pressure and now, allow the gravy to simmer on low heat - you want to create a thick gravy. Add in the fresh chickpeas at this stage so they absorb some of the flavour. Season the gravy with salt.

• Finish the gravy by mixing in the fresh cream and simmering for a final five minutes. Turn off the gas and squeeze in the lemon juice. Serve hot with soft bread rolls or roti.

• Replace green chickpeas with fresh or frozen peas or even, edamame.

• Replace amaranth with a mix of spinach and fresh fenugreek (methi). The methi leaves add a slight bitterness which goes well with the meat

• If you don’t have a food processor, chop the onions and greens finely. You won’t get the same smooth gravy, but it will taste the same.