for tea tonight, I am cooking Hamsag, my variation on a Dhansak theme. I boil a smoked ham, then use some of the water to cook lentils (3 kinds), squash and greens and herbs (the sag). I finish with a little sumak sprinkle and fresh pomegranate seeds.

Apologies to those Parsi who might be offended by my adaption.

Come back and tell us what it tasted like.

OMG Helen, I deleted your post by mistake! I clicked on delete option (not visible to you), instead of reply :(. I am so sorry!

I enjoyed reading your Ham-sak recipe, it seemed like a time consuming recipe I am glad that your family enjoyed it. Yes I agree, spinach will be nicer than kale.

Dried black limes are used in middle eastern cuisine to give a dish some tartness. In India, we use dry, unripe mango slices, whole or in powder form. This is called amchoor.

Once again, I apologise for deleting your post.

Mamta

no worries, Mamta, I think we have a lot in common!

Recipe was quite easy, mostly letting it do its own thing (without it catching!). The original Dhansak, using lamb, must have been a one pot dish.

It wasn't kale, it was Swiss chard. Anyway, palak next time.

I used powdered limes in some recipes. They bury fresh ones in the ground (sand) until dry! And on a lime note, I have started pickling (using vinegar, not the Indian way). I tried to preserve limes and lemons in brine for Moroccan cooking (another cuisine I like) and the results are good, but the skins and flesh turn out to be rather mushy, so that when I add them to a dish, they kind of get lost in the general mix. But I started to use something called pickle crisp, which, as it says, keeps vegetables crisp. A tsp of the crystal to a jar of suitable veg. in vinegar does the trick (usually). I tried this with lemons, and they shrank to half their size, but their skins stayed as they were, before pickling. Flavour similar to lemons or limes in Indian pickles.

:)