Dansak vs Dupiaza

Scientists at Nottingham Trent University, probably after a couple of shandies, got chatting about the addictive qualities of curry. The discussion led them to examining the data and they concluded that the thought of eating curry is something that actually makes people high whilst the eating of it arouses the senses that make the heart beat faster. The thought of having a curry is a thought that takes place in a whole different part of my brain to the thought I have about all other foods. It totally seems to fit that curry has druglike qualities: it's why I can eat it at any time of day, why it tastes great hot or cold, why just the smell of it turns me into a slavering moron. The choice of curry, however, is often tricky: my current favourite is the Chicken Murgh Massala which combines chicken and minced lamb in one dish. Bhunas, Dupiazas and Rogans have also found their way onto my plate on a Friday night. This blog entry takes one of my personal favourites, the Dupiaza: "a medium strength dish made with freshly cut onions and green peppers and fried briskly with spices", with one my wife Helen often orders, the Dansak: "a hot, sweet and sour dish cooked with lentils". I have chosen ten categories that a curry needs to be judged on and for each I will give a mark out of ten.

Healthiness

I guess this depends somewhat on the way it is cooked, but my brief research suggests that the dupiaza is significantly more healthy than the dansak. The dansak has almost double the amount of calories, 315 to the dupiaza's 161. When you order a curry though, you kind of want something unhealthy. The idea that a curry is good for you seems an abhorrent concept, so the dansak wins the first battle.

Dansak 8 Dupiaza 4

History

The dupiaza translates as "double onions" and was apparently first created by Mughal emperor Akbar Mullah Do Piaza (surely not) when he accidentally added too many onions to his dish. The dansak has roots in the Parsi community of India. It is traditionally made on Sundays because it takes so long to make. 

Dansak 6 Dupiaza 7

Look

Look is really not that important; most curries are not the easiest on the eye, but the dupiaza is a structural masterpiece of curling, climbing onions compared to the dansak which is a sloppy pasty mess - no contest.

Dansak 1 Dupiaza 10

Morning-after effect

Much is made of the after-effects of a curry, but I find that the following days eructations are the only reminder that curry was consumed the day before. Spicy burps are surely better than sweet and sour ones.

Dansak 6 Dupiaza 8

Name

The name dansak sounds like an oversized satchel that a young schoolboy would carry whereas the name dupiaza conjures connotations of beauty and wonder or perhaps an Italian restaurant.

Dansak 4 Dupiaza 8

Popularity

I couldn't find a definitive list of curries in order of popularity, but the number of pages that reference each curry is, perhaps, an indication of how popular each curry is. The dansak was a clear winner with close to 400,000 pages with the dupiaza struggling, getting less than 150,000. Neither get close to the tikka massala though.

Dansak 8 Dupiaza 3

Potential to stain

An important part of getting a takeaway is getting a nice yellow stain on the work-surface, which is bound to annoy at least one member of the household. For some strange reason Helen doesn't seem to appreciate the attractive yellow glowing spots that erupt in our kitchen the day after a curry. The dupiaza is far superior stainer, with perfect yellow oily drips leaping from the takeaway containers without fail on each order.

Dansak 5 Dupiaza 8

Price

Both meals are classics and often appear on the favourites list rather than the specialities. Thus, they are both amongst the cheapest of curries.

Dansak 10 Dupiaza 10

Punability

"If you have one of those, you'll be vin da loo all night," is a line that Indian waiters must really enjoy hearing. Neither the dansak or the dupiaza lend themselves to punning particularly. Perhaps, if you have a friend named Dan who is carrying a sack there is an opportunity, but there are slim pickings on the pun front with these two.

Dansak 3 Dupiaza 1

Taste

I am only one person and plenty of people prefer the dansak to the dupiaza, but when I dipped my naan bread into my wife's curry on Wednesday night, I was not impressed. It was not unpleasant, but I expect a lot more from my curries and the dupiaza is a deliverer of heart-racing delight on the taste front.

Dansak 6 Dupiaza 9

The Final Score: Dansak 57 Dupiaza 68