 The technique of extending a relatively expensive ingredient (meat) by combining it with vegetables and/or lentils in the same recipe is widely employed in Persian cooking ("Dhan" is Gujarati cereal dish mentioned in Kanhadade Prabandha in 1455 AD; "Sak" (derived from Gujarati "shaak" meaning vegetable greens or cooked vegetables).The Gujarati element of the recipe is the liberal use of a variety of Indian spices and condiments, in contrast to the more mellow Iranian recipes.In Parsi homes, dhansak is traditionally made on Sundays owing to the long preparation time required to cook the lentils and vegetables into a mush (in the days before pressure cooking was employed).