Freddie Mercury's Favorite Curry Was A Tangy Chicken Dish

Freddie Mercury, the glam rock icon celebrated for his electrifying stage presence and remarkable vocal range, had another passion that hummed off-stage: a love for Indian cuisine. Born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar and raised in India before his stardom in England, Mercury was shaped by a vibrant food culture teeming with aromas, colors, and tastes — a legacy he carried throughout his life, as intrinsic to him as music.

Peter "Phoebe" Freestone, Mercury's personal assistant for over a decade, revealed on a blog post, "When I started working for Freddie back in 1979, he loved spicy foods. Not necessarily chili hot, but food flavored with many different exotic spices. His favorite curry was a chicken dhansak, a chicken curry made with vegetables and lentils." True to the singer's vibrant yet humble style, the dish doesn't rely on chiles that make one's mouth feel like it's on fire but on a symphony of unique notes to develop a multilayered profile.

Chicken dhansak is a juxtaposition of boldness and subtlety, much like Freddie Mercury himself. A recipe for the dish shared by Peter Freestone calls for tender cubes of chicken and four different types of lentils (which are considered a superfood due to their abundance of fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals): chana, moong dal, red, and toor dal. To make the curry, an assortment of hearty vegetables joins forces, including canned tomatoes, eggplant (also known as aubergine), potato, spinach, and onion.

Dhansak's depth is concocted from an eclectic masala of warm, fragrant spices, namely cumin seeds, cassia bark, cardamom, coriander, mint, turmeric, black mustard seeds, chili powder, ginger, garlic, and ground fenugreek seeds, a bittersweet spice native to India that offers a palate akin to maple and burnt sugar. Dhansak is traditionally served with rice to balance the richly spiced curry, as well as kachumber salad, a refreshing medley of tomato, cucumber, red onion, green chiles, mint, cilantro, chili powder, and lemon juice.

Even as the stadium-filling band toured the globe, chicken dhansak was often Mercury's go-to meal. It was a reflection of his heritage and a reminder of home. Perhaps it was a way to live his own version of a rhapsody in flavors.