Insiders View

Being married to a Parsi has given me an insider’s view of the community that I least expected. 

All the sophistication of education and charity is just a facade and very good PR. The public perception of good Parsis is built over time by a few rich and powerful people. The common Parsi has benefited from that. 

If I have to put it in right words this community is riding on that goodwill created by the few and it is now a community of SHARKS. 

They as a community come together to harass any one non Parsi. They will go all lengths to buy anyone out whether in Legal, Administrative, Corporate and some Parsi owned banks too. They will access private documents, block POST, send muscle power to your door, community openly support even a criminal Parsi. Someone who has a history of domestic violence, kidnapping, doing a Fraud. This from a community whose religion is based on GOOD THOUGHTS GOOD WORDS AND GOOD DEEDS !

Is there even a possibility of good SHARK ?

Now you know why this community is diminishing. Nature fixes everything ! 

Prawn Patio

Dhandar and Kolmi No Patio, soul food for a Parsi

Home coming meals are always Dhandar Patio. The ubiquitous combo that features compulsorily on the weekly menu of any Parsi household. A pile of rice covered with yellow dal this in itself  a combo, is called Dhandar. While the vegetarian me enjoy it with papad and pickle my non vegetarian  loving Parsi husband demanded a patio. 

With this post I start a series of meals which my husband enjoyed but I did not post on the blog. Some are very simple and some elaborate. This is to record all the little things that made Arvi happy.

A patio is a sort of a quick pickle made with onion and tomato and any fish. The Prawn patio or Kolmi no Patio being the most favorite among all. So here is the recipe. 

Ingredients

1 cup de-shelled and de-veined prawns

1 onion chopped very fine

1 tomato pureed

1 green chili pounded

2 tablespoon Jeeru Lasan Masala

2 tablespoon oil

optional finely chopped cilantro for garnish.

Preparation

Marinate the cleaned prawns with Jeeru Lasan Masala. Leave it to rest for 10-15 mins. The masala already has salt so no need to add extra. Keeping salt right will help the sweetness of the prawns shine in this dish.

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan. Add the finely chopped onions to the hot oil, follow in with the pounded green chili. Fry until soft. Add tomato puree, let it meld into a paste with the onions. After this add the marinated prawns. Cook till prawns are done but still tender. 

Garnish if you like with finely chopped cilantro. My husband never enjoyed cilantro on his non veg so I skipped it most times.

Note: You will find cookbooks mention the use of vinegar in patio but in homes like ours vinegar did not have much of a presence in cooking except for pickling told my husband. So when vinegar is used, jaggery is added to balance the sourness. my recipe does not need vinegar so eliminates jaggery automatically.

Make this simple lip-smacking recipe and let me know how you like it.

Papeti Ma Ghos

Yesterday AC completed 51! I have been pampering him on his Roz nu birthday and the Gregorian one. I did everything I could to bring cheer in-spite of being terribly ill myself. Before this memory is forgotten recording it here.

So on his  Roz nu birthday I made Kadabu, he loves puran poli and dar ni pori so Kadabu would pass his liking I knew. He did enjoy it.

While he enjoys the sweets what he really loves is Non veg especially mutton. I don't like handling mutton so it does not get made so often. So on his birthday I made papeti ma ghos. Papeti are baby potatoes in Parsi tender and sweet combined with mutton in a onion tomato gravy is a very homely dish.

The husband loved it. I thanked Suman my help for getting the choicest mutton because I don't understand head or tail of it.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

250 gms mutton cleaned n washed

150 gms baby potatoes

1 onion

1 tomato

2 green chilies

1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 tablespoon oil

In a pressure cooker add the baby potatoes and mutton. Add all the spices and ginger garlic paste.  Top with water to just cover the potato and mutton. Pressure cook for three whistles. Let it cool. 

Grind onion and tomato and green chili to paste. Heat oil in a pan. Add the onion tomato paste and fry till dryish and browned. 

Meanwhile open the pressure cooker. Peel the boiled potatoes and add them to the onion tomato masala. Keep frying. Then add the mutton and the rest of the contents to the fried masala. Cook till you have a thickish gravy coating the mutton and baby potatoes. Mash couple of baby potatoes to give it some body. Sprinkle some fresh green chopped cilantro over it.

Serve warm with phulkas or thin rotlis.

This is a classic Parsi dish but it reminds me a lot of Bengali Alur dom but with mutton. What do you say my dear Bengalis?

Koli Goad Shev and Parsi Sagan ni Sev

I was introduced to Koli Goad Shev as a child. In our home of 18 the goad shev was always made by my elder uncle whom we call Mothe Baba. My Mum made the second best but never did my other aunts take on themselves to make the Shev.

I recollect Mothe Baba cooked on our patio in the Chembur home. When ever he cooked it was always outside the home and never in the kitchen. He began by pumping up the kerosene stove and putting the large aluminium "lagdi" on the stove. Adding the Dalda and letting it melt. Then patiently frying the Elephant brand roasted sev slowly until brown a slight shade of dark. I think patience was his virtue, a quite man with very few desires. However a huge love for seafood. He could not survive without it. I learnt to cook non veg only because of him. I cooked for him whenever the elder ladies in the family weren't at home. He taught me how to make this shev. I would always be his assistant. He would say pass the sugar and I'd hand it over. Then came the pouring of water. He trusted me at pouring hot water without spilling so he wouldn't let anyone else do it. As he worked fast on the shev not letting it stick to the vessel. Finally he would cover the lagdi and tell me to lift up the vessel and let it sit quietly until serving time.

Everyone recognized the Shev Mothe baba made. It turned the right golden, had the best balance of nutmeg cardamom and most of all it was always fluffed up well. Garnished generously with cashews, raisins and charoli. 

This post it dedicated to Mothe baba. We lost him on 25 March 2017.  

He was ex-Navy and the highlight of his life was working for JRD Tata and later Ratan Tata. He took care of their speedboats.

His passion was navigating the Mumbai's bay which he knew like the back of his hand.

Ingredients

1/2 pack Elephant brand roasted shev ( 20ogms)
1/4 cup ghee
1 cup sugar or more as you like
5-6 cardamoms crushed
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg powder
Mixed nuts
2 fistful Charoli
Vanilla extract ( for the Parsi touch)

First roast the shev in ghee in the lagdi or kadhai for this heat the vessel on medium. Break the shev with hand and add to the ghee. The roasting has to be done on slow flame until darker shade of brown. Be careful because it goes from dark brown to black in seconds.

On the side boil about 300 ml of water in a saucepan. Add sugar to the shev, give a quick stir and add water, a little at a time till the sev looks plumped and cooked. You will need about 250 ml of the water. The sugar should be completely dissolved and absorbed into the sev. However if you think the sev can take more water without becoming soggy add a little at a time. This is my Mothe Baba's way of making shev. The Parsis make the sugar syrup of single thread consistency. Which is then added to the roasted 'sev'. 

Cover the shev and let it rest till the steam subsides about 5 mins. Then sprinkle the vanilla extract over the sev for a Parsi touch. The Parsis would use Vanilla essence unlike us bloggers who insist only on natural vanilla extract. If you don't like Vanilla skip it. We Kolis don't like it so we stick to only spicing it with cardamom and nutmeg powder. Fluff up the shev with a fork.

Separately fry the charoli, mixed nuts and raisins in 2 teaspoons of ghee and sprinkle them over the shev or sev. 

Now serve the shev in a pretty plate and enjoy. The sev tastes delicious warm and at room temperature too. Kolis make goad shev specifically for Holi and I think its indigenous to Colaba Koliwada.

This shev when made in a Parsi household is called "Sagan ni Sev'. It is the sweet that marks auspicious days like festivals and birthdays too. When I got married I was asked by many a friend if I knew how to make Parsi sev. They were quite surprised that I was well trained as a Koli at making the shev. They almost did not believe that there could be anything common between the two cuisine. Parsis eat this Sagan ni sev with sweetened curd or Mithoo dahi. 

It cannot be just serendipity that sev is common to Koli and Parsi communities. I think it is fate and that I was destined to be married to a Parsi so I was coached for this. What say? wink wink.

YOUR DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO PARSI PICKLES I and II, DECEMBER 16-17, 2016

Kolmi nu Achaar / Prawn Pickle

 Part I :

With the flick of my finger I picked it up from a tiny single serve jar she had brought it in, and a close look told me it was not an achaar but a chutney. But then Bawas do everything differently. They call it Lagan nu achaar. Their achaars are mostly made with cane sugar and mustard oil or may be a neutral oil in the modern day. If compromised on these, the taste is not the same. For a community that learnt to eat pickles after landing in India, they have created a lovely variety of achaars of their own... Read more

In this part you also get to meet our Queen pickler Zinobia Schroff. Yeah she is on my Eshop.

www.annaparabrahma.com

Tarapori Patio/ Dry Bombil pickle

Vengna nu achaar/ Brinjal pickle

Part II

In the first part of the series on Parsi pickles, we talked about the history and traditions of pickling in the community. It introduces you to the whole range of Parsi pickles: Gharab nu achaar, Methia nu achaar, Bafenu, Lagan nu achaar or Gajar mewa nu achaar, Kolmi nu achaar, Tarapori patio, Vengna nu achaar etc. Read more

Methia nu achaar / Unripe Mango pickle with Fenugreek

Dodhi no murabo /Bottle gour Jam

The best news is that all these PICKLES are available only a click away. If you want to cook up a full fledged Parsi meal at home, then you must try our fantastic range of Parsi  MASALAS, dhansak Dhana Jiru , Garam masalas too.

Parsi Dhansak Masala and more

Fried Herring Roe

Tareli Bhing ni Gharab or Gaboli in Koli

In this past week the fish monger, no not a Koli but a Muslim from UP came to my door. His eyes shinning. I refused to buy and then he animatedly said Bhing ni gharab che! My husband does not eat gharab nu achaar so I asked him if he was interested in the gharab for a fry. He gave a nod, more than him I was excited about cooking with it.

As a kid I have enjoyed many a Gaboli as we Koli call it. It would be boiled or steamed with salt and turmeric. Then sliced up into roundels. Some times it would be fried after slicing. Mostly eaten as a side in a meal with rice and curry or rice roti. Ofcourse the Gaboli is smeared with salt and Koli masala and left to sit for 30 mins before frying.

The Parsis however don't boil it. They directly apply the usual jeeru lasan paste marinate it in the fridge for 30 mins and then fry it. They divide the gharab into chunks and enjoy it with rotli or pao.

What ever you do if you don't want a crumble like mess of the eggs don't cut open the sac when it is raw. Cook and then cut into roundels or chunks. My friend Sayantani who is a true blue  bengali tells me they infact open the sac and clean the eggs to free from membranes mash it and then make fritters out of it.

If you are from the coastal region gharab or gaboli / fish roe would be a delicacy you would have heard of if not tasted it. Yet for those who do not know, it is the ovaries of the fish. The ovary sac contains densely packed tiny eggs. They resemble grainy semolina or are rather like poppy seeds. This one you see here is of the seawater fish Herring in English or Bhing in Gujarati or Pala in Koli. The fresh water Herring is popular in Bengali and North Eastern cuisine as Hilsa or Ilish. In that region the fish is sliced across along with the egg and enjoyed in a curry or as a fry.

In season while the Parsis enjoy it fried, the Bawis are clever to preserve them as pickle to be enjoyed thru the year. The best time for Gharab is during monsoon and a couple of months after. Then its unavailable for the rest of the year. 

In the pic you see a chiffon saree with a Gara border.

When I had shared a snippet of it on FB my schoolmate Aban Setna educated me about it, "This is French embroidery. It probably looks identical on the reverse side. No one does it anymore. Cherish it!"

"These are Petit Point borders and were embroidered separately and had a backing. The backing is attached to the saree, the front side remains pristine. Ladies would make these in their spare time. The smaller the stitches and knots, the smoother and finer the finish. It is a lost art."

Its priceless for me. My MIL died in 2003. She wouldn't have imagined leaving this behind for me but I feel blessed to have received all her things and I cherish it with all my heart.

Pao In the Pudding

Pao in the pudding or Pao nu pudding

So the December day came and went. Thru the day we went around doing our stuff. AC as usual in his grunge style n state. He is very superstitious about personal life and I am the kind who lives life without carrying burdens of the world. So I just let him say things. Finally in the evening he had a bath and announced, "Lets go to Jogger's park". Finally stepping out at 8pm. We chose to take the bike. Rode all the way to find the ticket counter being shuttered. He stood there cursed the guy some. Then finally without consulting me decided to ride upto Juhu. On reaching Juhu hearing no breeze we just decided to go and eat something. It was such a flop evening that he chose to apologize about the impromptu plan. 

My plan was to take him to a fine dine in South Mumbai but he did not want it. So this was our first anniversary non celebration. Yet what we loved is biking around, especially on our way back from Juhu. Riding on Mumbai roads after 10.30 pm is very refreshing for a tired soul. 

I had made this Pao nu pudding the previous night and you know him he easily makes a dinner of it. Ofcourse 4 pao weren't enough so there was Pao no French toast too to fill him up.

Plus I made sheera also on the anniversary morning. I am a stickler at performing duty to a fault. 

This Pao nu pudding or Pudding made with the Mumbai Pao is a Parsi favorite. Parsis like Christians of Mumbai eat a lot of pao and the leftovers get made into pudding or french toast.  If you want to make your own pao, you have my recipe on this blog. It is the first recipe of Mumbai pao on the Internet. Yes believe it or not!

So make the pudding from scratch if you feel like it. On this day I made the pud with store bought pao. Parsis adapted many western especially British recipes to local ingredients and this pao nu pudding is a great example of that. The pudding laced with vanilla essence and elchi - jaiphal (cardamom - nutmeg) is so Parsi but I am a snob so I use homemade Vanilla extract. Yeah that is one thing I am working on my husband moving him from the artificial flavors (Raspberry soda!) and processed foods (packet wet masalas) to more natural choices. Hard to change a Parsi but I will. 

Ingredients

4 nos. pao or bread rolls

2 teaspoons Amul butter

0.5 teaspoon cardamom - nutmeg powder

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

2 eggs 

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups milk

1. Use a square baking dish. Brush it with butter. 

2. Cut the pao horizontally but still should hold together. Open each one like a book. Apply butter to all 4.

3. Now place the pao in the dish. 

4. Pre heat the oven at 180 deg celsius.

5. Now in a mixing bowl break the eggs, add the sugar and milk and beat it up till the sugar dissolves. This is your custard mix.

6. Add into the custard mix the Vanilla extract and cardamom - nutmeg powder and give it a stir.

7. Now gently bathe each pao with the spice and fragrant custard mix. Press down the pao lightly if they float up.

8. Place the baking dish in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 35-40 mins at 180 degrees Celsius. 

9. The top will be nice brown and will look dry. As it cools it will collapse down a bit. Don't worry it tastes awesome all the way.

10. Cool for 30 mins and serve warm or chill for an hour in the refrigerator minimum and enjoy cold.

Serve each pao in a fancy plate. Enjoy.

Who does not love a good bread butter pudding? and this one is localized by the Parsis and shared here by a Bawa's Koli bairi.

Khaojo peejo, majena rejo! Eat and Drink, be happy!

A dish like that gets polished off in minutes.

The Lifesaver Tatraveli Kolmi

A Parsi style stir fried prawns

You have read it repeatedly here that my husband eats only a specific menu in a week after which we rotate it. Dhansak - Curry rice - Dhandaar - Veg pulao - Kolmi no Pulao for lunch. Dinner is fried fish - chana ni daar - masoor - eeda no poro. How I feel limited in creativity! 

There is this simple Parsi style stir fry that He loves. It goes perfectly with Dhandaar or rotlis and as an add on in meals, filling in for the non veg component and gets eaten quietly without a murmur. 

Its an express recipe everyone must have in their repertoire so sharing it here for all the friends and readers who asked for it when I posted it on social media.

Ingredients

15 nos. Fresh large prawns, peeled and de-veined.

1/2 to 1 teaspoon Parsi Jeeru lasan masala as per your capacity to handle heat.

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 tablespoon oil

1/4 cup water

Marinate the cleaned prawns in the jeeru lasan masala and turmeric powder for atleast 30 mins in the fridge. Heat oil in a deep pan or concave tava. In the hot oil add the marinated prawns. Cook for 2 mins and then add the 1/4 cup water. Cook till oil separates. Remove if you like it tender after total 5 mins of cooking. 

My husband likes the prawns chewy something he is used to since childhood so I cook for 10 mins before removing from heat.  

Here is Sharmila's rendition of my recipe after I shared it in my network.

It celebrates our friendship and all those warm chats thru the

 #DecadeOfAnnaParabrahma

Parsi Jeeru Lasan Masala

Ingredients

1 whole bulb of garlic
2 teaspoon cumin seeds
10 - 15 Kashmiri red chilies
0.5 teaspoon salt
15 ml Vinegar or juice of half a lime

Grind all the ingredients together on the stone grinder to get a smooth paste. You can achieve the same smoothness with a mortar and pestle.

This paste is used to marinate seafood before frying or using in a curry.

It is used as a tenderizer for meat and poultry too.

Jeeru Lasan is integral to Parsi cooking.

Vasanu : A Parsi Winter Fudge

We have these tiny saucers which are perfect to portion out Vasanu for a daily dose as long as the cool weather lasts.

My husband, AC is a true blue Parsi and on arrival of Nov which heralds the winter season he starts searching the cupboards for THE LIST and reciepts. The reciepts are from Motilal Masalawala the iconic specialist for ingredients shopping for Vasanu.

The orders are placed for the huge list of ingredients. Discussion are made on the phone with AD a chuddy buddy. It is a yearly ritual that these two Parsi boys have followed for more than 30yrs. They get together to make Vasanu.

Toasting all the ingredients in Chokhu or Shudh ghee  

Vasanu is a fudge made with this humongous list of ingredients. It is based on the principles of Unani and Ayurved. The ingredients that go into it are some warming spices, energy giving nuts and ghee. Our version of Vasanu is made from pure ghee no compromise on that and is rich in proportions of nuts. We like to slice dates into it to give a slight bite. The dominant taste of sonth or dry ginger is so pleasing to the winter affected throat while the slight crunch comes from fried goondar or edible gum.

Making the Chaasni or sugar syrup

Check check, yes its solidifying and setting. I want it scoopable says one, the other wants it cuttable. We stop at scoopable.

It was such fun to watch my husband being so enthusiastic about making Vasanu, for he is someone who does not even know how to boil an egg. On the actual day it was simply adorable to watch both AC and AD bustling around. The banter between them was hilarious and they behaved like school boys kicking each other in jest.

Finally dividing it between the two.

This year AC and me are planning to share with all who want. It tastes better when made in large quantities. So here's presenting Cooper's Vasanu. Tadah! 

Update: we stopped 🛑 taking orders after few years. 

Happy Dhanteras 2016 !

Here is the Parsi style pooja thali called Ses. It has the cone of sugar called Soparo that symbolizes a mountain of sweetness. The round Pigani to keep vermilion paste to apply on the forehead. The Gulabaz, a rose water sprinkler. A bowl of milk to bathe the coins. A coconut and a flower garland. A covered Divo or oil lamp is also part of this Ses, we had lit it outside the platter.

Parsis have assimilated so much of Indian culture. Today the Bawa was more enthusiastic than me to do the pooja. This is our first Diwali after marriage.

Happy Dhanteras! from our Parsi - Koli household. Hope yours is good too.

The Bombay Curry I Simply Love

The Bombay Curry with Mushrooms  

My Bombay Kitchen by Niloufer Ichaporia King is a wonderful book that I cook from often. It is a wedding gift I received from my blogger buddies Evolving Tastes, The Cooker and Vadani Kaval Gheta. Gosh its a decade since we have been friends. ET visits me when she is in India. I look forward to meet the other two. This is also to thank you girls for this lovely gift which my hubby too approves of. After all the true success of a cookbook is when the recipe is cooked week on week as a family favorite and so you know why I am late to show it off here and thank you!

This is one curry I simply love to cook, eat and entertain with. I know that when I make this curry my party is a hit. 

The first few times I made it AC ate it without complaining, which means he is happy. Slowly he opened up like he always does and shares great gems of advice. He said his mother roasted the masala till it was lightly browned and nutty. The roasted masala curry is deeply satisfying. So now I roast the masala just like he said, patiently. He recounts his mother used a tablespoon of besan instead of roasted chana dal. I like the texture of roasted chana dal ground in the masala while I think besan might make the curry a little pasty. So I stick to the roasted chana dal, I may try with besan when I feel a little more adventurous. 

In the book too there is a note for the roasted masala, roasting the seeds in the masala for a richer brown color.

So here is The Bombay curry for you to try. I have reduced the quantities to Serve 2.

Ingredients

10-12 Mushrooms/ 2 chicken drumsticks/ 2 eggs / Seafood or whatever you fancy/ 

  *Pomfret heads* or *Cauliflower stems*

1/4 coconut, grated

2 cloves garlic

1/2 inch ginger

1/2 teaspoon kashmiri chili powder

2 teaspoons raw peanuts

1/2 teaspoon roasted chana dal

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon white poppy seeds

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 inch cinnamon stick

2 -3 cloves  

1 medium onion chopped

1 small potato quartered

1 sprig of curry leaves

salt to taste

1 tablespoon oil

1. First in a grinder measure out the grated coconut, garlic, ginger, Kashmiri chili powder, raw peanuts, roasted chana dal, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, poppy seeds, turmeric powder, cinnamon and cloves. Grind together everything using minimum amount of water into a fine paste.

Once the masala is ground its easy to make the curry.

2. In a deep pan measure out oil. Season with curry leaves, add the chopped onion saute till transluscent. Now add the masala paste. Roast it till the masala is fragrant and red. The oil should be released by the masala, keep your patience. This should take about 15-20 mins. Watch it so it does not burn.

3. Add potatoes to it and coat with masala. 

4. Add the non veg or veg of your choice and coat it with masala. Cover and cook for 5 mins.

5. Now top up with enough water about 300ml to cover the non veg or veggies.

6. Cook it down to a nice creamy curry.

Serve the delicious curry with steamed Basmati rice. I am not a fan of Basmati but quite enjoy this curry with it. Sometimes I make Surti kolam rice to go with it. 

I must share a secret. This curry is indeed best with rice to mix with your fingers but let me tell you, it make a delicious combo with hot soft puris too.

This one is with boiled halved eggs


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Updated 11 Feb 2018    : With Pomfret heads
For The Ugly Food Project

We the HAVES always waste a lot of food on our plate. That is ugly. This food can always be fed to animals. We buy blemish free fruits n vegetables and so the seller discards the Ugly food. Even a slight rot on a vegetable from the fridge can be removed and nutritious food can be created. I am guilty of not using seafood heads in my cooking for the bawa. Sometimes I give away things like lobster heads to anyone who accepts them. With a little bit of creativity we can feed the HAVE NOTS. This is my contribution to @chowder_singh 's The Ugly Food Project. If you are interested in contributing ideas and recipes, join the group on FB.

I usually keep aside pomfret heads so I can make a curry for my househelp. Earlier when I used to tell the fish seller to take those away she requested me to keep them for her.

You can use veg and non veg ugly food to create this delicious curry. Cauliflower stems would work really nicely too.

A Dhansak My Bawa Loves

Today I share here a Dhansak recipe I make in my style and my bawa husband polishes off heartily. The three dal combo is just so delicious. Dhansak is traditionally made with meat but I am posting the veg version here. Especially for those friends who are vegetarian and have been requesting for it. 

Usually I add the chicken to the pressure cooker itself when I am making the dhansak for just my Bawa after removing the cooked dal and veggies for me. Cook it further for 1 whistle. That is just to tell you how to make it non-veg if you want a meaty version. I haven't yet made mutton dhansak. My husband's theory is not to slaughter animals but no harm in eating frozen meat. So we buy only frozen chicken. Go figure !

How is my dhansak better? I add the micro methi greens at the final stage just before pureeing and homogenizing the dal and that adds an amazing freshness to the dhansak. 

Traditionally dhansak can have brinjal, tomatoes, carrots or any vegetable in your fridge that you want to use up. Like my archaeologist Parsi friend Kurush advised, add all and any veggies in the dhansak and feed to the veggie averse husband. He will eat it as long as it is hidden in the dhansak. When he said that I was already using that strategy on my unsuspecting husband as do Parsi Mummas and brides.

A few months before I got married I was living in with my Bawa as we wanted to crease out anything that might cause hiccups in the marriage. At the time he fell severely ill. He craved for foods from his childhood. Even before marriage I suddenly was in a wife's role nursing him back to health. So early on I realized there was no escaping the dhansak. I bought 4 of Katy Dalal's cookbooks, Jamva Chaloji both part 1 and 2 plus Vitality and Seafood Fiesta. They were very helpful for me a non-Parsi to learn Parsi cooking in the absence of Mummy, my MIL. 

Soon I was to realize that recipe books are excellent to start but tastes one grows up on are such indelible memories. My husband is a much pampered son and extremely finicky about food. I have managed to figure out only a week's menu that he has approved of and I keep repeating week after week now. 

One of the smart things I did was to make a dhansak masala in those pre-marriage days and started cooking for A and stopped the Bhonu tiffin that came from the caterer. The dhansak masala was perfected in the last 6 months. Finally its something I use in my daily cooking post marriage in the few pulses my husband eats without fussing. I have relatives and friends who love my dhansak masala. I have slipped it into their bags when they visited and asked them to try it. So it is not just my Bawa approved but I can say Parsi approved. It's up on the E-shop. Besides the Dhansak masala there is a Garam masala specific to this community which is used for meats and veggies too. Look for the Parsi Garam Masala on the Eshop.

The components of my Dhansak are... KoLu (Pumpkin) - bhaaji (methi microgreens). You can go all the nine yards with the veggies.

Ingredients

1/2 cup toor dal
1/4 cup masoor dal
1/4 cup moong dal
a small piece pumpkin
2 bunches methi microgreens
1 tablespoon fried onions / Birista (I make large quantities and freeze it in an airtight box.)
1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon Dhansak masala (click to buy)
1/4 teaspoon  Parsi Garam Masala (click to buy)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
2 teaspoon oil
salt to taste

Wash and soak all the dals for 1/2 hour in the pressure cooker vessel.

Add the chopped pumpkin, birista and all the masalas. The ginger garlic paste. Top up with water to cover the dals. Drizzle the oil, add salt. Mix well. Cook for 3 whistles in the pressure cooker.

Open the cooker after cooling completely. Homogenize and puree the dals n pumpkin. Now add the cleaned washed and finely chopped micro methi greens. Mix well. This is the technique that makes my dhansak stand out. It is what brings freshness to the pureed dal.

Parsis enjoy their dhansak with brown rice and Kachumbar, a simple salad of chopped cucumber, tomato and onion with a squeeze of lime.

Before I close this post let me just clarify that Dhansak means Rice (Dhan) with veggies (sak or shaak). Which means I cannot part without giving you the recipe of Brown Rice. Here Brown rice does not mean unpolished but caramel laced rice therefore the tinge of brown.

I am giving the recipe of the brown rice I make at my home as per my husbands preference. I do not caramelize sugar to get a dark brown color but a just creamish brown does it for him.

Dhan or Brown rice

Ingredients

1 cup Basmati rice

2 teaspoons fried onions/ birista

Wash and drain the basmati rice. Leave it for 30 mins. In a vessel measure out 1.5 cups water and bring it to a boil. Add the washed Basmati rice to the boiling water. Cook until rice it cooked yet separate. Fluff up with a fork.

Serve as plated here.

I make Dhansak atleast once a week and on days when we worship the people who have passed on to the other world. Yes Dhansak is never made on an auspicious day. It is a remembrance meal and so its no fuss and easy to make not really elaborate yet complete with rice, veggies and meat. Very comforting indeed.

Prawn Pulao

I am a Koli and I can say this with authority that the Prawn pulao is not a traditional Koli recipe even though modern Koli make Prawn pulao commonly in their kitchens. The word pulao or pilaf is Persian in origin and therefore many attribute the origins of Pulao to Persia. But you will be surprised to find the mention of game meat cooked with rice in the Mahabharat.

So if you thought that Parsi prawn pulao is authentic Persian you are wrong. Rather it is something created from local ingredients available to the early Parsi refugees that settled first in Sanjan and then moved to other parts of Gujarat and Mumbai. The dhania or coriander is such a give away!

Nevertheless this is a delicious quick to make recipe. I don't know what I would have done if there was no Prawn pulao recipe on hand whenever I want to please AC that too in a jiffy.

Serves 2 

Ingredients

150 gms Basmati rice
150 gms shelled and deviened Prawns
1 onion chopped or 1 tablespoon Birista
1 tomato chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon ginger grated
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 green chili mashed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon oil
300 ml water

Wash and drain the basmati rice in a colander and allow to stay for atleast 1/2 hour.

Later heat oil in the pot. If using onion fry till brown Or use ready birista. Add chopped tomato. Add the ginger - garlic, fry till the tomato forms a paste. Add the dry powders of turmeric, red chili, coriander, cumin, mashed green chili and give it a stir. Add the prawns. Now follow in with the soaked and drained Basmati. Top up with water. Cook covered till water is absorbed by the basmati.

Open the lid, sprinkle chopped cilantro and fluff up the rice with a fork very carefully so as not to break the long grains of rice.

Served warm to my happy hubby.

Dotty this recipe is up here just for you, now go cook and show me how yours turns out. Bon apetite!

Made with whole prawns 🦐 just like in a paella. Also used Suhana biryani masala. A shower of grated coconut and cilantro a Koli habit.  Absolutely delicious. First time tasting my own prawn pulao. 14 April 2024

Navroze Mubarak!

It's my first Navroze after marriage. There has to be Ravo (sheera with cardamom and nutmeg) for all auspicious days for the Parsis. So I made Ravo, Saee's Mawa cake, Dhan Dar served with gajar-mewa nu achaar. Yes its a simple lunch as we will be eating at the community dinner or Gambhar tonight at the gymkhana.

I have my own mawa cake recipe but I have so far baked only eggless cakes as per my  Maharashtriya family's preferences. Since on the Parsi side eggs are omnipresent in food and customs. I went ahead and baked my first ever cake with egg! 

Well new year's beginnings, I am hoping will change atleast a few things in my life.

Posting this under the label Remake, where I cook and review recipes from other blogs. So what are the things I did in my Parsi Kitchen? 

1. I don't have muffin moulds in this kitchen so I used a square borosil dish.

2. Used 2 cups sugar as in the original recipe as AC likes his sweet dishes actually sweet unlike me. I like mine faintly sweet.

3. I skipped the doodh masala Saee used. Instead I used elchi-jaiphal as the Parsis do.

4. Since this is baked in a square dish I baked this cake at the same temperature of 150 deg C but for a good 1 hr. Until it was a golden.

The verdict:

A beautifully light crumb with a thin crust on the outside. AC loved it and that says a  lot.